Mallernee's heroics lift Northridge boys past tenacious Heath
ALEXANDRIA ― Carter Mallernee called his tough, game-winning shot "routine."
For the way Northridge's versatile 6-foot-4 senior guard plays the game, it probably was. For most other players in the Licking County League, definitely not.
Locked in a Licking County League-Cardinal League tie with visiting Heath, Mallernee took the inbounds pass with 11 seconds left and calmly dribbled upcourt. He spun into the lane against tight defense and hit a fadeaway just ahead of the buzzer, giving the Vikings (7-1, 3-1) an exciting 44-42 victory Saturday before a nearly packed house.
"Heath is a scrappy team," said Mallernee, who finished off a 27-point night in style. "I thought they might come out in a 1-2-2 look, but they didn't. They forced me to the left, but I see that a lot and work on that shot all the time."
His coach and father, Bill, said his son has gotten better at finishing through tough contact. Nothing he does surprises senior post player Ethan Payne.
"He's amazing," Payne said. "You see the way he goes to work each day in practice. He always does the extra things, staying after and getting more shots up."
Heath coach Devin Fulk, whose team held Mallernee to 9 points in the first half but saw him go for 18 in the second, gave credit where it was due.
"We thought about running someone at him, but we didn't want to foul," Fulk said. "Guys like that are really good at finishing, and getting the shots they want when they have to. It came down to one or two plays. They made them, and we didn't. This is how it should be, between two teams that are competing for a league title."
The Bulldogs (5-2, 2-1) used three straight steals, by Preston DeVito, Ben Mason and Jordan Kaminsky, along with a Will Robertson tip-in during an 8-0 run to take a 40-38 lead. After Mallernee's two foul shots tied it, Kaminsky drove for a go-ahead basket with 46 seconds. Then Payne dropped in two clutch free throws for a 42-42 tie with 36 seconds.
"It (foul shooting) is a big thing to work on all season, and you have to take advantage in that situation," he said.
Coach Mallernee said Payne was playing through pain.
"He hurt his ankle and hadn't really practiced in four days, so he was playing on it at game speed for the first time since Tuesday," he said.
Heath called time and went for the last shot, but Dylan Chambers got into the passing lane, swatted the ball away and forced a turnover to set up the finish.
"You knew it was going to come down to who had the ball last, and I told them they really had to lock it down," coach Mallernee said. "They did a nice job."
Carter Mallernee was quick to credit his teammates.
"Those two free throws (by Payne) were just as big as my shot, and Dylan and Jack (Van Fossen) got the huge stop on defense," he said.
Northridge kept threatening to pull away, but Heath wouldn't fold.
The Vikings led 18-10 early in the second quarter, but DeVito canned a 3 and Jaxon Duston had two baskets as the Bulldogs pulled within 22-18 at half. They took a 25-24 lead in the third, but Mallernee caught fire, drilling a trio of 3s, then making two foul shots and turning his steal into a coast to coast 3-point play with 6:17 left as Northridge went up 38-32.
"I rattled in that first 3, and then I started to feel good," Mallernee said.
The Vikings overcame a sub-par 38% showing from the field (12 of 32) by sinking an outstanding 14 of 15 free throws. Payne, at 6-5 the tallest player on the floor, added 8 points, eight rebounds and most importantly, five blocked shots.
"They rely a lot on the 3, so we tried to force them off the 3-point line and make them drive the ball," he said. "They got by us a few times, but I thought we did a good job for the most part."
Coach Mallernee said Northridge is allowing well under 40 points per game. It was the sixth straight win after falling in overtime at Watkins Memorial.
"We learned a lot from that game, and we came back in and started to get things down," Payne said.
Added Carter Mallernee: "It was a big step here, as far as the league goes, but we have to keep it going. We have Licking Heights and Johnstown coming up."
Duston scored 11 of his 19 points in the second half and had eight rebounds for the Bulldogs, who saw a five-game winning streak halted. Kaminsky added 9 points and DeVito 8 along with four steals. Heath was a so-so 16 of 40 from the floor for 40%, after a 6-for-20 first half, and 7 of 10 at the line.
"I thought if we could score 50, we would have a chance to win the game," Fulk said. "Jaxon really carried us, but we did not shoot a good percentage and I didn't think we played that well, except for about a three-minute stretch of the fourth quarter, when we put ourselves in a position to win the game."
But all is not lost.
"We're still in a really good spot, and I told them, you can't let this loss derail what we've had going in the last month," Fulk said. "You have to hold your home court, maybe steal a few crossover games, and we have a chance to do that on Wednesday at Watkins."
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This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Mallernee's heroics lift Northridge boys past tenacious Heath
