Northeast grinds out rough win over Johns Creek

Despite the Christmas rust, and a feisty opponent, Northeast High School was able to stall out Johns Creek for a 33-29 victory in the first round of their Copeland Christmas Classic game.

The first quarter had all the makings other good old-fashioned track meet. Both the Raiders and Gladiators pressured the ball full court, which led to easy buckets, turnovers and fouls. By the end of the first quarter, Northeast was leading 15-10 off the strength of five steals defensively.

The second quarter mirrored the first. More back and forth basketball and more physical play led to six fouls on the Raiders in the quarter. Johns Creek was able to close the gap on the Raiders and go into halftime down 26-22

In the second half, things got sloppy for both squads and the Gladiators zone defense kept the Raiders under control. Junior sharpshooter Ty’ree Gilbert couldn’t seem to get on track from outside. Defensively, the Raiders continue to force Johns Creek into difficult shots.

Both offenses were anemic in the second half and both defenses were playing aggressive. Northeast decided to slow the game down and by the end the Raiders and Gladiators could only muster seven points each.

Turning point

With shooting woes, a ton of foul trouble and sophomore Cameron Cherry being ejected after two technical foul calls in the second quarter, Northeast head coach Kevin Grooms ordered his team to hold the ball to start the fourth quarter until Johns Creek came out of its zone to play them man to man. It ran several minutes off the clock and allowed Northeast to come away with a close victory.

Two who mattered

Darius Dunn: The Junior essentially did everything for the Raiders. He finished with 14 points, six rebounds, an assist and two steals. He was clutch from the free throw line, hitting all six of his attempts including two at the end of the game to give Northeast a three point lead.

Tim Green: The senior forward came off the bench to score eight points and grab five rebounds. He had two offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter that kept Raider possessions alive and he hit two free throws down the stretch to help ice the game.

They said it

Northeast head coach Kevin Grooms on his team’s struggles offensively: “I think it was just the first game coming off Christmas. We’ve been on break. We’ll just chop it up and try to come out and have a better game tomorrow.”

On his decision to stall in the fourth quarter:

“We kept looking at the situation. The foul count was ugly, calls weren’t coming our way, so we just decided once we got a lead we were going to hold it.”

Other tournament scores

Boys

Macon County, 73 Mundy Mill 60

FPD 70, Rutland 51

Girls

Tri-City 40, Washington 24

Laney 81, Macon County 50

Rutland 53, Lamar 46

What’s next?

The Raiders will take on the winner of Lamar and Washington in the second round nightcap of the Copeland Christmas Classic at 8:30 Thursday.

This story was originally published December 27, 2017 at 8:38 PM with the headline "Northeast grinds out rough win over Johns Creek."