PITTSBORO — The Chargers continue to add to their historic resume.
Northwood punched its ticket to the NCHSAA Women’s 3A Final Four with a 49-37 victory over the 16th-seeded Person Rockets on Saturday, becoming the first women’s sports team in school history to make it to a state semifinal.
While the victory gives the Northwood community plenty of reasons to celebrate, Chargers’ head coach Cameron Vernon sounded unsatisfied after the game, upset with the way his team played despite the double-digit win.
“The team that deserved it and wanted it more didn’t win tonight. It was Person High School,” said Vernon. “I think they came out and they were more aggressive, they were hungrier, they were getting up and down the court. We looked like we had weights on our feet … To be one game away from the Final Four and give the kind of effort we (did), we’re just very fortunate that we were a little taller, maybe a little more skilled.”
Strictly looking at size and athleticism, this was a game Northwood should have run away with.
It was clear which team was more talented, yet, the first three quarters saw Person hanging around, taking a lead, 29-28, as late as halfway through the third period.
In the first half, the Chargers were forcing turnovers but were unable to capitalize on many of them as the Rockets continued to defend well, especially along the perimeter.
The energy that Northwood had for the previous two playoff games simply wasn’t there to start the game. Offensive possessions were coming up empty. Players and coaches seemed frustrated.
While it felt like the Chargers were never in any real danger, the score was close, with Person taking the lead four separate times in the first half.
With six minutes to go in the second quarter, Vernon called a timeout, visibly upset at his team — he could be heard yelling in the huddle throughout the mostly empty gym. The speech riled up the 25 fans in attendance, who truly got loud for the first time all night.
“The reason why I was upset is you can tell we weren’t engaged in the game because Jillian (McNaught) fell on the floor and I had four girls that stood there and watched her sit on the ground,” said Vernon. “When a girl goes down, we’re supposed to run and help her up. So that’s when I knew we weren’t engaged for this game and that was really disturbing for me to see out of my girls.”
After that timeout, the energy in the building picked up a little bit, but it wasn’t until the second half that the tide truly began turning in Northwood’s favor.
The game’s X-factor was Northwood sophomore forward Te’Keyah Bland, who held her team’s Final Four hopes in the palm of her hand. And she made sure she didn’t drop them.
Bland started to thrive after the break, using her size advantage inside to grab offensive rebounds and score around the basket, something she’s done well all season long.
Chargers’ guards Skylar Adams, Rae McClarty and Natalie Bell began doing a better job of feeding Bland the ball as she scored all but one of the Chargers’ six field goals in the third quarter, along with hitting two shots to start the fourth. That gave Northwood its first double-digit lead, 41-31.
They’d finally pulled away.
Bland ended the night with a career-high 28 points, while Adams added 12 points of her own.
“Their coach, I thought he did a great job and he mentioned that he wanted to shut down the shooter,” said Vernon. “And this is why in Northwood basketball, we stress a team game because, yeah, you can shut down (sophomore guard) McKenna (Snively) and that’s fine, but we’ve still got five other girls who can really play basketball, so you can’t shut them all down.”
This is what makes Northwood dangerous.
It’s not just Bland’s presence inside, Snively’s deadly outside shot, McClarty’s veteran leadership, Adams’ and Bell’s defensive tenacity or any other single thing that the Chargers fully rely on. It’s all of it.
And like the five senses, if one gets taken away, the others just get stronger.
The Chargers have been billed as a second-half team as of late and Saturday was no exception.
“I don’t know what it is,” said Vernon. “I don’t know if we need to just tell them it’s the second half at the start of the game, but we need to grow up, we need to mature in that aspect.”
After an emotional 17-point comeback win on the road against Terry Sanford just two days earlier and playing its third game in five days, it’s not a surprise that Northwood struggled to get amped up for Saturday’s Elite 8 matchup.
However, that’s not going to fly against everyone.
“I do think that there was a layover from the two games. I get it, but tomorrow’s not guaranteed right now. And I hope that they have a sense of urgency moving on that we could very well wake up the next day without a game to play,” said Vernon. “I want this more for them than I want it for me or our staff.”
In addition to the women, the Northwood men’s basketball team also managed to cement a spot in Tuesday’s Final Four after a close win over top-seeded Terry Sanford on Saturday, 43-41.
As one of just two schools to have both men’s and women’s teams in the Final Four this season (Farmville Central, 2A), all eyes are on Northwood to see if the Chargers can add themselves to the rare club of winning both championships in the same year.
“It’s great for our school, it’s great for our kids and we have a great following here in Pittsboro and in Chatham County,” said Vernon. “I know there’s going to be a lot of people down around the circle and in town tonight that are going to be hooting and hollering, as they should be, because these kids are making them proud.”
Next up:
Northwood men: at (6) West Carteret on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Northwood women: vs. (7) Asheboro on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Reporter Victor Hensley can be reached at vhensley@chathamnr.com or on Twitter at @Frezeal33.