Northside makes the plays down the stretch to beat Tunstall 64-55 in Region Final matchup
Region 3D Championship, Cassell Coliseum, Blacksburg, VA–
In a matchup that many have been waiting for all year, the Vikings of Northside turned back the Tunstall Trojans 64-55. Coming into tonight, Northside was ranked #5 in Class 3A while Tunstall was #4. This now sets the stage for Northside taking on #3 Western Albemarle, while Tunstall will battle #2 Spotswood, as both teams move on to the states. Lake Taylor is ranked #1 and sitting on the other side of the state brackets.
Northside’s win tonight was hard-fought. Tunstall never backed up and stayed within striking distance, but couldn’t quite get over the hump. Meanwhile, Northside Coach Bill Pope showed why he is such a great strategic coach, substituting and mixing his lineup to maintain the lead and get the win.
Northside took the lead in the first quarter, not with Cy Hardy or Mykell Harvey going off, but rather Kai Logan sparking the Vikes. Logan accounted for 8 points early on, including two three pointers. Northside stretched that lead to 29-21 with Coach Pope utilizing more of his bench.
In the second half, Tunstall made up some ground scoring 20 points to 16 for Northside to get it to 45-41, Northside. Hardy was good for 12 points in the third, while Tunstall was led by their big man F/C 35 Jamarcus Brown with seven.
The heat was definitely turned up on both sides in the final quarter. Harvey scored 7 of his 14 in the final quarter, and the Vikes needed them. F/C 34 Jele Green came off the bench to get two big buckets inside a couple of key rebounds. For the Trojans, G 10 Zay Cobbs added five points and G 3 Kobe Morrison added four. Morrison had to sit a good bit of the final quarter after he picked up his fourth foul.
Anything can happen in the states, so these two could meet again. Stay tuned.
Northside – Cy Hardy 17, Mykell Harvey 14, Kai Logan 11, D.J. Via 8, Nick Crawford 8, Jele Green 4, Josiah Keene 2 Tunstall – Kobe Morrison 12, Jamarcus Brown 12, Zay Cobbs 11, Latron Williams 8, Jailyn Edmonds 8