PITTSBORO — Capturing its first conference championship since the 2011-2012 season — and first-ever in the 3A ranks since entering that classification in 2013 — Northwood took the lead for good on Jack Thompson’s jumper in the lane with 6:59 to go in the second quarter, then had to hold off a stubborn Vance County squad the rest of the way before securing a 66-61 Big Eight 3A Conference victory on Senior Night in the regular-season finale for both teams Friday evening in Lewis Norwood Gymnasium.
Riding a five-game win streak into next week’s conference tournament, the Chargers finished 13-1 atop the final league standings and lifted their overall record to 22-2, whereas the Vipers fell to 10-4 in the conference while sustaining only their sixth loss in 24 outings.
Deuce Powell notched 20 points to lead a trio of Northwood players in double figures, while Aaron Ross tossed in 19 and Justin Brower added 10 off the bench. The Chargers shot 42 percent (21-of-50) from the field while turning the ball over 19 times.
Phadol Jordan registered 15 points, Thomas Townes contributed 12 and Traon Lyons chipped in 10 for Vance County, which connected on 48 percent (25-of-52) of its attempts from the floor and held a 30-25 advantage on the glass while committing two dozen turnovers.
“I thought we played well in spurts tonight but we let Vance County dictate the tempo while their 1-3-1 zone gave us fits,” stated Northwood coach Matt Brown. “Their effort on the defensive board limited our second-chance opportunities, while we allowed them to stay close by having a few defensive breakdowns, taking ill-advised shots and turning the ball over. But we managed to keep our composure down the stretch and made our foul shots count, hitting 23-of-28 attempts from the free throw line, including nine-of-10 in the final period.
“Deuce and Aaron always seemed to be there when we needed them,” Brown added, “while Justin gave us a great game at both ends of the court.”
Vipers’ coach Wilton Baskett felt he could sum up his team’s plight in one word – turnovers.
“It was a good game between two good teams, but too many turnovers (on our part) was the difference,” said Baskett. “We shot well, defended well and did a good job on the boards against the best team in the conference, but not taking better care of the ball cost us the game.”
Behind six points from Powell in the first three minutes of action, the Chargers jumped out to a 7-0 advantage before Vance County rallied to take its first lead at 10-9 on Zyshawn Appling’s put-back off the left baseline with 1:29 to go in the initial period.
Brower’s twisting shot in the lane and Powell’s turnaround bucket in the paint then offset Appling’s layup as Northwood concluded the first quarter up 13-12 prior to the Vipers regaining the advantage one last time when Jordan opened the second stanza with a driving basket off the right baseline.
But following Thompson’s hoop that put the Chargers in front to stay, the winners increased their lead to 21-14 on a pair of Brower charity tosses with 4:35 remaining until intermission.
After Vance County closed the gap to 23-21 on a three-pointer from the right corner by Adrian Durham-Thomas with 1:28 left in the half, two foul shots plus a layup from Brower, separated by a Powell free throw, stretched Northwood’s advantage to seven at the break.
The Chargers managed to maintain a six-to-eight point lead over the first five minutes of the third period before Powell’s three-pointer from the left wing with 1:43 remaining in the frame gave Northwood its biggest advantage of the night at 41-30.
Following Jordan’s dunk that trimmed the difference to 43-35 with 26.4 seconds to go in the stanza, a Ross jumper from the left wing with 1.5 seconds left on the clock extended the Chargers’ lead back out to double digits while putting the senior guard over the 1,000-point plateau for his career.
But the Vipers wouldn’t let Northwood’s triumph come easy, rallying once more to pull within 51-50 on Jordan’s layup with 3:18 to play prior to the Chargers fashioning a 7-0 run over the next minute-and-a-half to forge an eight-point advantage before sealing the win from the charity stripe.