Polar Bears Stay Cool Under Pressure from the Huskies
Yes, North held a comfortable lead at 22-14 with about three minutes remaining in the first half of last night’s showdown at perennial Metro powerhouse Hoover. The league-leading and 7th-ranked visitors had been in front from the outset. But their drive shaft, Teyontae Jenkins, had just drawn his third foul and was headed for a precautionary seat on the bench alongside fellow standout Terrance Bush Jr. who’d been saddled with his third moments earlier.
Predictably, the Huskies turned up the defensive pressure on the temporarily punch-less Polar Bears. Leading scorer Chris King converted a three point play. Then a bucket and a pair of free throws by Kahllid Edwards drew Hoover within two at 23-21. The game felt at its tipping point. That’s when the rest of the constellation besides the two North stars started twinkling.
The supporting cast finished the half on a 7-0 run that was capped by Neico Greene’s three-pointer from the corner at the buzzer and intermission arrived with North having achieved its biggest lead of the night while the two stalwarts cooled their heels. More than just a couple of exceptionally good players, North shouted out that it’s a good team.
Neither Jenkins nor Bush ever drew a fourth foul but even with them back on the floor the second half was a struggle as North remained unbeaten in conference play by gutting out a workmanlike 50-43 win. The Polar Bears have now won the home courts of Hoover and Roosevelt, their closest pursuers, and will host rematches with both later in the season.
North managed only four points in the 3rd quarter on a field goal by Jenkins and two free throws by Bush but still carried a three point lead into the 4th despite a three pointer by Hoover’s Alijah Thomas as time expired. Malachi Canada’s put-back made it 34-33 with six minutes left but Jenkins canned a pair at the charity stripe and Greene nailed another trey to build the lead back to five. That basket was only North’s second field goal of the half. Bush hit another, his only three of the game, after a drive by King pulled Hoover close again at 39-37. Canada scored underneath at the two minute mark but failed to convert the three-point play and from there it was a matter of Jenkins icing the game at the free throw line where he was a perfect 10-10 on the night on his way to a game high 23 points. Bush followed with a hard-earned dozen on a night when he struggled. Combined, the two average almost 50 per game.
Canada notched a double-double for the Huskies with 16 points and 12 rebounds and King added 11.
Sam Williams’ four points read like fine print in the North stat sheet but his presence was writ large in the paint on defense throughout. The state’s leading 4A shot-blocker swatted a couple away in the 1st quarter when Huskies drove into his jurisdiction and was immovable on the defensive glass all night. Williams gathered 18 rebounds and added half a dozen more rejections to his state-leading total. Most importantly, when Jenkins and Bush were sitting out those last fateful minutes of the first half and Hoover’s pressure defense started squeezing like a vice it was Williams who provided the steadying seniority on the floor and found Greene all alone in the corner for the swish that registered louder than the buzzer that followed an instant later.
But in the end, when the heat was on, the Bears stayed cool. Polar, actually…
