Raiders Cage Tigers 72-56: Advance to VIC Division II Final

The North Cross game plan was basic Thursday night at the Jim Muscaro gym.

Raider big-man Peter Agba goes to the rim as a Hargrave defender looks for the block.
Raider big-man Peter Agba goes to the rim as a Hargrave defender looks for the block.

Take the action right to athletic Hargrave Military on the offensive end of the court.

“We did take it to them,” North Cross head coach Bill Hodges agreed at midcourt after the game. “It’s tournament time and if you’re not ready, it’s one and done.”

The strategy paid dividends as the Raiders knocked off Hargrave 72-56 in the VIC Division II semifinal. North Cross advances to the Division II final Saturday afternoon at 3:45 at the Roanoke College Bast Center where they will play top-seeded Carlisle. Carlisle defeated the Raiders twice in the regular season by 3 and 12 points, accounting for the only conference losses for North Cross.

Thursday night, North Cross came out firing and scored the game’s first nine points. Hargrave responded with a 9-4 run of their own to cut the Raider lead to 13-9 after one quarter.

The Raiders had runs of 10-3 to start the second quarter and 9-4 to close the frame, taking a 32-19 advantage to the halftime break.

After intermission, the game turned physical as Hargrave employed a full court trap press often leading to fouls and flying bodies. North Cross stayed in command, outscoring the Tigers 20-17 and taking a 16 point lead to the fourth quarter.

Both teams ran the court throughout the fourth, and the officials dished out several warnings for agressive play.

The closest Hargrave could get was nine points with 2:55 remaining. North Cross, however, was up to the task and when senior Eddie Smith canned a pair of free throws in the final minute to put the Raiders up by sixteen, Hargrave pulled back the troups and time expired.

“It was the second roughest game we’ve played this year,” Hodges pointed out.

The Raiders may well expect a replay on Saturday against a Carlisle team with only 2 losses on the season.

North Cross big-man Peter Agba led the Raider scoring with 18 points. Sharpshooter Matt Doughty added 16, while Bennett Holley knocked down 15.

Chris Conrad led Hargrave with 17 points, while Keon MacIntosh added 11 points for the Tigers.

by Bill Turner

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