Knights lose hard-fought battle
• Northside Christian holds off a furious Village Christian rally.
By Earl Vaughan Jr.
Scholastic sports editor FAYETTEVILLE OBSERVER
It was almost a perfect comeback by the Village Christian boys’ basketball team, with one notable exception. They couldn’t get any kind of break during their final four possessions of the game and dropped a 63-62 heartbreaker to visiting Northside Christian on Saturday afternoon.
The game pitted Village, the state’s No. 1 2-A team in the latest N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association rankings, against No. 2 Northside. Village fell to 12-2 while Northside improved to 12-5.
Village dug itself what appeared to be an insurmountable hole in the first half as Northside capitalized on its size and quickness to sprint to a 46-31 lead after two quarters.
The second half was almost a complete reverse of the first. Northside’s offensive output slowed dramatically as it scored only 17 points in the final two periods. Meanwhile, Village maintained the same pace it managed in the first half and started to catch up.
“It was like the whole second half the basket was wide open until the last minute of the game,’’ Village coach Kurtis Darden said. “We were right there, we just couldn’t put it in the cup.’’
Darden thought his team was hurt at the start of the game by an injury to team leader Jordan Ratliffe, who had rolled his ankle but was still on the court. “He’s our leading scorer and the heart and soul of the team,’’ Darden said. “He usually gets us going. It seems like we didn’t know what to do without him.’’
Missed opportunities
Darden felt live-ball turnovers in the first half hurt his team badly, but he challenged them at halftime to cut down the turnovers and start getting rebounds. “Once we got possession and stopped giving them second and third chances at the basket, we were able to put the ball in the cup ourselves,’’ he said.
The Village comeback didn’t surprise Northside coach Byron Dinkins, a former star at UNC-Charlotte who played almost 20 years of professional basketball.
“Being the team they are, we knew they were going to make a run,’’ Dinkins said. “We had enough of a cushion to withstand some of those runs and we made timely plays, whether defensive or offensive.’’
David Strother, who scored nine of his game-high 17 points for Village in the final quarter, led the charge. A turning point came with Village ahead 63-58 with 1:26 left when the Northside bench was hit with a technical foul.
Strother was already at the line for a one-and-one. He hit both of those, then added the technical free throws to cut the Northside lead to 63-62, where it would stay.
In the final minute, Northside missed the front of three one-and-ones.
Meanwhile, Village got great looks and shots but couldn’t convert. Nassyr Daniels and Ratliffe both had layups roll off the rim. Ratliffe also turned the ball over when he was driving the lane for another layup try, and Josh Haymer missed an uncontested jumper from the corner as time expired.
“We had our chances at the end,’’ Strother said. “We just didn’t finish.’’
Strother said the Knights will return to practice Monday, work hard and try to move forward from the loss. “He’s going to coach us up and get us right for Tuesday,’’ Strother said of Darden. The Knights have a home game Tuesday with county rival Freedom Christian. They beat Freedom in a close game earlier this season at Freedom.
Dinkins said he was surprised at least one of Village’s late scoring attempts didn’t succeed. “We’ve lost three of those games this year,’’ he said. “Same scenario. Today, I guess the basketball gods were the ones letting us come out (a winner).’’
Chris Martin was high for Northside and the game with 25 points.
Northside Christian 63, Village Christian 62
Northside Christian 21 25 7 10—63
Village Christian 13 18 18 13—62
NORTHSIDE CHRISTIAN — Chris Martin 25, Cashaw 5, Lewis 2, Umstead 6, McCoy, Gregory 4, Malde 3, Nate Hinton 16, Dean 2
VILLAGE CHRISTIAN — David Strother 17, Ratliffe 5, Jarvez Ellis 13, Josh Haymer 11, Banks 6, Nassyr Daniels 10
Fouled out: NC — Cashaw.
3-point goals: NC — Martin 2, Malde. VC — Ratliffe, Ellis 3, Banks 2.
Records: Northside Christian 12-5, Village Christian 16-3.
• Northside Christian holds off a furious Village Christian rally.
By Earl Vaughan Jr.
Scholastic sports editor FAYETTEVILLE OBSERVER
It was almost a perfect comeback by the Village Christian boys’ basketball team, with one notable exception. They couldn’t get any kind of break during their final four possessions of the game and dropped a 63-62 heartbreaker to visiting Northside Christian on Saturday afternoon.
The game pitted Village, the state’s No. 1 2-A team in the latest N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association rankings, against No. 2 Northside. Village fell to 12-2 while Northside improved to 12-5.
Village dug itself what appeared to be an insurmountable hole in the first half as Northside capitalized on its size and quickness to sprint to a 46-31 lead after two quarters.
The second half was almost a complete reverse of the first. Northside’s offensive output slowed dramatically as it scored only 17 points in the final two periods. Meanwhile, Village maintained the same pace it managed in the first half and started to catch up.
“It was like the whole second half the basket was wide open until the last minute of the game,’’ Village coach Kurtis Darden said. “We were right there, we just couldn’t put it in the cup.’’
Darden thought his team was hurt at the start of the game by an injury to team leader Jordan Ratliffe, who had rolled his ankle but was still on the court. “He’s our leading scorer and the heart and soul of the team,’’ Darden said. “He usually gets us going. It seems like we didn’t know what to do without him.’’
Missed opportunities
Darden felt live-ball turnovers in the first half hurt his team badly, but he challenged them at halftime to cut down the turnovers and start getting rebounds. “Once we got possession and stopped giving them second and third chances at the basket, we were able to put the ball in the cup ourselves,’’ he said.
The Village comeback didn’t surprise Northside coach Byron Dinkins, a former star at UNC-Charlotte who played almost 20 years of professional basketball.
“Being the team they are, we knew they were going to make a run,’’ Dinkins said. “We had enough of a cushion to withstand some of those runs and we made timely plays, whether defensive or offensive.’’
David Strother, who scored nine of his game-high 17 points for Village in the final quarter, led the charge. A turning point came with Village ahead 63-58 with 1:26 left when the Northside bench was hit with a technical foul.
Strother was already at the line for a one-and-one. He hit both of those, then added the technical free throws to cut the Northside lead to 63-62, where it would stay.
In the final minute, Northside missed the front of three one-and-ones.
Meanwhile, Village got great looks and shots but couldn’t convert. Nassyr Daniels and Ratliffe both had layups roll off the rim. Ratliffe also turned the ball over when he was driving the lane for another layup try, and Josh Haymer missed an uncontested jumper from the corner as time expired.
“We had our chances at the end,’’ Strother said. “We just didn’t finish.’’
Strother said the Knights will return to practice Monday, work hard and try to move forward from the loss. “He’s going to coach us up and get us right for Tuesday,’’ Strother said of Darden. The Knights have a home game Tuesday with county rival Freedom Christian. They beat Freedom in a close game earlier this season at Freedom.
Dinkins said he was surprised at least one of Village’s late scoring attempts didn’t succeed. “We’ve lost three of those games this year,’’ he said. “Same scenario. Today, I guess the basketball gods were the ones letting us come out (a winner).’’
Chris Martin was high for Northside and the game with 25 points.
Northside Christian 63, Village Christian 62
Northside Christian 21 25 7 10—63
Village Christian 13 18 18 13—62
NORTHSIDE CHRISTIAN — Chris Martin 25, Cashaw 5, Lewis 2, Umstead 6, McCoy, Gregory 4, Malde 3, Nate Hinton 16, Dean 2
VILLAGE CHRISTIAN — David Strother 17, Ratliffe 5, Jarvez Ellis 13, Josh Haymer 11, Banks 6, Nassyr Daniels 10
Fouled out: NC — Cashaw.
3-point goals: NC — Martin 2, Malde. VC — Ratliffe, Ellis 3, Banks 2.
Records: Northside Christian 12-5, Village Christian 16-3.
