Defensive adjustments the key for Northside's girls

Northside's girls followed head 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.

CRACKING 2,000

Wisconsin's football team is getting a pretty prolific basketball scorer.

Stratford's Quintez Cephus went past 2,000 points for his career during a 28-point effort Friday in the Eagles' 69-52 loss at North Cobb Christian.

He added seven to the total on Saturday, and now has 2,031 points.

A ROUGH NIGHT

It's a good thing Northside's defensive changes had an impact, because the Eagles struggled to a 9-for-22 evening at the free-throw line.

And Central is kicking itself, since the Chargers' girls couldn't take advantage, going 8-for-20.

A HUNGRY WEEK

Sometimes a ferocious rebounds is considered being hungry to clear missed shots.

Veterans' Morgan Riley had quite the glass-cleaning appetite.

She had 16 rebounds in Friday's win over Baldwin and nine more a day later in the win over Swainsboro.

Tattnall Square's Jimmy Marshall was starved, grabbing 20 on Friday in the Trojans' 59-58 win over Pacelli.

CALLAWAY SPARKS WARNER ROBINS BOYS

The suspense continues regarding which sport Marquez Callaway will play in college.

His basketball game certainly looked good Friday in Warner Robins' 69-45 win over Houston County.

Callaway led the way with 16 points, including four dunks, and sophomore Nelson Phillips added 14 points as the Demons were able to pull away in the second half.

The senior not only had four dunks, but he also had two 3-pointers and added six rebounds. He was one of the main defenders who frustrated Houston County standout Dayton Hall throughout the game.

"I don't know," Callaway said of the dunks. "I really don't think about them until they happen and they always are just in the flow of the game. But the alley-oop was special because everyone just went wild and it really gave us a boost.

"We know Houston County always plays us tough so it was great to get this win."

-- Compiled by Rick Nolte, John Kosater and Michael A. Lough

This story was originally published December 12, 2015 at 6:49 PM with the headline "Defensive adjustments the key for Northside's girls ."