Once they found the gas pedal, there was no stopping them.
Northridge saved its season with a second half outburst Sunday to beat Taft 81-68 in the Division IV district title game at the Cintas Center.
“That just felt good,” senior Deonte Smith said. “We just had to keep our composure and keep going.”
Northridge (24-1) advanced to play Caledonia River Valley in the Region 16 semifinals at 8 p.m. Thursday back at the Cintas Center.
Taft led 29-7 when the first quarter ended after scoring 18 points during the final 2:49 of the period. Northridge players were visibly frustrated at their bench during the ensuing break, but several, including sophomore Keonte Smith, audibly could be heard trying to refocus teammates.
Keonte Smith picked up a third foul early in the second quarter and sat until the second half. Taft kept up its advantage at 44-28 by halftime, but signs were present Northridge had gained back some belief.
“I felt confident we were going to play better the second half, I was hoping that game just didn’t get away from us so much that it would be hard to recover,” Northridge head coach Jeff Lisath said. “We’ll come out, throw the first punch and see if we can gain some momentum to get really back into it.”
Taft (16-6) had an initial response by growing the lead back to 19, and as Northridge closed the gap, the Senators prevented them multiple times from getting back within single digits.
Credit: DaytonDailyNews
Once the Polar Bears finally got within 10, the flood gates opened. Northridge’s pressure defense disrupted Taft and forced multiple turnovers that turned into transition baskets. Northridge grabbed its first lead at 63-62 on a Keonte Smith layup with 5:07 to play as its crowd erupted.
The Polar Bears didn’t stop attacking and built its lead to 10 just minutes later.
“The kids worked extremely hard, made shots when we needed to, and we got more involved defensively,” Lisath said. “I’m so proud of how our kids gutted it out.”
Keonte Smith was grabbed by Taft’s Kingston Ross as he attempted to dunk the ball after time expired. Deonte Smith appeared to push Ross from behind afterward and several players from both teams had to be separated. Both teams went directly to the locker room and no postgame handshakes or medal ceremony was held.
Northridge did not comment on the postgame incident and Taft personnel were not made available to comment.
Credit: Steven Wright
Credit: Steven Wright
Deonte Smith scored 25 points and Keonte Smith had 21.
“We basically told [Deonte] he had to take over offensively,” Lisath said. “Dorryen [Davis] was struggling with his shot, Keonte was in foul trouble, and the guys we really rely on to score were down, and we told him he had to pick it up. And I thought D’marriante Crane did a good job as well as he had some big shots in the first half to kind of keep us close.”
Taft’s Keion Griffin had 18 points and Antwan Hinton scored 13 for the Senators, who had 30 turnovers in the game.
Northridge never hit a three-point shot during its second-half comeback.
It was the 22nd consecutive win by the Polar Bears this season. Northridge has won back-to-back district championships for the first time in program history.
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