Northside-Jones stages battle of bigs in region

mbrown@sunmulti.com

Those expecting to see point totals reach the 70s and 80s

were at the wrong high school basketball game Tuesday when Northside hosted

Jones County in Region 2-AAAAA sub-region play. Yes, the Eagles have reached

that range in scoring 10 times in 14 previous contests, but when Jones’ 6-9

Jarquez Smith was there to counter 6-10 Christian Kennedy, baskets were going

to be hard to manage in such high volume.

Not that it didn’t get close.

Guard Kyle Johnson had a personal spurt of eight points in a

row in the fourth quarter in a 14-0 Northside run that sent Ken Price’s club to

victory 68-61. Johnson had 19 points overall as the top of a list of three

Eagles in double figures. Jarius Smith had 14 points and Justin Burnam 13.

Kennedy, already signed with Tennessee-Chattanooga, wasn’t

looking to score himself as Price used him off the bench. He pulled down 11 rebounds

and blocked seven shots, which was about the same production as Jones County

had from Jarquez Smith, who is signed to play collegiately for Florida State.

In addition to a 14-0 run in the fourth period, Northside

strung together 12 points in a row in the first quarter. Jones County’s

Greyhounds had their own run of 14 straight, that coming in the third period

right after Northside took a 10-point lead for the first time.

The Eagles went into halftime up eight, 33-25, and Jones

County had the inbound to start the second half. Johnson stole that pass and

scored for the 10-point advantage. In a stretch of sloppy basketball – and more

steals made by Kennedy, Burnam and Jarius Smith – the score stalled at 37-27

for several minutes.

At 3:18 of the quarter, Jones had it down to a six-point

game. Afterwards, the guard combination of Dominique Collier and Brandon

Wimberly scored seven straight from three Eagle turnovers. At 2:03, the Hounds

were leading for the first time since the opening quarter 38-37.

Burnam ended the 14-0 run with an extra-long 3-pointer at

1:15. Jarquez Smith certainly wasn’t an offensive factor in the quarter, but he

executed a three-point play off a little floater in the lane for 44-40.

Northside’s Darrin Clark, whom Price used as the starting

point guard, ended the third stealing a rebound and keeping the Eagles within

four at 46-42. One characteristic of Northside basketball is that all it takes

is one play to get momentum rolling in their favor, and Clark’s play carried

over into the fourth as Robert Davis tied the game on a steal and slam.

Johnson followed with consecutive 3-pointers. His seventh and

eighth points in a row were laid in from a Jones miss, and that concluded the

14-0 run for 54-48. Northside didn’t look back from there, Jarius Smith

converting a three-point play at 2:17 to stretch the margin back to 10, 60-50.

Smith also dunked in four points in a row late. There was a

development for the Jones squad as Jarquez Smith, trying to stop another dunk

by Davis with 3.8 seconds left, came down hard on his knee. He did return to

the bench under his own power.

The centers for both teams put on a show of not just shot

blocks, but shot alterations. However, two fouls against Jarquez Smith in the

opening quarter allowed the Eagles to attack the basket in hopes of seeing the

Hound center earn a third before the half.

Jones’ early scoring came from a different forward in Doug

West. He took a high-low assist from Smith and put back an offensive rebound in

a game-opening 5-0 run. Northside’s first basket came from Burnam on a Clark

steal, but Smith countered taking a long outlet.

The Eagles were down 12-5 when the run of 12 in a row began.

Kennedy scored from a Clark assist and blocked two shots in the ensuing Jones

possession. Jarquez Smith’s second foul came at the 3:19 mark, but his coaches

didn’t give him much sitting time. Kahlil Williams of Northside put in a second

shot against Smith for his team’s first lead, 13-12, at 1:25.

Williams in fact scored twice inside with Smith tentative on

defense, and Johnson even took the center on from Burnam’s steal. The Hound

wasn’t hesitant on the other end, though, as his second-shot dunk brought the

score to 17-14 at the period’s end.

The pattern of Eagles like Burnam challenging Smith inside

and Smith dominating his offensive boards continued in the second. Burnam had

five points and assisted a Davis slam, and Johnson scored five late, two coming

when the combating centers lost the basketball.

There was a lot of scrambling late that didn’t result in

points, but the Eagle 9-0 run put the hosts in control by eight at the half.

 

NS GIRLS 8-7

The 2012-13 basketball season for the Northside High Lady

Eagles has had its ups and downs, the result being an 8-7 record. Prior to the

holiday break, Casaundra Wilson saw her club, minus three senior starters from

last season, take double-digit non-region losses to the likes of Rutland,

Washington County and Clarke Central.

Injuries also were a detriment to Wilson’s usual goals of

building a team ready to compete for a region championship. When the holidays

ended, those injury issues cleared up, and the Lady Eagles put together a

three-game winning streak that included two in the 2-AAAAA sub-region.

On Jan. 4, Northside defeated rival Houston County 51-39 in a

game that was 26-26 going into the final quarter. Seven different players

combined to get 25 points. For the game, one of the returning leaders, junior

Tia Williams, had 13 points. Wilson’s roster has three seniors, three juniors

and five sophomores.

“I thought, during the Christmas break, the games we played

helped us a lot,” said Wilson, who went to tournaments at Rickards High in

Florida and Atlanta. “We learned to work with each other and play hard.”

The third win in a row happened Tuesday, 55-45 against Jones

County of the sub-region. Williams had 14 points and sophomore forward Mekhaela

Witherspoon scored 13. She had 12 in the win against Houston.

Williams added five steals, four in the first quarter.

Jones put a 2-3 zone in front of the Lady Eagles, and the

first basket came from sophomore Tamera Fann on a 3-pointer over that set.

Witherspoon later got to the foul line in that zone and stuck her jumper. With

five in a row by Williams, the home team took a 13-9 lead into the second.

Wilson’s defense didn’t force any takeaways in this next

quarter until back-up forward Deja Turner got a steal at the 21-second mark.

Northside instead committed some bad turnovers, and Jones drew some fouls to

tie the game 15-15 at 4:27.

Lady Eagle points came from the offensive glass, senior Kiara

Thompson using a nice bounce and pivot move to score and Williams taking a

third-try tap from Turner to break the 15-15 tie. Shambria Smith, another

junior guard bringing most of the team’s experience, found Thompson inside the

zone for two.

But the hosts had more turnovers to squander a six-point

edge, and it was 21-21 at the half.

In the third, offensive boardwork from Williams and

Witherspoon sparked a 5-0 run for a six-point lead, 32-26. Fann added a steal

and assist to senior Sharnell McKenzie as the pace when from stagnant to

hectic. Jones had the bad turnovers in this quarter, and one more stick-back by

Williams and Fann’s assist to Witherspoon in the post put the game at 40-30

going into the fourth.

Fann and Witherspoon connected again, this time the forward

making a cutting move to the rim, to begin the last quarter. The lead was as

much as 16, 50-34, on Witherspoon’s put-back.

Wilson wanted to let her bench finish the game, but at 1:28 a

three-point play by Jones cut the lead to 11. Turner scored inside from a

Shtaja Dinkins assist, but Jones scored six in a row in the final minute.

Williams and Thompson were among the starters back on the floor, and they

worked together for one last score.

“Everybody can contribute a little,” said Wilson. “Be it on

the offensive end or defensive end. If we can get five or six people to score

seven or eight points, it’s as good as having one person score 25 and another

24. We don’t have a go-to player, so everybody does their part.

“(Williams and Smith) help a lot defensively because they are

quick with good hands and feet. They both know how to get to the basket.”

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