Monday night’s Blue Ridge District showdown between the William Fleming Colonels and Northside Vikings was like a military exercise.
One minute, both teams were storming the basket. The next, it was bombs away from long range.
When the dust had settled, the Colonels had enough firepower to outlast the Vikings 69-59, capturing the Blue Ridge District title in the process.
“This was a well played high school basketball game,” Northside head coach Billy Pope noted afterward. “William Fleming was a much better team than the last time we played them, and we were a much better team than the last time we played them. It was a game of streaks tonight, that’s for sure. I was proud of our team and our effort was good enough to win. There are so many possessions in a game like this, things can change fast.”
While Fleming came out looking to push the ball with their talent and speed, the game quickly became a 3-point shooting contest by both squads. Neither team was hesitant to put it up from behind-the-arc, the keys to numerous point swings throughout the game. The two teams combined for 21 3-pointers, Fleming holding the narrow 11-10 edge in that category.
After four lead changes to open the first quarter and a 6-5 Colonel advantage, the bombs began flying akin to a full staged blitzkrieg. Fleming senior standout Warren Craft connected twice from long range and, with the Colonels forcing the action, junior Tyrell Adams followed with another deep arc for a quick-fire 15-5 Fleming lead.
Just when it looked like it may turn into a Colonel romp, Northside reeled off a pair of deep balls by senior Michael Barker sandwiched around a routine basket and a long-range jumper by J.D. Mundy that ended the opening frame with Northside up 16-15.
The Vikings extended their lead to 22-17 before Fleming rallied in part on a pair of treys by Adams to regain the lead 27-26. Kendrick Tucker followed within old-fashioned 3-point play on a fade-away jumper in the paint to put the Vikings up 29-27 and Colonel senior Jaland Robinson capped off the first half scoring with a 3-pointer that sent the teams to the break with the Colonels holding the 30-29 lead.
Fleming began the third quarter with a 14-2 run, helped in part by treys from Steven Jones and Adams, that extend the Colonel lead to 44-31. Northside’s only points in that stretch came on a pair of free throws, and it wasn’t until Mundy hit a 3-pointer with 2:25 left in the third that the Vikings scored their first points of the half from the field.
Craft then added a 3-pointer for Fleming and Northside’s Tucker and Mundy followed from behind-the-arc to send the game to the final 8 minutes with Fleming up 47-40.
The Colonels looked to be in control when they went up 60-48 with 3:00 left, but Tucker’s two free throws with 1:13 left capped off a 9-0 Viking run that closed the gap to 60-57. Fleming then scored the next seven points to put the game away.
“We mishandled the ball during that early part of the third quarter,” Pope pointed out of the Viking point draught to start the second half. “Against other teams you can get away with that. Against Fleming, you can’t.”
“My teammates kept getting me the ball,” Adams, who finished with a game-high 23 points said. “We always look for the hot man, and tonight I felt it. This was a big rivalry game. We came to play.”
“We played hard,” Craft, who poured in 20 points for Fleming, added. “There were a lot of spot-up shooters out there tonight. Our defense was able to lock it down.”
In addition to the big production from Adams and Craft, Jones knocked down 14 points for the Colonels.
Tucker paced the Viking scoring with 20 points, including 11-of-11 from the charity stripe. Mundy and Barker followed with 12 points each in the Viking effort.
The Colonels improved to 20-2 with the win, while Northside fell to 17-4 in the battle between the top two teams in the latest “Big-11” poll.
– Bill Turner
