Northside righted the ship Friday night at the Viking gym as Northside ended a two-game skid with the 63-54 win over Rockbridge County.
Northside was set for the final Blue Ridge District regular-season push in a battle with William Byrd, and the Vikings may be hoping Rockbridge’s ace point guard Andrew Rowsey finishes with a bang.
Byrd has to play Rockbridge twice this week to complete the Blue Ridge campaign. Rowsey, who became the third highest scorer in VHSL history with a 35-point performance against Patrick Henry Saturday night in Salem, will obviously be a thorn in the Terriers side if he’s on fire.
Friday night, the Vikings used a variety of double-team efforts that held Rowsey to a game-high 28 points, 10 below his season average. Northside got the benefit of a scoring drought from Rowsey’s supporting cast.
On the other end, Northside got its offense in gear after a pair of Blue Ridge losses on consecutive nights to Byrd and Lord Botetourt that saw the Viking offene struggle.
Northside outscored the Wildcats in every quarter, and withstood Rowsey drawing fouls throughout that sent him to the free throw line 17 times, with the UNC-Ashville signee making 16.
Chance Hall had a big game to jumpstart Northside, coming through with 23 points against the Wildcats. Jarrien Hairston added 14 for the Vikings, while Spencer Maye and Dominic Dunnaville each chipped in 8.
Northside finishes their regular season this week with a pair of road games. The Vikings visit last-place Staunton River along with a trip to Daleville where the Vikings can count on going up against another prolific free throw shooter. Cavalier Justin Goode was an astounding 94-for-100 from the charity stripe heading into last week’s schedule.
by Bill Turner
