By By Aaron Carpenter, Staff Correspondent
YEATESVILLE — The Williamston Tigers beat the Northside Panthers 53-49 in a hotly contested basketball game Friday night.
The game was decided in the last minute by some timely and accurate free throw shooting from Williamston’s Javien Andrews.
The crowd was treated to a fast-paced, up-and-down the court battle between the two squads for much of the contest.
Williamston (6-16, 6-6) improved to a .500 record in conference with the win.
The first quarter started off with Andrews scoring the first eight points of his team-leading 23 for the Tigers to Northside’s two.
The Panthers came roaring back and took the lead as Anthony Martin drilled a 3-pointer to give Northside (1-19, 0-12) the 12-11 advantage.
Martin’s breakaway layup went into the net just before the buzzer sounded to end the first to maintain the one-point lead, 17-16.
The game went back and forth in the second quarter, with Northside leading by as much as four and Williamston leading by as much as three before Northside’s leading scorer, Michael Chase with 15, went 4-4 from the line in the waning minutes of the half to cut the Tigers’ lead to 27-26.
Heading into the locker room, it was obvious that both teams thought the game was within reach.
The third quarter featured much of the same breakneck speed of the first half, with the lead changing multiple times before Williamston’s depth started to wear down the Panthers.
Capitalizing on the weary legs of Northside’s shallow bench, Williamston was able to stretch the lead to four at the end of the third, 42-38.
And that’s just what they needed as both teams played each other toughly in the fourth.
Giving no quarter, the Panthers and the Tigers scratched and clawed at each other in the final period, resulting in an inordinate amount of fouls and free throw shooting.
The Tigers had the edge in that category, shooting 50% as the Panthers could only muster 25% from the stripe down the stretch.
The Lady Tigers garnered their 20th straight win against the Lady Panthers in convincing fashion 57-22 despite only scoring two points in the fourth quarter.
The Williamston ladies are ranked #1 in the state in division 1-A.
Katie Paschal, only a sophomore, lead Williamston from the point and in the box score with 21 points in the first three quarters. Equalia Vines and Monee Jones chipped in with 10 points a piece as the Lady Tigers took advantage of turnovers and fast break points to soundly thrash Northside.
The game started off with Williamston going on a 12-0 run over the first four minutes and Paschal and her teammates didn’t take their foot off the gas until the fourth quarter.
If it weren’t for 3-pointers from Northside’s Lauren Rodriguez at the end of the second and Antwaneisia W. at the beginning of the third, the Lady Panthers would have been shut out in those two quarters.
Northside did manage to out-score Williamston in the fourth 8-2, but that wasn’t nearly enough to overcome the deficit that had developed in the first three quarters of the game.
Williamston completed the sweep against Northside by whipping the jayvee team 85-53.
Williamston 16 11 15 11 — 53
Northside 17 9 12 11 — 49
WILLIAMSTON (53)
Javien Andrews 23, Jarret Coffield 12, Moody 7, Smith 2, Wiggans 2, Peel 2, Bell 2, Williams 2
NORTHSIDE (49)
Michael Chase 15, Anthony Martin 11, McCuller 9, Pernov 6, Mason 3, Dail 2, Cooper 2, Artis 1
Girls
Williamston 22 15 18 2 — 57
Northside 8 3 3 8 — 22
Bonney 6, Alligood 6, Rodriguez 3, Antwanesia 3, Bennett 2, Leathers 2