Northside advances in state quarterfinals with impressive 71-54 win over Spotswood
State Quarterfinals, Northside High School, Roanoke, VA– Once beaten Spotswood has now been beaten twice. Last year’s defending 3A state champion, Northside (26-3), started fast and then breezed to a 17 point win over the visiting Trailblazers of Spotswood (26-2) in the state quarterfinals.
From the opening jump ball, where Spotswood won the tip but Junior G/F 23 Mykell Harvey stole the ball, stepping in front of a Trailblazer player the Vikings set the tone. Harvey survived two early fouls and then picked up his third just before half, to score 12 points. But early on it was the calm, cool, collected G 12 Cy Hardy that controlled the game and pushed the Vikings score. Coming off the high, ‘on-ball pick, Hardy punishes defenders. Press him, he blows by you. Stay back, he calmly drops ‘dimes.’ As if that’s not enough, opponents help defend on him and he finds the open Viking. Hardy had 27 points and really was a puzzle that Spotswood never solved.
For the Trailblazers, their best weapon was G 2 Jackson LI who finished with 16 points. He used his size advantage over smaller defenders to get open shots in the ‘paint.’ G/F 4 Camryn Pacheco fouled out of the game with 5 minutes left. The talented Junior was well defended all night and never really got it going. He finished with 12 points. Ja’corie Shelton chipped in with 10.
Viking Senior G/F 32 Kai Logan continues to show up big in these big games. His experience showed up early, as the Trailblazers focused their energies on Hardy and Harvey. Logan contributed 13 points on the night.
Northside will now move on to play Tunstall (27-2) who they beat
in the Region D Finals 3 days ago in Blacksburg. The Trojans bested Western Albemarle (21-6) 41-28 in a classic slowdown game. Ironically, Western had just handed Spotswood their first loss of the year in their Regional final contest.