An ugly first quarter was a good reminder that the playoffs are coming up and Northeast won't accomplish its goals of a state championship playing sloppy basketball.
Four minutes into Friday night's game at Douglass, Northeast coach Londaryl Perry had already called two timeouts in a game that was tied at 4.
The second timeout finally lit the fuse for Class 2A's No. 1 team, and the Vikings cruised to a 70-16 win.
“Everybody wasn't on the same page, no communication, which has been stressing us all year,” said senior T'ona Edwards. “In that second timeout, coach got into us, and that usually amps us up.
“We didn't come out ready to play, because I felt like we thought we already had the game. Going into playoffs, we can't let that happen.”
Northeast's guard-heavy offense ultimately got its spark from the inside game of Chanel Akins, who finished with a game-high 18 points. Morgan Billingsley added 12, while Edwards and Dani Gaddis had nine each.
Billingsley hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to end the first quarter, which started a 25-0 Northeast run that lasted most of the second quarter.
The win moved Northeast to 21-0, including multiple wins over ranked Class 5A and 6A teams.
SOUTHMOORE, CLASSEN POST 101
Neither Southmoore nor Classen had much of an issue scoring Friday.
Each team scored 30 in the first quarter as they went on to post triple-digits and win in blowout fashion.
Classen held Harding Fine Arts to two or fewer points in three quarters as it won 101-8.
Southmoore led 55-5 at halftime en route to a 101-18 win over rival Moore.
Each team had three players score 20 or more points.
Classen was led by Kennedy Williams' 34 points, while Ashlei Simms and Jetta Smith added 22 each. Maya Thompson also added 11. Classen led 59-3 at halftime.
Serithia Hawkins led Southmoore with 26 points while Kayla Tucker added 24 and Kyra Gilbert had 22. Kyeria Hannah also had 15.
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