CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – While most students remain on break, local basketball teams have been staying active, and West Creek traveled to Northwest on Tuesday night. The visiting Coyotes pulled away with a win in the boys game, 51-44. This marked their sixth straight win after winning only three games all of last season. In the girls game, the hosting Lady Vikings coasted to victory, 71-23.
Boys game
This game was physical from the start, with a rough but legal play early on warranting a warning from officials to keep things in check. Through all the scrappiness, Northwest won the first quarter, jumping out to a 14-10 lead. The Vikings continued hitting threes in the second quarter, but West Creek coach Russell Malone called a timeout that proved pivotal.
Afterwards, the Coyotes looked more determined and cohesive on offense, finding key drives to the bucket and watching the ball find the net more often. Sean LaFortune in particular muscled his way to 6 of the team’s 18 points in the quarter, but he also missed some buckets that could have driven the score up more. Nevertheless, at halftime, West Creek led 28-26 and they held the lead the rest of the game.
The Coyotes continued to pull away with a 14-point third quarter, led by Kemari McIntosh’s eight points and some aggressive play by Jason Timothy. Northwest ran into foul trouble, sending Timothy to the line for six free throw attempts in the third quarter alone.
The Vikings’ woes on defense continued with three fouls early in the fourth quarter, with Timothy shooting another four attempts from the line. By the five-minute mark, the Coyotes held a 10-point lead, which was steady for most of the remainder. In the end, they won comfortably, 51-44.
Coach Malone shared his thoughts on the way the game went for his Coyotes, saying, “The first half was a little deceptive, because they were doing what I asked them to do. Once we made some adjustments after a timeout, we got more shots in the lane. Sean LaFortune was definitely getting into the lane, getting the shots we wanted – they just weren’t falling, weren’t going in. I think he missed four or five layups that just weren’t customary out of him, and it allowed Northwest to get some things they wanted.
“We got a little bit gritty in the last two minutes of the half, got our lead, and that was the message at halftime. We’ve got to be tougher, and we’ve got to do it together. Not being tougher by myself – we gotta feed off each other, we gotta encourage each other.
“Jason Timothy, he came out, he sparked us in the second half. He got a little dirty, he got a little nasty in a good way, and just dominated the glass and got to the free throw line,” Malone said.
He continued, “Could we have played better? Yeah. Could we have won by more? Yeah. But people fail to realize, the other team is trying to win too. It’s Northwest, and we’re three, five minutes from each other and both teams love to compete against each other. In the middle of January, I’ll take a win however I can get it.”
Thinking of the district schedule ahead, Malone said, “It’s fixing to get gritty, because our district slate starts next Tuesday. (Winning a game like this) gives me confidence that we can, but we gotta get back to the practice floor. As we turn this corner (in the season), sometimes practice is overrated, but because of the Christmas holiday schedule, we didn’t get to practice as much as we wanted to, and we gotta get back to training. I think that will make a 30-minute ball game look a lot better.”
Scoring Summary – West Creek Boys
Kemari McIntosh – 15, Sean LaFortune – 12, Darrien Melton – 6, Brnden Dugger – 6, Kayden Pace – 4, Jason Timothy – 4, Amaree LaFortune – 3, Tahjir Maddox – 1
Scoring Summary – Northwest Boys
Tacarey Monday – 12, Servonte Williams – 11, Isaiah Kendrell – 8, Damiah Smith – 6, KJ Jones – 4, Ahmad Harvey – 3
Girls game
The girls game went very differently as the Lady Vikings looked in top shape after a little bit of a bumpy start. Northwest’s best player, Ta’Mia Scott, was back in action after missing some games over the break.
West Creek made a lot of extra chances for themselves early on through good rebounding and forcing some turnovers on defense. Unfortunately for the Coyote faithful, they had trouble capitalizing with scores. Scott opened with an eight-point first quarter and the hosts claimed a 17-9 lead.
The situation grew more dire for the visitors in the second quarter as the Viking defense stepped up, allowing only two points. Meanwhile on offense, Scott added another nine, and Emiyah Cobb chipped in six for Northwest. By halftime the game seemed out of reach for West Creek, who trailed, 38-11.
Northwest poured on another 24 points in the third quarter. While many of the starters, including Scott, rested for much of the second half, veteran Kayla Howell stayed in for the Lady Vikings. Her leadership in running the offense and 11 points in the quarter (including three threes) sealed the deal. The fourth quarter saw a running clock and Northwest left victorious, 71-23.
Looking back at the last few weeks, Northwest coach Ben Wallace said, “We were up and down over Christmas, we had some players out because of illness. We went to Memphis, and if we had had everyone, I think we could have possibly played in the championship. As it was, we didn’t, but we developed more depth out of it.”
As for the weeks ahead, Wallace added, “I’m looking forward to getting to practice. Because we played a bunch of games over Christmas, and we didn’t really get any practice time. And so things got a little ragged at times for us, and we need to get back to being more fundamental and doing the little things right.”
“Our district games are coming up in a couple weeks and I’m excited to get back to games that mean something. Friday night, we play Clarksville High, and that’s not a district game. But it’s a city game, it kind of means something. We’ve been out playing these schools that you don’t know, and it doesn’t quite mean as much.”
“It’ll be fun to get back in the city playing schools we know and seeing where we fit in this.”
The Lady Vikings tip off at Clarksville High School at 6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 7, with the boys game to follow.
Scoring Summary – Northwest Girls
Ta’Mia Scott – 20, Kayla Howell – 14, Emiyah Cobb – 12, Neighna Dailey – 9, Jada Brooks – 7, Winter Thompson – 3, Paris Outlaw – 2, An’ieya Briscoe – 2, Grace Fuaau – 2
Scoring Summary – West Creek Girls
Amarachi Chukwuemeka – 7, Malaya Woullard – 5, Ariy Denson – 4, Reagan Fisher – 3, Sarena Bassham – 2, Alexiya Blackwell – 2