A dominant second half of basketball from North Surry lifted the Greyhounds over visiting Patton in Thursday’s playoff game.
North Surry took charge of a back-and-forth game and led for all but 90 seconds of the second half. Just when it looked as if Patton might mount a comeback, the Greyhounds sealed the deal with a 30-point fourth quarter.
The 84-72 win sends North Surry to the Sweet 16 of the 2A State Playoffs for the first time since 2016-17.
The Greyhound trio of Kolby Watson, James McCreary and Jahreece Lynch combined to match Patton’s 72 points. Watson led North with 26, followed by McCreary with 24 and Lynch with 22. Cam Taylor added six for the Hounds, followed by Jackson Smith with four and Makiyon Woodbury with two.
The second half saw only two lead changes and one tie, which was a stark contrast to the five lead changes and eight ties of the first half. North Surry took a six-point halftime lead after outscoring Patton 18-9 in the final 3:35 of the second quarter.
The Greyhounds led by as many as eight in the third quarter before the visiting Panthers (16-9) went on a 9-0 run. The one area of the game unquestionably controlled by Patton was rebounding, where the Panthers grabbed 36 total boards – including 19 offensive rebounds – to North Surry’s 18 total rebounds. Second and third chances allowed the Panthers to rally back into the game.
Three Patton players grabbed at least eight rebounds each. Randan Clarke nearly had a double-double with his nine points and 10 boards, as did Quentin Rice with 27 points and eight boards, and Waylon Rutherford finished with 23 points and eight rebounds.
North (21-4) eventually bounced back after going scoreless for nearly three minutes of game time. Lynch, Watson and McCreary hit three field goals for the Hounds, then Taylor laid in a reverse layup as the buzzer sounded.
Though the Greyhounds didn’t rely very much on the deep ball through the first three quarters, only attempting seven shots from the perimeter in that time, McCreary came out and hit two triples in the first 2:15 of the fourth. North was on fire and forced a Panther timeout when the scoreboard read 64-54.
Not ready for his season to be over, Rice knocked down the team’s only 3-pointer of the fourth quarter. Rutherford hit back-to-back free throws and closed the gap to five points with 4:19.
Just as quickly as the lead was cut to five it was extended back to double digits. North went on a 7-0 run with points from three different players to match the largest lead of the day at 71-59.
Rice scored 12 of his game-high 27 points in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough to keep the season alive as free throw woes held the team back. The Panthers struggled from the free throw line all night. Patton players shot 16-of-29 (55%) from the stripe against North Surry, and went 8-of-14 (57%) on foul shots in the fourth quarter.
Alternatively, North Surry went 17-for-20 (85%) from the line and made 9-of-9 attempts in the second half.
Lynch was North’s leading rebounder with eight, followed by McCreary and Smith with five each. In addition to being the Hounds’ leading scorer, Watson added three assists and three steals, while Taylor recorded a team-high three blocks.
No. 4 North Surry will host No. 5 Salisbury (20-4) on February 26.
Updated playoff brackets can be found at https://t.maxpreps.com/3M0OsJa
Scoring
Patton – 19, 12, 18, 23 = 72
North Surry – 16, 21, 17, 30 = 84
PN: Quentin Rice 27, Waylen Rutherford 23, Connor Rudisill 10, Randan Clarke 9, Anthony Hicks 2, Brady Chamberlain 1
NS: Kolby Watson 26, James McCreary 24, Jahreece Lynch 22, Cam Taylor 6, Jackson Smith 4, Makiyon Woodbury 2
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
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