Boys: Northwood 72 – Southeast Alamance 51
PITTSBORO — Northwood junior Chad Graves went 7-for-7 from the field and dominated both sides of the floor as the first-place Chargers left no doubt in a 72-51 win over second-place Southeast Alamance in a Mid-Carolina 1A/2A showdown Monday.
Graves, a 6-foot-9 forward, scored 17 points, matching junior guard Cam Fowler for a team-best scoring effort.
If there was one play that best exemplified Graves’ dominance, it might’ve been his block on a three-pointer from Southeast Alamance’s Trey Vandusen in the second quarter. Graves was even able to grab the blocked ball out of the air and throw it off Vandusen for a turnover.
Graves got to the free throw line early on in the first quarter, but his offensive game really took off in the second quarter. Northwood entered the second quarter with a just a 14-10 lead, but six points from Graves and seven points from senior guard Isaiah Blair, including and-ones from both of them, helped the Chargers outscore the Stallions 21-9 before the break.
“It’s unstoppable,” Fowler said. “I feel like he can get a bucket every time. If he just stays calm and plays at a good pace and doesn’t get too sped up in his head, he plays extremely well, and we need a lot more of that Chad.”
Coming out of halftime, Graves continued his big night with 11 second half points. And as well as he played, his running mate Fowler was right there with him getting his 17 points in similar fashion.
Fowler racked up the and-ones and free throw attempts from slashing to the rim, which has worked well for him all season. He scored eight first quarter points and shot at an efficient 67% clip.
“The lane, I felt like, was wide open,” Fowler said. “I took my chance, and I used my strength and my abilities to go through them and just finish at the rim. Coach has been on me about finishing the and-ones.”
Although Fowler and Graves’ performances were much needed, senior guard Beau Harvey’s 10 points may have been the most celebrated, though. Harvey’s third made field goal and seventh point of the night early in the fourth quarter gave him just enough to reach 1,000 career points. Northwood stopped the game briefly as his teammates swarmed him in celebration after the shot and he was honored on the court for his achievement.
“My guy Hayes hit me in the middle, turned around and hit a little 10-12-foot jumper,” Harvey said. “Felt really good. Hooping with my guys, I got my 1,000, so that’s good.”
Said Northwood coach Matt Brown, “Any college team would be very fortunate to have Beau Harvey as a point guard.”
Northwood moved to 17-2 overall and 11-0 in conference play with the win. The latest victory over Southeast Alamance was a lot more convincing than the first meeting back in December. In that game, the Stallions gave the Chargers a battle, falling short by just four points at their place.
Brown said a big difference Monday was the defense.
“We’ve fixed a lot of things on defense lately,” Brown said. “Us flying around and being more aggressive, but then also finishing at the rim. We’re trying to finish at the rim with two feet. The guys are really buying into it.”
Said Brown, “I think it was the closest game as a complete game that we’ve had so far, and we’re just going to keep building on it."
Girls: Southeast Alamance 56 – Northwood 33
Northwood’s abundance of turnovers gave second-place Southeast Alamance an abundance of transition layups as the Stallions ran away with a 56-33 conference road win Monday night.
Southeast Alamance junior Shaniya Paylor led the way with 20 points, and freshman Rreanna Johnson poured in 14 more from mostly turning the Stallions’ 23 steals into scores.
The Stallions also controlled the boards with 36 rebounds. Junior Clara LaChapelle grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds to go with her 12 points.
Paylor nearly had a quadruple-double with 10 assists, eight rebounds and eight steals.
“Southeast Alamance has a good team, and we didn’t play our game,” Northwood coach Kerri Stubbs said. “I think we played down and didn’t take care of the basketball. That was a big thing for us.”
Stubbs acknowledged that the Stallions’ intense defensive pressure influenced some turnovers, but she also realized that some of them were unforced.
With the loss, Northwood fell to 12-5 overall and 7-3 in conference play. Things won’t get easier for the Chargers with first-place Seaforth coming into their house Friday night, but Stubbs is ready to take on the opportunity for a huge bounce back.
“I think we’re going to really be intentional about what we’re doing and how we’re doing it and try to grow and learn from it,” Stubbs said.
