Northside Makes The Grade In 60-52 Win Over Bulldogs

Northside 6ft-5 senior Carlos Basham goes to the basket over Martinsville 6ft-7 center Devonte Holland Saturday night in the Vikings 60-52 win in the Roy Stanley Shootout.
Northside 6ft-5 senior Carlos Basham goes to the basket over Martinsville 6ft-7 center Devonte Holland Saturday night in the Vikings 60-52 win in the Roy Stanley Shootout.

The encore matchup Saturday night in the Roy Stanley Memorial Shootout featured a pair of one-loss teams looking to go deep in upcoming postseason tournament play.

It was the Northside Vikings that proved to be the survivor, dominating the last four minutes of the fourth quarter for the 60-52 victory over the Martinsville Bulldogs.
It was a combination of Northside rising to the occasion down the stretch, along with a virtual meltdown by the Bulldogs.
Martinsville looked to be in great shape midway through the final quarter when Bulldog 6ft-7 center, and Radford University signee Devonte Holland, converted an old-fashion 3-point play in the paint that put the Bulldogs up 50-43.
That’s when the Viking rally began, and Martinsville suddenly found itself looking in the rear view mirror.
Northside sophomore Shey Webb got the comeback rolling with a deep-three, followed by two straight layups by Viking senior Kendrick Tucker off sloppy Bulldog ball handling that tied things at 50 with 3:12 left.
After Martinsville retook the lead at 52-50, Tucker, who tied Holland with a game-high 26 points, drew a foul on a 3-pointer. Tucker calmly sank all three free throws to give Northside its first lead of the game at 53-52.
Martinsville then came unglued, and despite the Bulldog defense forcing a pair of Viking turnovers down the stretch, their offense failed to produce another point.
Northside went up 56-52 on sophomore Nick Price’s steal and bomb from behind-the-arc, and Tucker finished off the Bulldogs with four free throws.
“Martinsville was beating us on offense and defense to start,” Tucker noted on the Bast Center hardwood as friends congratulated him on the comeback. “They kept getting the rebounds at both ends. At halftime, coach told us to step it up, we had to hustle more.”
“We knew this was a big game for us, a big test,” Tucker added. “Well, we passed it. Now, we’ve got to hustle like this each game from here on out.”
Early in the game, it looked as if Martinsville may have fans heading to the exits early, as the sixth game of the tournament started over an hour later than scheduled.
The Bulldogs scored the first 7 points of the game and led 26-13 midway through the second frame before Northside finished on a 10-2 run that sent the teams to the break with the Bulldogs holding a 28-23 advantage.
Northside got to within three points, 34-31, on senior George Bright’s trey midway into the third, but the Bulldogs scored the next six points to go up 40-31. The Vikings answered with a 8-0 surge to end the frame, keyed by a pair of long bombs that closed their deficit to 40-39 heading to the final quarter, setting the stage for the late Viking heroics. Bright, who canned 5 treys, finished with 17 points.
Northside finished with eight 3-pointers in 21 attempts, while Martinsville only connected once from long range. The Vikings went 20-for-23 from the charity stripe, including 15-of-17 by Tucker.
Martinsville shot itself in the foot on offense, committing 31 turnovers. Holland and the Bulldogs controlled the boards, out-rebounding the Vikings 34 to 21.
Bill Turner

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