In an empty gym the Suffolk League 2 champion Northport traveled to Brentwood High School for the Suffolk 1 Championship. Brentwood who won the League 1 championship with ease has on a tear blowing teams out all season. The Northport Tigers might have been underdogs but they’re a veteran scrappy bunch who know how to wins games.
The Tigers came out of the gate showing their game plan which was to take their time offensively and wait for the right shot. Each team had some sloppy turnovers but were able to get to the line as the fouls started to pile up. Northport’s big man picked up a quick second foul sending him to the bench and immediately after the Indians were able to score inside. While the quarter was moving quickly Brentwood found themselves up 8-5 as time was winding down but they fouled Senior guard Rob Kennedy shooting a 3. After Kennedy knocked down two out of three free throws Brentwood lead 8-7 after 1.
When the second quarter started so did the offense as 6”4 Senior guard Jordan Riley was able to apply constant pressure on the defense drawing multiple fouls. The Tigers did a tremendous job of making every touch difficult early on, but Riley’s athleticism is at such a high level he’s almost impossible to stop. Northport did not back down as their Senior captain guard Pat Healy responded with a big 7-0 run of his own to get the Tigers ahead. While Northport focused all their attention on Riley Brentwood’s second star 6”3 guard Isaiah Randolph was able to score 7 points including a big 3 to keep Brentwood close.
In these games there’s always a player who unexpectedly steps up and today it was Junior forward Dylan McNaughton of Northport. McNaughton who left the game early with a bloody nose came back in and had 8 points in the second quarter including 6 free throws. Northport found themselves up 24-21 at the half with Healy and McNaughton scoring 15 of the 17 points in the second.
This may have been the only time all season the Indians have been trailing or even lost a quarter so far this season. Riley came out of the locker determined to push the Indians back on top as he started to take over. He was able get the ball and drive left where he hit several highly contested jumpers with defenders all over him. The Indians seem ready to take off, but turnovers and Healy kept Northport in the lead. Brentwood continue to feed Riley as he willed them back to a 40-38 lead outscoring the Tigers 19-14 in the third.
Northport didn’t rattle as they answered Brentwood’s run with an 8-3 run of their own lead by a Healy three pointer. The Tigers who now lead 46-43 knew they had to slowdown Riley and after their big man fouled out, they still found themselves up 50-47 with 3:20 to go. Riley dug in scoring on back-to-back possessions to tie the game at 51-51 but Northport drove to the hoop kicked out to a shooter who knocked down a big three to extend the lead to 3 with under two minutes remaining.
Northport called a timeout to set up their defense but were unable to get a stop after a putback by Brentwood. The Indians were fortunate the Tigers missed two free throws but only were able to come away with 1 point after they were fouled with a chance to take the lead. The score being tied at
54-54 Northport called a timeout with under a minute to go to regroup and set something up. Everyone thought Healy would have the ball, but Kennedy broke through the defense and scored over multiple defenders. The Indians called a timeout down 56-54 to set up a play to tie the or maybe even win the game. Kennedy again stepped up for the Tigers as he stole the ball got fouled and went to the line to seal it. Kennedy was only able to convert 1 free throw when Randolph got the inbound quickly was able to go the length of the court to finish a layup to cut the lead to 1 with 10 seconds.
