BOYS' BASKETBALL: Northside's pressure 'D' suffocates Goldsboro

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on February 22, 2017 9:57 AM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

JACKSONVILLE -- So much for those sleepless nights.

Tony Marshburn can rest a little bit easier now.

Zach Hobbs dumped in a game-high 17 points as unbeaten Northside dominated Goldsboro, 82-46, in opening-round action of the N.C. High School Athletic Association Class 2-A boys' basketball playoffs Tuesday evening.

During a post-game conversation, Marshburn told GHS head coach Russell Stephens that he "didn't get much sleep" after an assistant coach had watched the Cougars upset then-unbeaten Greene Central in conference tournament play.

His worries quickly disappeared.

The Monarchs (25-0 overall) scored nine of the game's first 11 points and forced Stephens to burn a 30-second time with 5:52 to go in the opening period.

Goldsboro closed the gap to 13-10, but would get no closer.

Foul trouble and turnovers -- 16 in the first half -- plagued the Cougars. Post players Isaiah Wilder and Jarrod Scott spent more time on the bench with Stephens than on the court.

Wilder picked up his third foul with 1:31 left in the first.

Scott had two fouls.

The loss of height underneath the basket compromised Goldsboro on defense, especially the weak side. Stephens went to a guard-oriented lineup, but Northside proved too quick. Turnovers out of a man-to-man trapping scheme -- extended from the free throw line, and token full-court duress allowed the Monarchs to take command.

Goldsboro trailed 26-14 after eight minutes.

"They completely took us out of our offense (and) we did not do a good job of handling their pressure," said Stephens, whose team committed 16 first-half turnovers and 26 for the game.

"I told our guys if you just get the ball inside, we can get some shots. I thought once we got it inside to Isaiah a couple of times, we were able to get some scores."

That was few and far between.

Northside's lead swelled to 49-28 at the break.

"They played big, they played strong, they're fast, they're athletic," Stephens said. "It's just one of those things where if we could have weathered the storm, it would have been a much different game. They got into a rhythm, got out running."

More than two-thirds of Northside's points occurred in the transition game off turnovers or outlet passes off rebounds.

Jaryan Hargis paced the Cougars' offense with 11 points. Wilder contributed seven points and three rebounds. Keshon Smith and Marquell Haywood supplied six points apiece.

Hargis, Isaiah Cogdell, KJ Alston, Deandra Pettiford and DJ Gaddis played their final game in the blue-and-maize uniform.

"It's been such an up-and-down season," said Stephens, whose team filed a 12-13 worksheet and lost an opening-round playoff game for just the third time since 2007.

"We've had some success and I'm proud of our guys for fighting through everything we've done this year."