Northside girls, Central boys take tight wins

Northside's girls followed coach Casaundra Wilson's instructions Friday night and the result was a 49-44 GHSA non-region victory at Central in a matchup of unbeaten teams.

The Eagles (5-0) took the lead for good late in the third quarter, then held off the Chargers (4-1) in the final quarter by periodically switching defenses. Central had seven chances to either tie or take the lead in the final three minutes, but were turned away each time.

Northside led 28-20 at intermission only to see the Chargers draw even at 30-30 with 3:08 left in the third quarter. The Eagles took a 42-36 lead with 4:51 left in the game, but Central rallied again to make it a one possession game until Northside scored the game's final three points.

In the boys game, Central weathered a potential game-tying 3-point attempt in the final seconds to cling to a 69-66 victory. The Chargers (4-1) led by as many as 16 points midway through the second quarter before the Eagles (1-2) steadily came back to eventually take a five-point lead of their own.

Northside led 50-48 on the first basket of the final quarter, but Central scored 10 straight points and was never without at least a share of the lead the rest of the way.

SIX WHO MATTERED

Lexi Galloway: Seven of her game-high 17 points came in the final quarter for Northside's girls.

Kayliyah Little: She helped Northside get going by scoring 10 of her 12 points in the first half.

Kentrevious Jones: The post player had a game-high 26 points to lead the Central boys, and his three-point play with 46.3 seconds broke a 65-all tie.

Jaylan Sandifer, Marqueavious Williams and Trayvon Willis: Each scored 17 points for the Northside boys.

TURNING POINT

Wilson's decision to add 2-3 and 1-3-1 zones to her team's defenses in the final quarter was huge. The switching defenses helped the Eagles turn back Central each time it had a chance to tie or go ahead in the stretch.

WORTH MENTIONING

Both girls teams struggled at the foul line, the Eagles going 9-for-22 and the Chargers 8-for-20.

The boys game was defined by big scoring bursts topped by a run of 16 straight by the Chargers on the way to a 18-4 lead after the first quarter. Northside has spurts of 10 straight in the second quarter and 16-2 in the third. Central also had a 10-0 surge.

THEY SAID IT

Wilson: "I made some adjustments and the girls did a good job of executing the defenses. It made (Central) rethink what they were doing. I was just trying to throw some things at them so they couldn't get comfortable against the same look."

Central boys coach Andre Taylor: "Just told (players) we had to keep fighting and cut down on the mistakes. We didn't take care of the ball and took some shots we shouldn't have been taking and that allowed (Northside) to come back. I'm proud of the fact we stayed together and got the ball where we needed to when we got behind. It was a great effort after getting that lead, then losing it to stay focused and come back ourselves."

WHAT'S NEXT?

Northside is at Perry for a doubleheader beginning at 6 p.m. on Saturday, while Central hosts Jackson for two games starting at 6 p.m. on Saturday.

This story was originally published December 11, 2015 at 11:12 PM with the headline "Northside girls, Central boys take tight wins ."