RANDLEMAN – The Northwood Chargers expected to get a physical game from Randleman on the Tigers senior night, and they were right.

RHS came out firing, draining seven 3’s on the visiting Chargers, but NW had too many weapons down the stretch and were able to grind out a 72-58 road victory heading into the Mid-State 2A conference tournament.

Prince Bowden, playing in his fifth game since transferring from Dudley, led the Chargers with 22 points, including a pair of 3’s.

With the way NW has been playing over the last month and the way the Tigers have played all season, on paper, the game was a mismatch.

Pride, however, has a way of making up for some things, and RHS wasn’t about to let the Chargers come in a run all over them on their Senior Night.

Senior Justin Holton poured in 17 points, leading a balanced offensive attack by the home team.

The Lady Jets (15-10), seeded fourth, found themselves down by 10 points at the break to the fifth-seeded Rebel Bulls.

All told, J-M managed just three field goals in the opening 16 minutes of action.

"It looked as if there was a lid on the basket in the first half," said veteran J-M coach Jeff Stutts. "We were getting plenty of open looks, but nothing would fall for us."

Stutts undoubtedly felt relieved to be down just 10 points at the break when you factor in the Jets two leading scorers, Brittany Hurt and Jennifer Dameron, were both held scoreless.

"The key in the first half for us was that we didn’t get down and drop our heads because the shots weren’t falling," pointed out Stutts. "We continued to play aggressively on the defensive side of the ball and kept our intensity level at a high level. "

That defensive pressure by the Lady Jets alluded to by Stutts forced 21 first-half turnovers by South Stanly.

Even so, it was no secret in Justice Gymnasium that Jordan-Matthews had better heat up from the field, and quick. And to Stutts credit, he keep his club from panicking.

"I just told them at the half to relax, that we were getting open shots and they would start to fall," noted Stutts. "We were playing hard so I couldn’t fault their effort. I felt like we would start hitting, but at the same time I knew it had to be sooner rather than latter in the second half."

And it was sooner rather than latter, much sooner.

Just in case anybody missed it, the National Hockey League cancelled its season this week due to a strike to become the first North American sport in history to lose an entire year over a labor dispute.

It may not be that anybody missed anything, it might just be no one cares about whether or not there is hockey.

I can think of too many people out there who are on pins and needles waiting for the return of professional hockey.

Hockey may not course through my veins , but when it is on TV, I occasionally tune in.

What turns me off about the sport is the lack of scoring.

I like good defense as much as anyone, but I would like to see some goals.

International hockey is far better than the NHL because of the wide-open pace and frenetic scoring.

If hockey only came on once a year for some World title, I would tune in to watch Canada play Russia, but that’s about it.

While at the Northwood versus Randleman game on Friday night, I ran into my old friend, the sports editor for The Courier-Tribune, Dennis Garcia.

more- See Thursday, February 17 paper: Vol 85, No. 12

The Bears used their distinct size advantage over the Wildcats to control the boards, and Becca Bolton scored a game-high 25 points, out-dueling SD’s outstanding freshman, Annie Pawley, who led her team with 24, including five 3’s, in CC’s 68-46 victory.

Binkely’s frustrations, however, came from the long stretches of time in which the Bears played out-of-sync on offense, throwing the ball away or simply turning it over.

"I thought we did a job rebounding and defensively, but I thought our offense struggled," Binkley said. "We didn’t handle the ball well. I don’t know if we were rushing it. We didn’t dribble it well, either."

For the Bears to make it past West Davidson in the semi-finals, a team CC split two regular meetings with both teams winning on the road, this Thursday, they will have to eliminate those mental lapses.

more- See Thursday, February 17 paper: Vol 85, No. 12

After losing at home to Southern Guilford, a team the Chargers beat on the road a month prior, and winning at Cedar Ridge, NW was fresh off a typical week and staring at a showdown with High-Point Andrews, a team that destroyed the locals in December.

Through the first 18 games of the season, the Chargers stood at 11-7 overall and 5-3 in the Mid-State 2A Conference.

There were signs of brilliance, but often mistakes, poor shot decisions, and turnovers caused inconsistency on NW, keeping the Chargers from stringing together long winning streaks.

Then came Prince Bowden.

Bowden, a starting point guard for the Dudley Panthers, the team that lost to the Trinity Bulldogs in last year’s 3A title game, needed a change.

Citing conflicts with the Dudley head coach, Bowden decided to move in with his mother and grandmother in Pittsboro, leaving two ACC bound big-men and a powerhouse program behind.

"The coach and I just had problems," Bowden said after scoring 22 points in a win at Randleman. "I would start scoring, and the coach would just want me to throw the ball into our big men. If I missed a three, he would take me out. I feel like I just didn’t get a fair shot there."

Not knowing much about the Northwood basketball program, he enrolled in the Chatham County school, hoping for the opportunity to play.

Head coach Brian Arrington had no idea Bowden was coming to Northwood and met the 6’3" point guard for the first time at school.