PITTSBORO — Northwood juniors Cam Fowler and Chad Graves led the charge with 17 and 16 points, respectively, and were crucial in the Chargers’ third quarter explosion in a 63-37 blowout win at Seaforth on Jan. 9.
Coming out of halftime, Fowler scored eight third quarter points, including two threes, to help Northwood outscore Seaforth 15-4 and build a 44-18 lead going into the fourth quarter. He secured his 12th straight game with at least 15 points.
Graves, who had the size advantage in the paint, became an early problem for the Hawks as he scored eight first quarter points all from flashing open and finishing layups and dunks at the rim. His hot start helped Northwood jump out to an 18-6 lead at the end of the first quarter.
“We really worked on our play called secondary this week just to focus on different options we could get out of it and making sure (Graves) seals in the paint, so he could get a wide open layup,” Fowler said.
Fowler scored seven of Northwood’s 11 second quarter points, being the lone offensive bright spot during a period in which Seaforth started slowing the game down. As dominant as the Chargers looked to start the night, a sloppy end to the half with multiple turnovers and missed shots kept Seaforth alive down 29-14 at the break.
Northwood coach Matt Brown told his team to “pick up the tempo” and made some defensive adjustments at halftime.
“Don’t let them get back in the 2-3 zone,” Brown said. “Don’t let them set up. Be a little bit more aggressive in our press to get a little more steals. The first two or three possessions, we got steals because we did pressure. They did a really good job of making that adjustment.”
Graves and senior Isaiah Blair put the finishing touches on the game with six points apiece in the final quarter. Blair, who was a key contributor both offensively and defensively, finished the night with eight points. Four other Chargers entered the scoring column, including senior Beau Harvey who poured in six points.
“We’ve faced 2-3 multiple times this year,” Blair said. “We just did the same stuff we’ve been doing all year. Same plays, executing, making the extra pass and playing as a team.”
While the Chargers’ offense had some ups and downs throughout the night, it was their defensive effort that remained consistently up to par. Harvey came away with a team-high eight steals as Northwood’s mix of zone, half court and full court presses disrupted Seaforth’s ability to penetrate and find good shots. The Hawks shot just 31% from the floor and 29% from three.
Seaforth’s 37 points was its lowest scoring output since losing to Western Guilford 39-36 on Dec. 28. The Hawks are now 1-3 in games that they score less than 40 points while the Chargers have held eight teams to under 40 points (8-0 in those games).
“The defense is where everything starts with us,” Brown said. “It starts and ends with us, so we like to pressure. We like to mix things up. We play a couple of different funky zones here and there to throw teams off, and Beau did a terrific job, and the rest of the guys did, too.”
Northwood secured its 13th win of the season and moved to 7-0 in Mid-Carolina 1A/2A conference play (first place as of Friday), winning its second straight game since the close loss to Washington on Jan. 4. The Chargers face a tougher conference game at home against third-place Chatham Central Thursday, going against a one of the conference’s best scorers in Reid Albright and talented forward Brennen Oldham. However, none of that matters as the Chargers aren’t as worried about who’s in front of them as much as they’re worried about themselves.
“We’re going to just get better and prepare how we’re going to do us,” Brown said. “That’s who we have to worry about. We don’t have to worry about anybody else right now. We’ve got to get better ourselves and make this playoff push.”
As for Seaforth, the loss marks its second defeat in a row after losing to Southeast Alamance on Jan. 7. The Hawks have shown flashes of being dangerous team when they get shot to fall, but they haven’t been consistent, leading to some of their blowout losses this season. After a tough week against the conference’s best two best teams, Seaforth will get a chance to regain some momentum against conference foe Jordan-Matthews (sixth in the conference) Thursday.