CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Northeast High School hosted Northwest for a basketball showdown Tuesday night, with the Eagles boys pulling off a big comeback.

The home Eagles squad won in a low-scoring affair, 39-35.

The Lady Eagles attempted their own comeback, but came up short; the Lady Vikings brought home the win, 57-42.

Hogan Albright, left, blocks Dailen Hairston as the Northeast High School Eagles face the Northwest Vikings in boys basketball on Nov. 30, 2021. (Ryan Vinson)
Nazier Leonard shooting as the Northeast High School Eagles face the Northwest Vikings in boys basketball on Nov. 30, 2021. (Ryan Vinson)
Servonte Williams rebounds as the Northeast High School Eagles face the Northwest Vikings in boys basketball on Nov. 30, 2021. (Ryan Vinson)
Chance Austin shoots as the Northeast High School Eagles face the Northwest Vikings in boys basketball on Nov. 30, 2021. (Ryan Vinson)
Chance Austin driving as the Northeast High School Eagles face the Northwest Vikings in boys basketball on Nov. 30, 2021. (Ryan Vinson)
Ahmad Harvey shooting as the Northeast High School Eagles face the Northwest Vikings in boys basketball on Nov. 30, 2021. (Ryan Vinson)
NEHS Coach Aaron Wallus as the Northeast High School Eagles face the Northwest Vikings in boys basketball on Nov. 30, 2021. (Ryan Vinson)
Terrance Bellamy shooting as the Northeast High School Eagles face the Northwest Vikings in boys basketball on Nov. 30, 2021. (Ryan Vinson)
Taetum Carney shooting as the Northeast High School Eagles face the Northwest Vikings in boys basketball on Nov. 30, 2021. (Ryan Vinson)
Taetum Carney, left, and Servonte Williams, right, as the Northeast High School Eagles face the Northwest Vikings in boys basketball on Nov. 30, 2021. (Ryan Vinson)
Taetum Carney takes a free throw as the Northeast High School Eagles face the Northwest Vikings in boys basketball on Nov. 30, 2021. (Ryan Vinson)
NEHS Coach Sam Young as the Northeast High School Eagles face the Northwest Vikings in boys basketball on Nov. 30, 2021. (Ryan Vinson)
Servonte Williams takes a free throw as the Northeast High School Eagles face the Northwest Vikings in boys basketball on Nov. 30, 2021. (Ryan Vinson)
Scott Bautista shooting as the Northeast High School Eagles face the Northwest Vikings in boys basketball on Nov. 30, 2021. (Ryan Vinson)
Nazier Leonard with the ball as the Northeast High School Eagles face the Northwest Vikings in boys basketball on Nov. 30, 2021. (Ryan Vinson)
Nazier Leonard takes a free throw as the Northeast High School Eagles face the Northwest Vikings in boys basketball on Nov. 30, 2021. (Ryan Vinson)
Jayden Young shooting and Hogan Albright defending as the Northeast High School Eagles face the Northwest Vikings in boys basketball on Nov. 30, 2021. (Ryan Vinson)
Hogan Albright, left. and Dailen Hairston, right, as the Northeast High School Eagles face the Northwest Vikings in boys basketball on Nov. 30, 2021. (Ryan Vinson)
Damian Smith with the ball as the Northeast High School Eagles face the Northwest Vikings in boys basketball on Nov. 30, 2021. (Ryan Vinson)
Dailen Hairston shooting as the Northeast High School Eagles face the Northwest Vikings in boys basketball on Nov. 30, 2021. (Ryan Vinson)
Dailen Hairston shooting as the Northeast High School Eagles face the Northwest Vikings in boys basketball on Nov. 30, 2021. (Ryan Vinson)

Boys game

Both teams, young and looking to grow, took time to get settled in early on. Through all the turnovers on each side, Northwest scraped together a 4-0 lead in the first five minutes. Then Damian Smith sparked a bit of a Viking run and the game opened up for both squads. By the end of the first quarter, the visitors were up 11-5.

They continued growing their lead for the first few minutes of the second quarter, going up 16-8 before Northeast came to life. The home team made a series of big stops on defense while also making a big run offensively. Within two minutes, Northwest’s lead had almost vanished and they were only up 18-16.

Then Nazier Leonard tied it up for the Eagles, 18-18, before hitting a three to give his team their first lead of the night. Northeast led at the half, 23-18, after holding the visitors scoreless for the last two and a half minutes of the quarter.

The third quarter was slow and mostly quiet, with Northwest outscoring the hosts by only one. Early in the fourth, each team’s youth showed itself when a double technical was assessed after two players continued mouthing off at each other.

Things started getting tight when Smith hit a three that shrank Northeast’s lead to one, 30-29. The Eagles grew their lead back up to five with 1:36 left, but still were not out of the woods. With 46.4 seconds left, Northeast committed a silly foul at midcourt. Northwest hit both free throws, cutting the lead to three.

Northeast then fumbled the inbound pass. While they recovered the ball during the scramble, they were forced to call a timeout. After the break, the Eagles were called for a travel and Northwest’s Servonte Williams punished them, putting the Vikings within one again.

After being sent to the free throw line, the Eagles missed the front end of a 1-and-1, making things look dicey. Just when Northwest had a chance to take the lead, Northeast’s Taetum Carney stole the ball and hit both of his free throws to put the hosts up 38-35.

Next, the Vikings called for a timeout, but were already out of them. As a result, Carney put another free throw down. The Eagles regained possession off the call with three seconds to go, up by four. They held on, winning 39-35.

Scoring Totals – Northeast

Nazier Leonard – 24; Taetum Carney – 6; Chance Austin – 6; Damond Galbreath – 2; Dailen Hairston – 1

Scoring Totals – Northwest

Servonte Williams – 14; Damian Smith – 8; Terrance Bellamy – 4; Scott Bautista – 3; Hogan Albright – 2; Jevion Kinkle – 2; Ahmad Harvey – 2

Reflecting on the slow start, Northeast coach Sam Young said, “Everything right now is just going to be gritty like that. It’s going to be tough, nothing’s going to be easy. We have so many moving pieces right now. We’ve had some things internally we’ve had to address, and we had some guys not with us tonight who are normally here who are key factors.”

“It wasn’t pretty, but I thought we found a way to come out ahead and that’s what we ultimately want.” Taking stock of his young team’s performance, Young continued, “I thought the guys held strong. At the end it got rough. I don’t think anybody really wanted to take the responsibility of the last two minutes. I think that’ll come with maturity. But those guys … it’s different being in a JV game, up four, and being in a varsity game at 8:30 (PM), up four.”

Adryanna Smith shooting as the Northeast High School Eagles face the Northwest Vikings in girls basketball on Nov. 30, 2021. (Ryan Vinson)
Adryanna Smith, center, as the Northeast High School Eagles face the Northwest Vikings in girls basketball on Nov. 30, 2021. (Ryan Vinson)
Tamia Scott shooting as the Northeast High School Eagles face the Northwest Vikings in girls basketball on Nov. 30, 2021. (Ryan Vinson)
Tamia Scott as the Northeast High School Eagles face the Northwest Vikings in girls basketball on Nov. 30, 2021. (Ryan Vinson)
NEHS Coach Tracie Mason-Blair as the Northeast High School Eagles face the Northwest Vikings in girls basketball on Nov. 30, 2021. (Ryan Vinson)
Krysonie Mitchell shooting as the Northeast High School Eagles face the Northwest Vikings in girls basketball on Nov. 30, 2021. (Ryan Vinson)
Krysonie Mitchell defending Anieya Briscoe as the Northeast High School Eagles face the Northwest Vikings in girls basketball on Nov. 30, 2021. (Ryan Vinson)
Krista Brandon takes a free throw as the Northeast High School Eagles face the Northwest Vikings in girls basketball on Nov. 30, 2021. (Ryan Vinson)
Kayla Howell as the Northeast High School Eagles face the Northwest Vikings in girls basketball on Nov. 30, 2021. (Ryan Vinson)
Kayla Howell takes a free throw as the Northeast High School Eagles face the Northwest Vikings in girls basketball on Nov. 30, 2021. (Ryan Vinson)
Kayla Howell defending and Adryanna Smith shooting as the Northeast High School Eagles face the Northwest Vikings in girls basketball on Nov. 30, 2021. (Ryan Vinson)
NWHS Coach Ben Wallace as the Northeast High School Eagles face the Northwest Vikings in girls basketball on Nov. 30, 2021. (Ryan Vinson)
Emiyah Cobb rebounds as the Northeast High School Eagles face the Northwest Vikings in girls basketball on Nov. 30, 2021. (Ryan Vinson)
Emiyah Cobb takes a free throw as the Northeast High School Eagles face the Northwest Vikings in girls basketball on Nov. 30, 2021. (Ryan Vinson)
Emiyah Cobb driving as the Northeast High School Eagles face the Northwest Vikings in girls basketball on Nov. 30, 2021. (Ryan Vinson)
Cierra Bowser shooting as the Northeast High School Eagles face the Northwest Vikings in girls basketball on Nov. 30, 2021. (Ryan Vinson)
Anieya Briscoe shooting as the Northeast High School Eagles face the Northwest Vikings in girls basketball on Nov. 30, 2021. (Ryan Vinson)
Anieya Briscoe with the ball as the Northeast High School Eagles face the Northwest Vikings in girls basketball on Nov. 30, 2021. (Ryan Vinson)
Alayah Smith shooting as the Northeast High School Eagles face the Northwest Vikings in girls basketball on Nov. 30, 2021. (Ryan Vinson)
Alayah Smith shooting and Emiyah Cobb defending as the Northeast High School Eagles face the Northwest Vikings in girls basketball on Nov. 30, 2021. (Ryan Vinson)
Alayah Smith takes a free throw as the Northeast High School Eagles face the Northwest Vikings in girls basketball on Nov. 30, 2021. (Ryan Vinson)

Girls game

This one also started slow and sloppy with a grand total of four points in the first four minutes, this time a 2-2 tie. Things heated up in the rest of the first quarter, though, and by the end of the period, Northwest held a slim lead, 10-9.

The Lady Vikings seemed to wake up in the second quarter. Tamia Scott and Emiyah Cobb each scored 5 while Kayla Howell led with 7. The visitors went up by 7 points in the first three minutes. Scott in particular looked strong for a stretch, taking over the paint and scoring with ease. She and her teammates grew their lead to 14 at one point before taking a 27-18 lead into halftime.

Northwest came out of the break confident and smiling, then played like they felt. To start the half, Scott sank a three on one end and blocked a shot on the other. Howell and Cobb fed off this energy and put in their own long-range scores. Suddenly the Vikings led by double, 36-18.

The Lady Eagles refused to give up, however. They made a good run in the rest of the quarter to cut the lead down to 12. The game went into the final period with Northwest winning, 44-32.

Northeast’s chances of a comeback looked better after Cierra Bowser cut the lead to 8 with five minutes remaining. They continued battling, snagging upwards of four rebounds in one possession to score again after Scott had put one in for Northwest.

Eventually, the clock became Northeast’s enemy and they started shooting threes that ended up missing. Their comeback fizzled out while Northwest pulled away in the final minutes, taking home the win, 57-42.

Scoring Totals – Northwest

Kayla Howell – 22; Emiyah Cobb – 15; Tamia Scott – 14; An’ieya Briscoe – 6

Scoring Totals – Northeast

Krysonie Mitchell – 13; Cierra Bowser – 10; Adryanna Smith – 8; Emoni McCray – 5; Krista Brandon – 5; Alayah Smith – 1