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 Randy Wrenn | Daily Herald The Northwest Halifax Lady Vikings celebrate after winning the 2008 Northern Carolina Conference Tournament with a win over Southern Vance. |
The top-seeded Vikings built a seemingly insurmountable lead midway through the final quarter, but hung on after Southern Vance's late charge for a 50-43 win.
The Vikings (23-1) added the tournament championship to their regular season title and will enter the state playoffs Monday night. But it wasn't easy.
Northwest had a 16-point lead (38-22) entering the fourth quarter and extended that margin to 43-24 when Monique Silver hit a jumper with 5:50 remaining. Southern's Tremanisha Taylor converted a three-point play to trim the lead to 43-32. Raven McLeod then hit a 13-foot jump shot to give the Vikings a 45-32 lead with 2:35 left in the game.
That's when the Raiders made it interesting.
Five seconds later, Taylor converted another three-point play and cut Northwest's lead to 10 at 45-35. After another Raider basket, Silver hit a free throw and Northwest led 46-37 with 1:45 left.
Latoya Branch made two from the foul line to cut Northwest's lead to 46-41 with 1:24 to go. After a tip-in by Lakeesa Daniel, Taylor made two more free throws to cut it back to five at 48-43 with 13 seconds on the clock. Daniel's follow shot made it 50-43 and the Vikings celebrated at midcourt. The win was Northwest's third of the season over the Raiders.
Northwest led 11-6 after the first quarter, but Daniel, their 6-4 center, picked up two fouls. Coach Jimmie Roberts sat his big center the entire second quarter, but Northwest maintained its five-point margin and led 22-17 at the break.
Daniel returned in the third quarter and promptly scored nine of her team's first 11 points to give Northwest a 33-19 lead.
Britney Whitehead hit a layup and Silver made a free throw and jumper and suddenly the Vikings had a 38-22 cushion after three periods of play. The game was on cruise control.
Daniel started the fourth quarter with a free throw, Kendra Knight scored off the break, and Silver and Raven McLeod hit back-to-back jumpers and this one was nearing the blowout range. That's when the Raiders started their rally and made it a ball game.
Northwest had beaten Southern by nine points on this same court earlier in the season, then pounded them 54-32 at Northwest.
“We played well for three quarters,” said Roberts. “But due to foul trouble (Daniel and Knight had four apiece), we were limited to what we could do. We made some bad decisions in the fourth quarter. Overall, though, I thought Britney (Whitehead) and Raven (McLeod) did what they had to do. Both played well and controlled the tempo for most of the game. When Lakeesa (Daniel) was allowed to play, she produced.”
Roberts added, “Monique (Silver) and Kendra (Knight) did a super job rebounding when Lakeesa was out of the game.”
Roberts summed it up with a quote from the late Jim Valvano. “A 'W' (win) is a ‘W'.”
Despite sitting out more than a quarter, Daniel led the Vikings with 13 points, 12 of them in the second half. She also added five blocked shots. Whitehead had 10, and McLeod and Silver six apiece for Northwest.
Taylor led the Raiders with 20 points, including seven from the line. Shauna Terry chipped in nine points and guard Toni Warren added six. The loss leaves the Raiders at 18-8 entering the playoffs.
Northwest, the state's sixth-ranked 2-A team, will host a first-round playoff game Monday night at Aurelian Springs. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. (The opponent is expected to be Hillsborough Orange.) Bunn upset Southern Vance for the second time on the Raiders' court, using the three-ball to pull of a 43-41 win and take the boys' title. The boys' playoffs begin Tuesday night and Northwest Halifax will travel to Goldsboro High.
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