PITTSBORO — And then there were eight.
Deuce Powell poured in a season-high 29 points to lead three Northwood starters in double figures while Cape Fear never held an advantage the entire evening as the Chargers earned a trip to the Elite 8 round of the NCHSAA state basketball playoffs for the first time in nearly a decade by corralling the Colts 72-55 in third-round action of the 2020 Men’s 3A East Championships Saturday night in Lewis Norwood Gymnasium.
While 11th-seed Cape Fear closed out the 2019-20 campaign with a record of 19-6, third-seed Northwood extended its unbeaten string to nine games in a row to improve to 26-2 and will next host a familiar foe in 10th-seed Southern Durham (22-5) Tuesday night in a fourth-round matchup, with the winner advancing to the Final Four. The Big Eight 3A Conference rival Spartans, who finished a game behind the Chargers in the final league standings, handed Northwood one of its two losses this year.
The Chargers’ last venture this far into the state playoffs occurred back in the 2010-11 season when they progressed all the way to the title game before suffering a 58-56 loss to East Rutherford.
Joining Powell in double-digit scoring on Saturday evening were Jalen McAfee-Marion and Alex Snively with 13 points each as Northwood connected on 54 percent (23-of-43) of its shots from the field and held a 23-21 advantage in rebounds while turning the ball over 10 times.
Treymane Parker notched 20 points and R.J. McDonald collected 18 for the Colts, who shot 41 percent (20-of-49) from the floor while committing 14 turnovers.
“Our defense helped us get off to a fast start as it creates a lot of our offense,” noted Chargers’ coach Matt Brown.
“While we took better shots tonight than in our last outing, we still need to clean up on the defensive glass and do a better job denying second-chance opportunities. One aspect I was pleased with this evening was the play of Jack Thompson, who boxed out well on the boards and took some charges, as well as the effort given by guys like Justin Brower and Troy Arnold coming off the bench to give us quality minutes on the court while not turning the ball over.”
Cape Fear coach Alphonza Kee remarked his team was hampered by early foul trouble, while Northwood’s senior leadership allowed them to control the pace of the game.
“They did a good job pressuring the ball and not letting us get in our offensive sets,” said Kee. “They contested our shots well and were aggressive around the rim, getting a lot of effort points off the boards.”
“I thought their guards were able to maintain the tempo they wanted while penetrating the lane for good looks at the basket or knowing when to dish off when the shots weren’t there.”
McAfee-Marion’s jumper from the right side and three-pointer from the right wing helped the Chargers jump out to a 7-2 advantage in the first two minutes of play before the Colts fought back to pull within 11-10 on a Shaun Ross layup with 4:13 left in the opening period.
Powell and Aaron Ross then combined for six unanswered points to swing the momentum back in Northwood’s favor, and the Chargers went on to forge as much as a 29-18 advantage following Powell’s turnaround bucket in the lane with 2:21 remaining in the first half.
But Cape Fear would mount another comeback prior to intermission, outscoring its host 12-5 to close the gap to four following a Chase Hawkins trey from the right corner with 23 seconds remaining until the break.
Cape Fear sliced its deficit to two on two occasions in the third stanza, the last time at 38-36 on Parker’s layup with 5:26 to go in the frame before three Powell hoops ignited a 17-6 quarter-ending Northwood run that put the contest out of reach, and the visitors from Fayetteville could never reduce the Chargers’ advantage under double figures the remainder of the contest.