Strong start keys Northside to rout of Houston County
WARNER ROBINS -- Eleven was Northside's lucky number Friday night against Houston County.
Northside scored the game's first 11 points to get started on a 64-34 romp in the GHSA Region 2-AAAAA game against its county rival. The Bears helped the Eagles to the quick start by missing their first 11 shots from the floor.
The Eagles (9-7, 1-2 Region 2-AAAAA) finished the quarter leading 20-3. The Bears (5-11, 0-3) drew within eight points late in the first half only to see the Eagles spurt again for a 31-16 halftime cushion that they steadily padded in the second half.
The final score was Northside's largest lead of the night.
THREE WHO MATTERED
Marqueavious Wilson: The athletic wing had a game-high 13 points, nine coming in Northside's opening surge.
DeVonta Willis: The guard came off the bench to nail a trio of 3-pointers on the way to 11 points for Northside.
Trayvon Willis: The guard had a dozen points, half coming on a pair of 3-pointers on consecutive possessions for the Eagles.
TURNING POINT
After its early struggles, Houston County steadied to outscore the Eagles 13-2 over a five-minute span in the second quarter to draw within 24-16 with 2:06 remaining. The Eagles, however, scored the final seven points of the half and the first bucket of the third quarter to push the lead to 33-16, and the Bears never got closer than 14 the rest of the way.
WORTH MENTIONING
Streaking: Both teams entered the game having dropped their previous two games.
One and done: Outside of the second quarter surge when it scored six straight points in one span and seven straight in another, Houston County scored consecutive points only one other time in the game, midway through the third quarter when the issue already was settled.
ALSO FRIDAY NIGHT
Lexi Galloway scored 20 points to lead trio of players in double figures and help Northside pull away for a 60-49 victory in the girls game. The Eagles (10-4, 2-1) led 35-18 at halftime with the help of a bothersome press, but the Bears (4-9, 0-3) finally steadied to draw within 38-33 entering the final quarter. However, with Galloway scored nine points, the Eagles pulled away in the stretch. Galloway, who connected on 10-of-11 foul shots, was 7-for-8 from the line in the final quarter to help hold the Bears at bay.
THEY SAID IT
Northside head coach Matthew Simon: "We tell the guys to come out play with a lot of energy set the tone for rest of the game, and then the guys off the bench feed off their energy. We were able to do that (Friday). I was really pleased with the way we played."
Houston County head coach Stephen Walls: "We didn't execute on either end, but we didn't play hard, and that's the biggest thing for me. It's really tough (to come back from that start) when you don't play hard and even tougher when you don't execute anything."
Simon on the second-quarter lull when Houston County rallied: "We started taking some bad shots, and they took advantage of it. We finally settled down and got back in rhythm and started doing what we know how to do."
WHAT'S NEXT?
Northside plays Saturday at Crawford County, while Houston County hosts Perry.
This story was originally published January 15, 2016 at 11:26 PM with the headline "Strong start keys Northside to rout of Houston County ."