BY BRIAN HAMILTON
SEYMOUR – Northview Academy entered Thursday night’s contest with a record of 4-1 in Class 3A District 3 and looking to separate itself from the pack. Seymour entered the contest with a 3-1 district record, so despite Northview’s gaudy 16-2 overall record and Seymour’s underwhelming 7-12 record, there was still a lot at stake in this district matchup — second place in the district.
It was a game of runs and ebbs and flows for three quarters, but in the end, Northview proved to be too much for the Seymour, outscoring the Lady Eagles 17-7 in the final quarter to win 52-36 and take control of second place in the district.
Nora Auten (4) looks to push the tempo during Northview Academy’s district win over Seymour. Photo by Brian Hamilton
The tale of the game was the second and fourth quarter droughts for Seymour. The Lady Eagles gave up a 12-0 run to start the second quarter and gave up a 17-0 run to start the fourth. In both quarters, Seymour did not get on the board until the waning minutes.
Despite the big win, Northview Academy head coach Brooke Shelley was not happy with her team’s overall performance.
“We didn’t finish around the basket,” Shelley said. “I think, in the first half, we missed 10 layups. (Seymour) did a really good job with their defensive pressure and they turned it over and we knew that coming in and those mistakes, they turned them into points. In the first half, of their 17 points, I think 12 of them came off turnovers and I give props to their defense. In the second half, I felt we settled down a little bit more, especially in the fourth quarter. We had to change the lineup and went with four guards and I felt it was hard for them to matchup against that. They do such a good job of playing physical that it kind of negates our size.”
Bailey Tidwell put Seymour on the board first with a jumper to give the Lady Eagles a 2-0 lead, but two straight baskets by Northview Academy would make the score 4-2. A three-pointer by Kiley Norwood stretched the NVA lead to 7-2 with 4:21 left in the first quarter.
Seymour would end the 7-0 Northview spurt when Kali Fisher drained a three from the top of the key to trim the Lady Eagles’ deficit to 7-5. A pair of free throws by Tidwell would tie the game at 7-7 with 2:32 left.
Nora Auten hit a three to give Northview a 10-7 advantage, but Makenna Sharp clapped back on the other end with a triple of her own, tying the game at 10-10 with 29 seconds left in the quarter. Sharp grabbed a steal and hit a layup at the buzzer, giving the Lady Eagles a 12-10 lead, their first since leading 2-0.
Northview Academy would retake the lead early in the second quarter when Norwood sank a three-pointer to give the Lady Cougars a 13-12 advantage. Threes by Chloe Henshaw and Mikinna Russell would push the NVA lead to 20-12 with just under four minutes remaining in the half.
Seymour’s Bailey Tidwell (13) drives to the basket while Northview’s Chloe Henshaw (3) defends. Tidwell led Seymour with 11 points. Photo by Brian Hamilton
A layup by Norwood would give Northview a 22-12 lead to cap off a 12-0 run since trailing 12-10 after the first quarter. Seymour would finally end its second quarter drought when Tidwell sank a long range two-pointer to give the Lady Eagles their first points of the quarter with just over one minute left.
Seymour’s Kenzie Warner hit a three with 38 seconds left in the half, which made the halftime score 22-17, in favor of Northview Academy. After going scoreless for the first seven minutes, the Lady Eagles ended the half on a 5-0 run.
Northview came out strong in the third quarter, as Russell hit a floater to give the Lady Cougars a 27-18 lead with 6:28 left. Kiley Norwood would extend the Northview lead to double digits with a three-pointer, making the score 30-20 with 5:18 left in the third.
Mattie Jarvis answered with a three, cutting the NVA lead to 30-23, which set off a 7-0 Seymour run, which trimmed the Lady Cougars’ lead to just 30-27 with 2:17 remaining in the quarter.
Savannah Clifford hit a layup late in the third quarter, which was followed by an Auten layup, which put Northview ahead 34-27 with just over one minute left in the third. Tidwell would score on a twisting layup at the end of the third quarter to send Seymour to the fourth quarter trailing 34-29.
Northview opened the fourth quarter with a fast break layup by Russell to make the score 37-29 with 6:12 left. From that point, the Lady Cougars poured it on, using a 17-0 run to take a 52-29 lead after an Auten layup. Shelley would clear the bench at that point to let the substitutes play. Seymour ended the game on a 7-0 run, but it was too little, too late, as Northview went on to win 52-36.
“We have to be better,” Shelley said. “We knew that they were going to fight until they very end and this is a hard place to play and the crowd has really good energy. With the rivalry that we’ve created over the last few years, it’s always a tough game, especially here. I was happy that we were able to come out in the fourth quarter and do what I know we’re capable of. This team just wins ugly. It’s so different than last year’s team. The wins are just ugly. It’s just kind of how we do it right now, but we have to do better moving forward if we want to make a deep run again.”
Nora Auten led Northview Academy with 12 points, while Kiley Norwood finished with 11. Mikinna Russell and Natavia Alber added 10 apiece in what was a very balanced scoring night for the Lady Cougars.
Seymour was led by Bailey Tidwell’s 11 points, while Kali Fished added eight.
Northview Academy (17-2, 5-1 Class 3A District 3) will host Cocke County (23-3, 8-0 District 3) on Tuesday, January 27. Seymour (7-13, 3-2 District 3) will travel to Austin-East (11-10, 3-3) on Tuesday for a district bout.