Clarksville, TN – A basket by Correal Murry, with 21 seconds left capped an 18-point, second-half rally by Northwest High School, Thursday, November 20th at the Willard Ross Memorial Gymnasium, as the Vikings edged the Maplewood High School Panthers, 68-67 for their first victory of the season.
The Vikings (1-4) trailed Maplewood 44-26 at halftime and still by 11 points, 61-50 heading into the final quarter, but opened the final eight minutes of play by scoring the first seven points of the period to get to within four points, 61-57 with 4:25 left in the game.
Young would lead all scorers with 21 points.
After a missed front end of a one-and-one by the Panthers, Young would extend the lead to four points with a bucket with 1:26 left.
The Panthers would score the next two buckets to tie the game 67-67 with 35 seconds left, with William Alexander scoring the tying bucket.
Maplewood tried to press the Vikings and force a turnover, but Northwest was able to get through the press with Murry getting credit for what turned out to be the game-winning bucket on a goal-tending call, with 21 seconds left.
The Panthers would have several chances to tie — or take the lead — in the final seconds, but Northwest would come up with a steal on Maplewood’s first trip down the floor after Murry’s basket.
Northwest would turn the ball back over to Maplewood, as they tried to bring the ball up the court, but the Vikings defense was able to hold on, as the Panthers missed not one but three final shots attempts in the final 10 seconds before the final buzzer sounded.
In the first half, Maplewood came out and rained 3s down on the Vikings early-on – hitting five from behind the arc — to build a 26-8 lead in the first 6:20 of the game, before taking a 26-12 lead into the second quarter.
Northwest wouldn’t get any closer than 10 points the rest of the way in the first half, including the final time, 25-26, following a bucket by Young with 2:12 left before intermission.
But Young’s basket was the final points scored by the Vikings in the opening half, with the Panthers closing-out the first half by scoring the final eight points to take a 44-26 lead into halftime.
Northwest returns to action November 21st, with a road contest at LaVergne High School, while its next home game is scheduled for November 25th versus Hendersonville High School. Both games are 7:30pm starts.
Photo Gallery
Box Score
Northwest 69, Maplewood 67
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Maplewood Panthers | 26 | 18 | 17 | 6 | 67 |
| Northwest Vikings | 12 | 14 | 25 | 18 | 69 |
Maplewood: Michael Parker 11, William Alexander 11, Deshawn Johnson 4, Malik Harris 19, Reggie Nelson 2, Alexander McKissack 2, Hassan Littlepage 18. Team totals 28 4-9 67.
Northwest: Isaiah McCoin 3, Mayrel Randolph 9, Marice Wright 13, JaRyan Young 21, Elijah McCoin 11, Correal Murry 8, Dezman Stacker 4. Team totals 29 7-14 69.
3-point field goals: Maplewood 7 (Parker 3, Littlepage 3, Alexander 1), Northwest 4 (I. McCoin, Randolph 1, Young 1, E. McCoin 1).
Records: Maplewood 2-1, Northwest 1-4.
