BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
The Northside Christian Academy varsity girls basketball team made it to the second day of play after defeating Hope Christian Academy, but the Eagles saw their season come to an end with a 29-18 loss to Open Bible of Valdosta, Georgia, in the Southeastern Christian Conference tournament, which was hosted by Northside on Feb. 16-18.
Northside, the third seed in the West Conference, opened play on Feb. 16 with a 44-17 loss to Southside (Waycross, Georgia), the second seed in the East Conference. The Eagles staved off elimination with a 19-13 win over Hope (fourth seed, West) that same day.
That win set up a matchup against Open Bible on Feb. 17. Northside was outscored 18-6 in the second and third quarters as Open Bible was able to earn an 11-point win.
The Warriors led 6-2 in the first quarter, but Northside (8-15) was able to tie it up going into the second. Finley Poyner made two free throws to cut the Eagles’ deficit to two. After a steal by Lexie Welsh, Poyner scored off an offensive rebound to make it 6-6.
Poyner and Makayla Price each had a defensive rebound in the early stages of the second quarter, but Open Bible’s shots started finding the mark as the Warriors scored seven straight points.
Open Bible outscored Northside 12-4 in the second quarter to take an 18-10 lead into halftime.
Rosalea Norman grabbed a defensive rebound and had a steal for the Eagles early in the third quarter. Both teams struggled to score, with Poyner getting the first points of the quarter off an offensive rebound at the 3:51 mark.
The Warriors’ Ellery Sharp finally put Open Bible on the board with a basket with 1:30 to play in the quarter. Sharp then had a steal, which led to a basket by Ivana Easley as the Warriors increased their lead to 22-12.
Sharp would sink a jump shot with 18 seconds on the clock to send Open Bible into the fourth quarter leading 24-12.
Poyner, who grabbed five rebounds and scored four points in the fourth quarter, finished with 16 points and was named to the tournament’s All-Conference team. Northside’s other two points came courtesy of Jacee Smith, who was also named to the All-Conference team.
