By Leonard McNair
Staff Writer
The boys’ basketball team used a balanced scoring attack to hold off Durham School of the Arts, 66-56, in Wednesday night’s conference tournament opener at Northwood.
“The thing I like about the balanced scoring is you go through the quarters, Aumad Walker was the fourth quarter with 11 points, John Wieland was the second quarter with seven points, and Mark Goods was consistent through out the game,” said coach Russ Frazier.
This game was fast paced and the score fluctuated often. A 10 point Charger lead could soon turn to a tie. DSA, led by Robert Story’s 24 points, created a very fast-paced, up-tempo game. Throughout, turnovers, which Frazier described as “lazy passes and good pressure” hurt Northwood.
“Basketball’s a roller coaster,” Frazier said. “It’s an up and down game. Sometimes you go slow and sometimes you have to turn your hat backwards and watch it dive down.”
This game’s pace forced the Chargers into foul trouble. They had to bring in a lot of players off the bench and constantly readjust.
“Whoever was making shots at that point was who we went through,” said Frazier.
Northwood’s inconsistency eventually leveled off, and Northwood was able to slow the game down.
“We just keep our composure, reduced our turnovers and made shots,” freshman Ti Pinnix said.
“The key was rebounds,” said junior Walker. “We always have to rebound and we slowed the ball down.”
Throughout the season Northwood has consistently used rebounding to control its opponents, and this game was no different. DSA executed a large amount of steals, but the Chargers didn’t allow many second chance points.