By By Matthew Nascone
The Northview Lady Chiefs pressed Central until they broke and came away from the Jay Christmas Tournament with the first ever tournament victory in NHS girls' basketball history.
The Lady Chiefs (10-4) defeated Central High School 40-36 Dec. 18 in the championship game and NHS head coach Lorenzo Jones said it felt good to make history.
"The girls played well and we got the first tournament win in Northview history," Jones said. "We used a full-court pressure defense in the second half for the win. We got steals and fast break opportunities."
Jones said the game was back-and-forth the entire game and it was a hard fought game on both sides. The Lady Chiefs hit a buzzer beating three-pointer at the end of the first half for a 14-13 advantage.
In the second half Central held a two-point lead until the final minute of the game when NHS stormed back for the win.
"The girls came out of the half and played hard," Jones said. "We changed to the full-court press and it really worked for us."
Junior Gabe Wesley scored 23 points in the championship game and was named the Tournament MVP with 44 points, five steals and two rebounds in the two games. Juniors Timeka Marshall and Melissa Garrett both added 7 points. Garrett added seven rebounds and Marshall had two rebounds and three steals.
Marshall and Garrett were also named to the All-Tournament Team.
Against Central sophomore Angela Rodriguez contributed 2 points, three rebounds and one steal. Junior Shelbi Wiggins had 1 point and eight rebounds and junior Brittney Thompson added four rebounds.
Lady Chiefs 51 Jay 42
Another dominating effort by Wesley and the Lady Chiefs turned into a 51-42 win over the Jay Lady Royals in the first round of the Jay Christmas Tournament Dec. 17.
"Conditioning really helped us (in the Jay game)," Jones said. "Our girls came out in the first half playing like they thought it would be easy and Jay was there to play. But we made some things happen in the second half and played a lot better. Our aggressiveness on defense was the key to the game."
The Lady Chiefs opened the game on a 5-0 run, but Jay scored seven straight points and did not surrender the lead until the third quarter. NHS trailed 21-19 at halftime, but outscored Jay 32-21 in the second half for the dominating win.
Wesley had 21 points, four steals, one rebound and one assist. Marshall added 14 points, five steals, two rebounds and one assist. Garrett had 6 points, two rebounds, two steals and two assists.
Thompson contributed 4 points, 10 steals, eight rebounds and one assist. Wiggins had 4 points, nine rebounds and six steals and Rodriguez had three steals.
Lady Chiefs 40 East Hill 28
A Dec. 15 matchup with East Hill turned into a 40-28 victory for the Lady Chiefs. The lead was only 22-17 at halftime, but a strong third quarter gave the Lady Chiefs a 35-24 lead after three quarters and NHS outscored East Hill 5-4 in the final quarter for the 40-28 victory.
Wesley led the scoring with 15 points, two rebounds and two steals. Marshall added 13 points, four steals and three rebounds. Rodriguez had 4 points, three steals and two rebounds.
Garrett contributed 3 points, seven rebounds and one steal. Thompson and senior Karissa Lee each scored 2 points. Thompson had eight rebounds and four steals. Wiggins added 10 rebounds and one steal.