By PAUL GOTHAM
BLOOMFIELD, N.Y. — The Northstar Christian boys’ basketball team ventured into unfamiliar territory Monday night, and the top-seeded Knights came out on the other side with a victory.
With their leading scorer slowed by foul trouble and held to a season-low output on offense in the first half, Northstar had to focus its energies on the opposite end of the floor.
“What I’m most proud of is the way we defended especially early,” Northstar coach JJ Garwood said after the Knights 66-42 win over No. 5 seed Marcus Whitman in the Class C1 semi-final. “When the buckets weren’t there in the first half for us, our defense kept us within striking distance. That’s what I’m most proud of on nights like this.”
Leading 26-21 at the break, Northstar used a 14-4 run early in the third quarter to gain separation.
Senior, Tray Roberts connected on back-to-back three-pointers including one as a part of 4-point play, and the Knights grabbed a double-digit advantage they eventually did not surrender.
“We kinda struggled in the beginning of the game,” Roberts said. “We couldn’t find our shots. Defensively, we were getting back doored on us a lot. We came through in the second half.”
Leading 26-24, Michael Brown drove the lane and kicked to an open Roberts on the left wing for his first triple. Next trip down the floor, Miles Brown found Roberts on the opposite side of the floor. Fouled on the play, Roberts converted from the free throw line for a 33-24 Northstar lead.
Tray Roberts connects on his first of 2 straight 3-pointers. Roberts finished with 13 in Northstar Christian’s 66-42 win over Marcus Whitman. pic.twitter.com/WiAWs9QdG8
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) February 27, 2018
“I was thinking that we need to get something going,” Roberts added. “I was telling them at halftime if you got something to the basket look opposite for each other. It’s going to be open when you penetrate because they’re worried about them (Miles and Michael) scoring and getting in the paint. Once they kick it out it’s open shots.”
Miles Brown, the area’s leading scorer with 30.6 points per game during the regular season, was tagged with a pair of offensive fouls during the third quarter. The first came less than one minute into the half, and the second charging call came four minutes later. He went to the bench at the 3:47 mark with four fouls.
The Knights responded with a 9-4 spurt to end the quarter.
“All the other players stepped up big when Miles was in foul trouble,” Roberts added.
Roberts hit a runner in the lane and followed with two free throws. Matt Medeiros found Ryan Garwood for a corner triple, and Mike Brown hit two free throws.
After struggling to score on consecutive possessions through the first 10 minutes of play, Northstar had a double-digit advantage going into the last eight minutes of the game.
Four possessions into the final stanza, Medeiros took a kick out from Matt Williams and found bottom of the net for a 54-40 lead. The Knights didn’t look back from there.
“That’s the first time we went into the half under 30 points,” Garwood noted. “I thought we could have pushed the pace a little bit more. At the same time, they defended well. I couldn’t be really upset with a lot of the shots that we were getting. I thought we got some good looks. We didn’t hit a few. Some were hurried.”
Miles Brown finished with 23 on the night. Roberts added 13. Michael Brown scored. Medeiros had nine and Daniel Pickett six points.
Riley McLoud and Jon Donovan scored 11 apiece for Marcus Whitman (19-4). Seth Benedict had six points, and Ryan Herod scored five for the Wildcats.
Northstar (22-1) will play No. 2 seed Pembroke (23-0) in Friday’s final at the Blue Cross Arena.
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