PITTSBORO — It was a high level basketball game here Monday night resembling a state playoff atmosphere as Northwood battled 4A Apex Friendship in the finals of the 2nd annual First Bank Charger Classic girls tournament.
When the dust settled it was Apex Friendship taking home the trophy behind 23 points from tourney MVP Indya Nivar with a tightly contested 70-60 victory that was closer than the final score indicated.
Nivar had 13 of her game-high 23 in the fourth quarter including four in the closing minute with the initial two coming from the charity stripe with :53.8 left and the Patriots clinging to a precarious 52-47 advantage. Brooke Amberg added three foul shots in the waning moments to offset a trey by Northwood’s Tekeyah Bland to seal the 10-point win.
Northwood coach Cameron Vernon couldn’t have been more complimentary to the victors from Wake County.
“Congratulations to Apex Friendship,” Vernon said. “We knew coming in that we would have to play really well in order to have a chance. We tried early on to have someone other than India Navar beat us and they were able to hit some shots. Also we struggled early and had too many turnovers which they converted into easy buckets.”
Those turnovers and poor shooting in the opening quarter coupled with six points from Marlyn Poneleit, five points including a trey from Tyra Washington, and four more for Navar led to a 15-1 lead by Apex Friendship at the 3:15 mark and Northwood was threatened with being run completely out of the gym.
But to the Lady Chargers’ credit, they battled back with a 10-4 run to close the frame including a rebound bucket from Rae McClarty, a driving basket from Jy Smith, a pair of foul shots by Tekeyah Bland, a runner in the lane at the 1:02 mark from Natalie Bell, and a pair of foul shots by Bell with :12.2 left in the stanza to close the locals to within 19-11.
“I loved how our team fought back. I thought Rae McClarty was outstanding defensively on Nivar , even though she had 23. I thought Rae made her work for it,” .said Vernon. “Also, McKenna Snively did real well defensively. Those two throughout the tournament brought it on the defensive end and it doesn’t show up in the box score, but is so very important. Tekeyah Bland had another sold game offensively and I hope that continues.”
McClarty held Nivar to just two free throws in the second quarter and a field goal in the third to allow Northwood to come roaring back in the contest to have a legitimate shot at the win.
Snively and Smith had four points each and Bell a trey to keep Northwood to within 32-22 at the intermission as Milla Gnann stroked a pair of treys to keep the Patriots in front by double digits.
Caitlin Bailey tallied five points, including a conventional three-point play off a drive at the 4:49 mark to cut the deficit to 36-27 for the Chargers, and Smith and Snively a trey each, the latter of which slice the Patriots lead to 36-33 a the 3:20 mark.
Apex Friendship would use a 5-2 spurt to close the quarter to extend its advantage back to 41-35. Nivar scored her only bucket in the period from the left wing in the spurt before Amberg drained a trey from the left wing with :43 seconds remaining to cap the scoring in the stanza. Amberg, also a sophomore like Nivar, would close the contest with 10 pivotal points off the bench.
The Lady Patriots would rip off a 7-0 run to start the fourth and looked in control again with a 48-35 cushion at the 5:21 mark. Nivar had four points, the final two at the charity stripe in the run, and Amberg a steal and left-handed lay in before converting the three-point play with a plus one at the charity stripe.
Northwood refused to give in, going on a torrid 15-6 run capped by the Bland trey from the left wing to close the deficit to 54-50 with :40.5 remaining. Hannah Kanapkey had a trey in the surge while Bland added three points from the free throw line.
It wouldn’t be enough, however, as Nivar and Amberg sealed the contest in the waning moments for the Patriots title clinching win.
“The difference I thought was down the stretch with our inability to rebound the basketball and I just felt that Apex Friendship wanted it more,” Vernon said. “They seemed to get every rebound and loose ball. At this level the teams that want it more typically find a way to win and I think that’s what happened tonight.”
Bland led a balanced Northwood offensive attack with 13 points while Snively chipped in 11, and Bell and Smith 9 apiece.