Northside makes it back to the state championship to defend title with 66-59 win over Tunstall
State Semifinals, Cregger Center @ Roanoke College, Salem, VA– The Northside Vikings pulled off the tough task of beating an opponent twice in the last few weeks when they knocked Tunstall out of the tournament with a 66-59 win in the state semifinals at the Cregger Center at Roanoke College. The hot shooting Vikings jumped out to a big lead early and they held off the Trojans late.
G/F 23 Mykell Harvey scored 9 points in the first quarter along Kai Logan who chipped in with 6 to put Northside up 18-6. Tunstall missed 6 free throws in route to a 1 for 19 night at the charity stripe. More than anything this was the Trojans undoing. Harvey slammed home a fast break dunk to get the Northside crowd into the game.
The Vikings stretched their led to 37-20 at the half. Harvey added 7 more while F/C 34 Jele Green kicked in 6 points off the bench. Northside continued to attack the basket out in space and in their half court offense. Again Harvey got loose on a break away dunk, with a perfect bounce pass from Hardy, once he drew the defender to himself. To handle Tunstall’s inside size advantage, it took a group effort. G/F 21 Nick Crawford, G/F 10 D.J. Via, and Green took turns trying to defend the paint.
Tunstall roared back at the start of the second half with 6 unanswered points. The Trojans outscored the Vikes 16-8 in the quarter led by G 12 Jaylyn Edmonds with 6, and F/C 35 Jamarcus Brown, and G/F 2 Corey Zelinski kicked in with 4 apiece.
But Northside weathered the storm in the final stanza. Hardy had 12 of his 17 points in the fourth including 8 or 10 at the foul line. Tunstall didn’t hit their first free throw until the 2:04 mark of the fourth quarter.
Northside (27-3) will now move on to take on the #1 team in state 3A, Lake Taylor (25-1), next Friday at 8pm in Richmond at VCU’s Siegel Center. The Titans beat James Monroe 77-46 in the other State Semifinal.
Northside – Mykell Harvey 19, Cy Hardy 17, Kai Logan 13, Nick Crawford 6, Jele Green 6, Josiah Keene 4, D.J. Via 1 Tunstall – Jaylyn Edmonds 16, Corey Zelinski 15, Carter Higden 9, Jamarcus Brown 8, Xavier Cobbs 6, Kobe Morrison 5