Northview falls to Lima Senior in Division I district final

Mar. 7—MILLBURY — Northview boys basketball coach Jeremy McDonald knew coming into his team's Division I district final game against Lima Senior that the Wildcats would need to withstand some heavy defensive pressure from an extremely athletic Spartans team.

Early on, Lima Senior's quickness and relentless defensive intensity got to an upperclassmen-led Northview team.

However, once the Wildcats settled down and got into the flow of the game, their fortunes quickly changed. Despite trailing by as many as 12 points in the opening quarter, Northview tied the game after three quarters before ultimately falling 73-67 on Saturday at Lake High School.

"I was really proud of our effort," McDonald said. " We got off to a horrendous start. We didn't adjust to their athleticism off the bat. I'm really proud of the last three quarters about how the guys made some adjustments on the fly. I thought we were really good but we just didn't make enough plays...That's a heck of a basketball club and we were right there with them."

Lima Senior's full-court press forced some uncharacteristic Northview turnovers early in the game as the Wildcats worked through some early jitters. That helped the Spartans get out to an early 17-5 lead.

"The most difficult part is you can't really prepare for [Lima Senior's athleticism] in practice," McDonald said. "We don't have the athletes to throw out there. We've been really good against pressure all year, but we haven't seen Lima Senior pressure. In the first quarter, we looked like we couldn't wait to get rid of the ball."

Northview got a gutsy effort from junior Kasey Hunt, who led the Wildcats (21-4) with 23 points. Star junior forward Sean Craig scored 17 points before fouling out with about five minutes remaining in the game. Seniors Justin Noe and Brendon Sharp added 12 and 11 points respectively.

Advertisement

Jareon Mayo paced Lima Senior with 17 points, Anthony Mosley had 15, Camren Miles scored 11, and Brent Moss tallied 10.

After facing a big early deficit, Northview cut the Lima Senior lead to 31-27 at halftime and the Wildcats took over the lead at 38-36 in the third quarter after two free throws from Noe and again at 48-47 after a layup by Hunt. Moss answered with a 3-point play and Craig then scored off an offensive rebound to tie the score at 50 after three quarters.

Hunt scored 11 points in the final quarter as Northview tied the score again but never could take back the lead.

"Kasey looked like a Division I player tonight in the second half," McDonald said. "He had a rough go of it in the first half. He was nervous playing in his first district final. A lot of kids would've hid in the corner, but he came out and was tremendous in the second half."

Craig fouled out with 4:24 left and Northview trailing 59-56.

"Sean had a couple bad beats on fouls," McDonald said. "I don't know if I've seen an All-State player foul out with five minutes to go in a district final, but that's just the way it goes sometimes and I thought our guys handled it pretty well."

Later in the fourth quarter, Sharp hit a 3-pointer to pull the Wildcats within 64-63 with 2:40 left. After two missed free throws by Miles, a wide-open layup for Sharp would have given Northview the lead, but it rolled off the rim and out. Khalil Luster answered with two free throws with 1:40 left to give Lima Senior a 66-63 lead. On the next possession, Hunt missed a 3-point attempt and that was as close as Northview came the rest of the way.

"We expected a dogfight," Lima Senior coach Quincey Simpson said. "Those guys can play. If Sean Craig doesn't foul out, I don't know that we win that game, just being honest. They are well-coached and they stuck with it. We made a great punch to start the game out and they took it and fought back. I'm just happy for my guys."

As tough as the loss was, McDonald expressed optimism for the future of the program with many key players returning. He was also proud that his team got through the grind of this season in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

"Losing your last game of the season stings really bad, but I have a mix of emotions right now because I'm so happy our team made it to the finish line," McDonald said. "They faced enormous obstacles. We played 19 games in 42 days and came away with 21 wins [on the season]. We had very limited practice time. These guys just kept getting better and they kept with it and they stayed positive. They've handled everything just about better than any adult I know, which is no surprise."

First Published March 6, 2021, 4:44pm