McIntosh vs Northgate Basketball

On Friday, the Northgate Basketball teams hosted region rival McIntosh Chiefs. The Lady Vikings were looking for the season sweep, while the Boys were playing in a revenge game, hoping to force themselves into a tie for the top seed in Region 3 - AAAAA.

Both girls’ teams struggled to find the scoreboard in the first quarter, only going into the second with an 8-4 Northgate lead. Northgate held onto that lead and expanded on it to go into the half up 9. The offenses found their way in the second half with the teams combining for 53 points, but Northgate continued to roll to secure the 44-38 victory.

DeAsia Stinson led the team in points again with 15 points, scoring 8 in the final quarter. Randria Wilcher scored 10 points with a couple second half 3’s. Aaliyah Reynolds added 7 points, Chanira Isaac added 6 points, Holly Metz added 5 points, and Nivea Severs added a point from the free throw line.

The boys game got off to a hot start with a 3-point shootout in the first quarter, seeing five 3-point FG’s from the Vikings alone and several from the Chiefs. The Vikings trailed 21-17 after the first quarter, but then never looked back. Taking a 6 point lead and ALL the momentum into the half, the Vikings made sure to capatalize on that after the break. Relatively low-scoring third saw only 20 points combined between the teams, but then a few late 3’s and 7 points from the free throw line following late fouls by the Chiefs.

Vikings came out on top with the much-needed region win 68-57 over the Chiefs with Dontae Smith (22) and Paul Walthall Jr. (20) both surpassing the 20-point mark. The two accounted for 7 of the team’s 10 3-point shots. Jakai Cunningham had 8 points, Thompson Warren and Jordan Thornton with 6 each, Nathaniel Byrdsong with a late 3, Ben Sprague with 2 from the line, and Armando Mercado with a free throw in the second quarter. 

Vikings will travel to Northside-Columbus on Tuesday to face the Patriots and then return home on Friday to host Harris County where both teams will look to clinch top seeds in the region. Senior night will be on Friday, February 9 for the final game of the season as the Vikings will host Drew. Come out to celebrate the class of 2024. All aforementioned game times will be girls at 6:00 and boys at 7:30.