Northridge boys stand tall against late comeback by gritty Granville
ALEXANDRIA ― It was only fitting that the biggest play for Northridge on Tuesday might have been an offensive rebound.
Going with a bigger lineup against visiting Granville that included 6-foot-8 senior Alex Quinlan, the Vikings dominated the backboards 32-16, many coming on the offensive end. They needed them all to survive the Blue Aces' spirited fourth-quarter comeback, putting aside a 13-0 run for a 52-47 Licking County League crossover win which kept them tied atop the Cardinal Division with Heath.
It helped having Carter Mallernee, who made his last eight foul shots down the stretch. But with Northridge up just 48-47 and 1:02 left, Ethan Payne missed a pair. Actually, it was three after a lane violation by Granville (12-7, 7-4). However, on the final one, senior Braden Knerr scrapped for the rebound and forced a jump ball with the possession arrow favoring the Vikings. Mallernee stuck in two foul shots, the Blue Aces missed two tying 3-pointers against tight defense and Mallernee added the two clinchers.
"Braden is good at sneaking in there like that," said Quinlan, who scored all 6 of his points and snagged seven of his 10 rebounds in the first half, getting the start after not playing at all in Friday's loss at Heath. "We were able to get other chances off free throw misses. I've started in about half of our games, on a matchup basis, and I try to protect the rim. We knew number 32 wasn't a shooter, so instead of staying up on him I could help off and hang back."
Said Granville coach Chris Powell: "We had a hard time boxing out tonight, and that was probably the most frustrating thing."
Still, his team nearly pulled off the rally to stay in the LCL-Buckeye Division race.
Northridge (14-4, 9-3) used a 13-2 run to open a 46-32 lead midway through the fourth. Mallernee fed Payne for a layup, and the 6-5 senior stepped out to swish a rare 3 from the baseline, off an assist by classmate Drew Bingham. Knerr found Bingham for a layup on the inbounds pass, and Mallernee made two free throws.
But the Blue Aces forced five fourth-quarter turnovers, four on steals by senior Jase Becker, and stormed back. Senior Alex Engle sandwiched two 3s around a steal and layup by Becker, then Becker hit Engle and junior Carson Murphy for layups, making it 46-45. Mallernee's two foul shots kept the Vikings ahead 48-45, but back came Granville, with sophomore Cayden Strasser finding Becker for a backdoor layup.
"Jase has a knack for the ball, he knows the game of basketball, and most of all, he wants to win, probably more than any player I've coached," Powell said. "We made some calls from the side and got reorganized. Our guys really responded. I thought we had great looks throughout the game but couldn't get them to fall until the end."
But in a meeting of veteran teams, the Vikings kept their poise.
"We couldn't let it get into our heads," Quinlan said. "In the past, we might have put our heads down. Tonight, it was more, 'Let's pick it up. Let's finish.' "
Mallernee, who scored 15 of his 23 points in the second half and had four assists, said having mostly seniors helps.
"Those mistakes can't happen, and we address it all the time," he said after Northridge also saw Heath nearly come back on the Vikings' floor. "But we're an older team, and we've been in a lot of these situations before. We just had to get the ball in the right peoples' hands. We only had eight turnovers tonight, and most of them came when we let them get out in transition. We played good defense the rest of the time."
So did Granville, which held Mallernee to 8 first-half points.
"We tried to rotate guys on him," Powell said. "It was (Jakob) Culver most of the time, but we also used Alex (Engle) and Carson (Murphy)."
Mallernee, who became Northridge's all-time leading scorer, was surprised the Blue Aces didn't employ a box-and-one and double-team like Heath did in holding him to 9 points in the rematch.
"They put size on him, then went with small, strong guys," coach Bill Mallernee said. "They mixed it up and made it different. They're a smart team, an older team."
Engle scored 9 second-quarter points for Granville, but Northridge asserted itself on the boards in taking a 30-23 halftime lead. Payne had five rebounds and Quinlan four along with all 6 of his points. Sophomore Ben Hilton came off the bench to drill a 3.
"It started in the summer, going either big or small," coach Mallernee said. "It's about trying to make opponents do what we want them to, and Alex made plays tonight. We got back into more of a rhythm, and never really did at Heath."
Payne turned in another double double for the Vikings with 12 points and 11 rebounds, while Bingham added 8 points as they were 17 of 38 from the field for 45% and a sub-par 15 of 25 at the stripe for 60%. However, Granville got just 10 foul shots, making seven, and was 18 of 38 from the field for 47%.
Engle hit for 17 points and Becker had 11 of his 15 in the second half for the Blue Aces. He also had five steals and three assists.
"You love to play competitive games like this at this time of year," Powell said. "We had a big one Friday and won against Licking Heights, and another one tonight and lost. We have to get that feeling back that we had Friday. These are really good leading into the tournament."
Coach Mallernee was not surprised that Granville came back.
"People don't quit. Nobody quits in this league," he said. "Every game is now a championship game for us, these next three, if we want to win the league again."
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This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Northridge boys stand tall against late comeback by gritty Granville
