PITTSBORO — Never underestimate the power of passionate parents.
During Northwood’s first-round playoff win, 58-51, over Fayetteville’s E.E. Smith Golden Bulls on Tuesday, the 25 fans in attendance packed the punch of hundreds as their energy created a playoff atmosphere perfect for an unbeaten team’s revenge.
The Chargers — who fell to E.E. Smith in last year’s Sweet 16 by 16 points — brought plenty of fire themselves as the bench roared in big moments, the players never faltered and, most importantly, the game ended in their favor.
“Our fans were loud tonight, all 25 of them,” said Northwood head coach Cameron Vernon. “They brought some energy tonight. I don’t know if they did that in the six or five games we had this season, but tonight, they definitely were a boost, especially down the stretch.”
The family members in the stands had plenty to be excited — and nervous — for.
Northwood held a steady lead for most of the game, increasing its advantage to as many as nine at halftime. But after two made free throws from E.E. Smith sophomore point guard Skylar White with 5:56 left in the fourth, the Chargers found themselves locked at 45-45 against the team which sent them home last season.
What followed was a 9-2 run by Northwood that illustrated the composure, maturity and sheer talent of this team.
Immediately after the free throws, the Chargers broke the Golden Bulls’ press in textbook fashion, allowing Northwood junior guard McKenna Snively to score a layup off of a beautiful pass, making it 47-45.
Golden Bulls forward Jordan Everett — a thorn in Northwood’s side throughout the night — tied the game again with a bucket in the paint, but then Chargers junior guard Natalie Bell, in what was arguably the most important play of the evening, drained a three-pointer to give her team a 50-47 advantage. And that was all she wrote.
A mid-range jumper by senior forward Jillian McNaught and another bucket by Bell capped off the 9-2 run, giving the Chargers a 54-47 lead with just over two minutes remaining.
“Jillian, she made that one shot toward the end of the game and I just said ‘No!’ and it went in and I just had to laugh,” said Vernon. “(And Natalie) had some big shots down the stretch when she was really getting after it on defense, so the defense does turn into offense. She’s learning that.”
Northwood hung on for the 58-51 win, getting their revenge. Despite how close it was, E.E. Smith never led during the game.
“We showed them today that we really were a better team last year, we were just off. We played over there, it was a long bus ride, so we were struggling,” Snively said after the game, “but here, we showed them today that we really are the better team and we came out and we just played.”
“It felt good. It felt good to get that revenge,” added Bell.
If there was ever a game defined by a true team effort, this was the one.
All night long, Northwood counted on one another to get the job done.
Four Chargers ended the night in double-figures, including sophomore forward Te’Keyah Bland (17 points), Snively (11 points), Bell (10 points) and senior guard Rae McClarty (10 points).
The guards made sure to feed Bland in the paint — where she sometimes struggled with the size of Everett and other E.E. Smith forwards — when necessary, but also weren’t afraid to take shots if they had them, as evident by the string of three-pointers knocked down by Snively and Bell to close out the first half.
“As soon as I get the ball, my first option is to shoot,” said Snively. “Vernon runs plays for me because he has confidence in me to shoot. I have that green light.”
The Golden Bulls are notorious for their play inside, their height and especially their press and ability to steal the ball.
However, while the Chargers had a few hiccups getting the ball up the floor on Tuesday, allowing E.E. Smith to capitalize on transition buckets, Northwood never got rattled or scared. They just kept pushing.
“Last year we didn’t have all four girls lined up across the foul line to start it off, we made that adjustment (tonight) to give us some more people to throw to, and I just think we’re a different team, we’re a little older,” said Vernon. “Skylar (Adams), for a freshman, handles pressure like no other freshman I’ve ever seen in 12 years of coaching high school girls … overall she handled herself phenomenally and so did the rest of our guards.”
As a whole, the Chargers played with heart from start to finish, especially on defense.
In the first quarter, Northwood forced the Golden Bulls to reset during a possession after playing stellar defense and denying them access to the lane despite their persistence. When E.E. Smith finally got the ball back to its point guard near half-court, McClarty loudly clapped a few times, keeping the energy high, before lowering her stance and getting ready to go another round.
The passion that McClarty exuded Tuesday night — which included embracing her teammates and crying tears of relief once the buzzer sounded — was the same dedication and excitement seen in the faces of every one of Northwood’s players.
On Thursday, the Chargers will travel to Fayetteville to take on the undefeated, fourth-seeded Terry Sanford Bulldogs, which has four of last year’s E.E. Smith players that transferred over there ahead of the season. In a way, it’ll be another revenge game.
But if unbeaten Northwood plays like a team the way they did on Tuesday, the Chargers will be a tough out.
“They want it for each other. I think they want it more for each other than they do themselves. They want to see the smiles on their teammates’ faces because we’re successful,” said Vernon. “It’s a great group of girls, I can’t keep saying that enough, and they’ve been really fun to coach this year.”
Reporter Victor Hensley can be reached at vhensley@chathamnr.com or on Twitter at @Frezeal33.