Victory puts NBC into semis matchup | News, Sports, Jobs
By John Hartsock
EVERETT — Northern Bedford’s District 5 Class 2A quarterfinal-round basketball playoff matchup with archrival Everett possessed all the earmarks of a knock-down, drag-out street fight, and it did not disappoint Wednesday night.
The two teams had met three times during the regular season, with Northern winning the first handily but Everett prevailing in the last two — by one point in one game and by two points in overtime in the other.
Wednesday’s game at the Everett Area High School gymnasium featured a series of streaks and runs, with Northern bolting off to several big leads before Everett rallied back each time.
In the end, the fifth-seeded Black Panthers (9-14) held on in the final minutes, carving out a 49-45 victory that earned them a spot in Friday night’s semifinal round against top-seeded Conemaugh Township on Conemaugh Township’s home floor .
First-year Northern Bedford coach AJ Weyant could finally afford himself a sigh of relief in the aftermath of Wednesday’s game.
“We were on the right side of this, but my heart goes out to the Everett kids,” Weyant said. “Those kids worked so hard all year, and they didn’t deserve for their season to end.
“But I’m happy for our guys at the same time,” Weyant added. “At this point, it’s all about surviving and advancing. This was a back-and-forth game of streaks and runs all night long, and we were just fortunate in the fourth quarter.”
After Everett (7-16) narrowed a 46-36 deficit to one point, 46-45, on a jumper by senior Malex Akers with 1:13 left, Northern Bedford white-knuckled his way to victory.
Mason Detterline, a 6-foot-4 senior forward who scored eight points and grabbed a game-high 17 rebounds, took a pass from junior Jestin Fernandez on the low block with under a minute left and scored a clutch field goal to give the Panthers a 48-45 leads.
“Coming out of a timeout, that was our play,” Detterline said. “We wanted to run a set play with Jestin getting me the ball, and it panned out.”
After an Everett field goal try went astray, senior Brooks Snider grabbed an important rebound for Northern Bedford. Junior Collin Yeats, who led the Panthers with 10 points, hit one of two free throws in the final seconds to put the game on ice.
Along with the 10 points from Yeatts and the eight from Detterline, juniors Fernandez, Cullen Lloyd and Eli Cherry chipped in eight points apiece for Northern Bedford.
“We were spread out in the scoring column tonight,” Weyant said. “It took everybody for us to get out of here (with a win) tonight.”
Northern opened an early 8-0 lead before Everett battled back and went ahead, 15-14 early in the second quarter.
An 11-point run gave Northern a 29-17 edge in the second quarter, and the Panthers led by 37-23 in the third before Everett battled to within 3 points, 37-34, on a 3-point play by senior Ethan Murphy early in the fourth period.
A 9-2 run gave Northern a 46-36 spread that Everett cut to one at 46-45 with a nine-point surge of its own.
“That’s been the case all year — we have never given up,” Everett coach Trenton Barnes said. “We battled back hard again tonight. It just didn’t go into our favor.
“Give Northern Bedford credit,” Barnes added. “They’re a tough, gritty team, and they did what they had to do to win tonight.”
Senior Clinton Russell scored a game-high 15 points for Everett.
Weyant expects a stiff test for his team at Conemaugh Township Friday.
“It’s a daunting challenge, but our guys are battle-tested,” Weyant said. “This is what it’s all about. We’re hoping to go down there and play our best game.”
NORTHERN BEDFORD (49): Detterline 4 0-1 8, Lloyd 3 0-0 8, Yeatts 4 1-2 10, Snider 2 2-2 7, Fernandez 4 0-0 8, Cherry 4 0-0 8, Gates 0 0-0 0, Walter 0 0-0 0. Totals – 21 3-5 49.
EVERETT (45): Akers 3 0-0 6, Russell 7 1-2 15, Murphy 3 1-1 9, Shaw 3 0-0 7, Hinish 2 0-0 6, Iseminger 1 0-0 2, Weaver 0 0 -0 0. Totals – 19 2-6 45.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Northern Bedford………… 12 17 8 12 –49
Everett ………………………….12 8 11 14–45
3-point goals: Northern Bedford 4 (Lloyd 2, Yeatts, Snider); Everett 5 (Murphy 2, Hinish 2, Shaw).
Records: Northern Bedford (9-14), Everett (7-16).
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