JACKSONVILLE — Jacksonville Northside not only got its revenge over South Lenoir on Tuesday, but the Monarchs also stayed alive for the East Central 2A Conference regular season title.
Jamal Parker scored 13 of his game-high 27 points in the fourth quarter to help Northside pull away for a 70-62 victory.
The win avenged a 73-72 loss at South Lenoir on Jan. 8. It also moved Northside (16-3, 8-3) into a tie for second place with the Blue Devils (12-7, 8-3), one game behind Clinton (15-5, 9-2), which beat Topsail 56-47 on Tuesday.
The victory also showed the Monarchs could win a close game.
“This win is huge,” Northside coach Tony Marshburn said. “We had to play well in a tight game and finish, and we did. We needed this win to give us confidence and to prove we could do it. We had been struggling in tight games lately.”
The Monarchs led 45-31 late in the third quarter, but the Blue Devils twice rallied to get to within one in the fourth.
An 8-1 run capped off by a 3-pointer from Wyatt Janning pulled South Lenoir within 54-53 with 4 minutes left. After Parker scored on a layup, the Blue Devils’ Ishmael Baldwin made two free throws to cut Northside’s lead back to one at 56-55 with 3:14 left.
Then the Monarchs began to pull away.
Parker made a pair of foul shots and then scored on a layup on the next possession to give Northside a 60-55 lead. Janning hit another 3-pointer, but Parker followed with a free throw and then scored on a layup with 55 seconds left to put the Monarchs ahead 63-58.
Parker was 4 of 4 from the field and 5 of 6 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter.
Northside’s Davion Ayabarreno completed a three-point play to make it 66-58 and the Monarchs never looked back.
The first meeting saw South Lenoir freshman guard Jonte Midgette dominate the Monarchs with 33 points. This time, Midgette scored 16 on 6-of-9 shooting. After he made his first three field goals, he didn’t take a shot in the second quarter and had just one shot in the third quarter.
Dion Jones scored 17 points and Baldwin added 15 for South Lenoir.
NORTHSIDE 67, SOUTH LENOIR 45
Like their boys counterparts, the Northside girls got the payback they wanted.
Journee Collins led four players in double-figure scoring with 16 points to lead the Monarchs past South Lenoir in a key EC2A game.
Ashanti Curry added 14 points and Lizzie Perez had 13 while Erin Bowerman had 12 points and 11 rebounds for Northside (16-4, 9-2), which lost 51-45 at South Lenoir on Jan. 8.
“Anytime you get to revenge a loss, it’s good,” Northside coach Chad Novelli said. “We didn’t really come out well in the first quarter against them last time and last Friday (against Croatan), but tonight they were fired up and ready to go.”
The win put the Monarchs in a tie for second place with East Duplin, which beat Croatan on Tuesday. Both Northside and the Panthers are one game behind Clinton for first place. Clinton beat Topsail on Tuesday.
The Blue Devils (14-5, 8-3) now sit alone in fourth place with three games left.
Leading 9-6, the Monarchs pulled away late in the first quarter, thanks to an 8-0 run. Collins and Perez hit a 3-pointer and Charissa Moore made two free throws in the spurt.
Moore finished with eight points. Marquia Suddeth led South Lenoir with 15 points.
BOYS
South Lenoir 14 11 14 23—62
Northside 15 16 18 21—70
BLUE DEVILS (12-7, 8-3) — Janning 6, Whaley 3, Dion Jones 17, Wooten 3, Ishmael Baldwin 15, Turner 2, Jonte Midgette 16.
MONARCHS (16-3, 8-3) — Cabrera 11, Brown 2, Parker 27, Kr. Curry 16, Ayabarreno 5, Ko. Curry 3, McCarthy 6.
GIRLS
South Lenoir 6 13 12 14—45
Northside 17 9 18 23—67
BLUE DEVILS (14-5, 8-3) — Meready 2, Pelletier 2, Jones 2, He. West 6, Demeyia Adams 10, Ha. West 5, Franklin 2, Marquia Suddeth 15, Braxton 1.
MONARCHS (16-4, 9-2) — Moore 8, Robinson 2, Jones 2, Bowerman 12, Curry 14, Collins 16, Perez 13.