Huge third quarter leads Northwood over Bears

Neah Henry led the Chargers with 12 points.

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PITTSBORO — Northwood held Chatham Central to just three points in the third quarter to pull away and beat the Bears 53-31 at home on Jan. 16.

The Bears shot just 1-for-7 in the third quarter, scoring their only basket of the period with six and a half minutes remaining.

“Just being a little more intense on defense and being a little more aggressive,” Northwood coach Kerri Stubbs said. “Picked it up in the second quarter, got that 10-point margin, but then really came out hungry in the second half.”

Northwood Junior guard Neah Henry scored seven of her team-high 12 points in the third quarter, leading the Chargers on a run that saw their 29-19 halftime lead grow to 45-22 entering the fourth.

“I was just driving,” Henry said. “I was just taking the ball to the basket trying to see what I had open, trying to put points on the board and just get us the win.”

Henry also finished the game with a team-high four assists and three steals.

Junior forward Shaylah Glover also helped break the game open for the Chargers with five third quarter points. While she finished the game with nine points, matching freshman guard Noelle Whitaker and senior forward Sydney Ballard, Glover made most of her impact felt with her seven offensive rebounds. Many of those rebounds resulted in second chance points and extra trips to the free throw line.

“It’s really important for me to do that,” Glover said. “I always just want to help my team out the best way I can.”

Said Stubbs, “She really gets going once she gets the rebounds to be able to get the put backs in too. I think that’s where her game kind of takes off.”

Northwood actively looked to use its size advantage to start the game. Ballard scored eight first quarter points mostly from flashing open under the basket and getting clean looks at the rim multiple times.

“Just been preaching to get the ball inside,” Stubbs said. “The guards were seeing the court better and then were able to push the ball in rhythm to be able to score the post inside. Sydney did a great job finishing those down low.”

Chatham Central kept the game close in the first quarter by fighting for rebounds down low and going to the free throw line. The Bears were also active with their hands on the defensive end, forcing early turnovers and finishing the game with 12 steals. They just couldn’t overcome a bad shooting night.

The Bears made just nine field goals the entire night, shooting 20% from the floor and 9% from three. Senior forward Karaleigh Dodson finished as their highest scorer with 11 points.

Northwood wore pink jerseys during the game in support of cancer research awareness on its Play 4 Karen night, honoring former Chatham County teacher and coach Karen Heilman who died from cancer in 2021.

With the win over Chatham Central, the Chargers took full control over the third-place spot in the Mid-Carolina 1A/2A conference. Still without its standout point guard Natalia Whitaker against the Bears, Northwood has remained in position to move up in the standings by dominating the entire conference, except Seaforth and Southeast Alamance, in the first round of conference games.

Outside of the losses to the top two conference teams, no other conference opponent has come within 20 points of Northwood this season. After a battle with Southeast Alamance Tuesday, Northwood will have one more regular season chance at knocking off Seaforth on Jan. 31.

“I think to just keep fine tuning what we’ve been working on, continuing to work as a team collectively, continuing to move the basketball and being unselfish and looking inside like we talked about are going to be keys,” Stubbs said. “Defensively, that’s what got us going tonight, and our defense has got to continue to pick up as we go throughout the second half of conference play.”

Chatham Central now sits at fourth in the conference. Although the Bears are behind in competing for a conference title, they are still in good shape to make the 1A playoffs with North Moore sitting at seventh. The focus for the Bears will be a strong finish to the second half of conference play. Sitting at 17 in the 1A East RPI standings as of Monday, Chatham Central can improve their future playoff situation by beating one of the better teams left on its schedule. The Bears may not be on the level of Seaforth and Southeast Alamance this season, but there’s still some opportunities for good wins against Falls Lake (non-conference) on Feb. 6 and a rematch with Northwood on Feb. 11.