Northwestern and Rock Hill split rivalry games. What does that mean for playoffs?
The Northwestern Trojans and the Rock Hill Bearcats divided a rivalry Region 3-5A doubleheader at Northwestern High School on Friday night.
The Trojans capped off a perfect region campaign with an 82-74 victory in the boys’ game, while the Bearcats took change from the opening tap and routed the Trojans, 58-22, in the girls’ contest.
The Trojan boys head to the playoffs next week with a 13-game winning streak and a lot momentum.
“The momentum is huge for us,” head coach John Bramlett said after the rivalry game on Friday. “We are going to get every team’s best shot. We knew we would get Rock Hill’s best shot tonight. We need to stay focused and be ready every time we play.”
Northwestern is 22-4 overall and 8-0 in the region. Rock Hill is 12-11 in all games and 4-4 in the region as they also head to the postseason next week.
The Bearcats took a 9-4 lead midway through the first period, but Ger-Cari Caldwell scored the next seven points for Northwestern to offset a layup by Donavan Brown, and the game was tied at 11 with 2:41 left in the period. The teams battled on nearly even terms the rest of the quarter, and the Trojans were up 16-15 when it was over.
Northwestern led 19-17 with 7:21 to go until halftime. They tacked on a 14-0 run over the next two and a half minutes to take a 33-17 lead with 4:39 to play in the first half. Caldwell scored six in the spree, and Mason Grigg and AJ Thompson each scored from beyond the arc.
Rock Hill answered. The team ran off the next 12 points to cut the deficit to 33-29 at the 2:55 mark. Shane Blakeney led the charge with a pair of three’s and Brown added four free throws.
Qua Allison scored six straight points for Northwestern to create some breathing room, and when halftime rolled around, the Trojans enjoyed a 43-34 advantage.
The second half was played on nearly even terms. The biggest Trojans’ lead was 13, while the Bearcats’ smallest deficit was four. When the third quarter was in the books, Northwestern was in front, 58-53. When the clock showed 4:20 to play in the game, the Trojans were up, 67-62.
Northwestern went on a 6-0 run to take a 73-62 cushion with 2:53 remaining. Thompson started the run with a layup. He ended it with another layup on the break after taking a perfect pass from Grigg.
The closest the ‘Cats would get the rest of the way was seven.
Caldwell and Allison led the Trojans with 25 points each. Grigg added 14, and Thompson contributed 10. Blakeney paced Rock Hill with 23, including seven 3-pointers, and Brown added 21.
Bramlett was very pleased with his team’s performance.
“Every time they made a run at us, we had an answer,” he said. “This team has matured as the season as moved along.”
The veteran coach was also high on the Trojans’ teamwork.
“We got another great team effort tonight,” he added. “We played solid defense, distributed the ball, did a good job with the transition game, and shot well.”
Bearcat girls command game early
In the girls’ game, the Bearcats bolted out of the gate to an 18-6 lead after one period. Gracie Wilson had a pair of 3-pointers to lead the way, and Unique Burch and Myra Wise contributed four points each in the opening quarter.
The second session was more of the same. Wilson drained another three as part of her seven second-quarter points. Jada Jones added five points in the period as the ‘Cats built a 34-16 lead at intermission. Rock Hill continued the assault in the second half. When the third quarter was in the books, they led 47-17.
The ‘Cats, who substituted freely in the second half, closed out the game by outscoring Northwestern 11-5 in the final quarter.
Wilson led Rock Hill with 19 points. She nailed five goals from beyond the arc. Wise added 11, and Jones chipped in 10. Micah Green led Northwestern with nine and Jada Murphy added six.
Rock Hill head coach Kenny Orr was pleased with his team’s overall play.
“We were a little bit flat to start out, but we picked it up as the game went on,” said Orr. “We played good defense tonight. We switched it up early, and we got another solid team effort on that side of the ball.”
Rock Hill is 19-7 overall and 6-2 in the region as they head for the playoffs next week. Northwestern finished its season with an overall mark of 4-18. The team was 0-8 in region play.