PITTSBORO – And just like that, their season was over.

Despite having a 16-point lead in the first quarter and an 11-point lead with five minutes to go, Northwood failed to put away Gray’s Creek in the opening round of the 1A state playoffs, and the visiting Bears made the Chargers pay with a stunning 79-75 upset over a team that only a week ago appeared ready for a long post-season run.

Instead, NW is left with one big ‘what might have been’.

The Chargers were the more talented team Monday night, but it was that gap in skill level that cost NW the game.

From the outset, the Chargers, led by Terrence Johnson’s torrid first quarter shooting, ran all over GC.

But, after building a 20-4 lead, NW started getting fancy.

One no-look or behind-the-back pass after another flew out of bounds, and the same 3-pointers that fell in the first eight minutes weren’t falling in the second.

"We were aggressive at the very beginning and then we get relaxed," NW coach Bryan Harrington said. "We’re thinking we know we’re better, they’re going to give up sooner or later, and that’s what we were waiting on, them to give up.

With the win Jordan-Matthews, the 4th-seed out of the Yadkin Valley Conference, improves to 14-13 on the season and now heads to Booneville tonight (Wed.) to battle Sectional 2 top-seed Starmount (22-3).

The Cardinals, meanwhile, close the season at 17-9.

Monday night’s match up between the Jets and East Surry resembled a prize fight with the Cardinals winning the first round and a half before J-M rallied in the second to even things up at the midway point. After an stalemate in the third round, the Jets pulled away in the fourth, only to miss the knockout punch which allowed East Surry to make things interesting in the end.

"We were a bit tight in the early going and did too much dribbling instead of moving the ball up the floor with passes," said J-M coach P.J. Lowman, who picked up his first playoff victory at the helm of the Jets. "I was pretty happy with our defensive intensity though, which eventually sparked our offense. I thought it was a pretty gutsy effort all in all by our guys."

It was evident from the early going that both teams had come to play, especially defensively.

Utilizing a Princeton style offensive attack, East Surry broke onto the scoreboard at the 5:37 mark on a rebound bucket by Caleb Gilley to take a 2-0 lead. The Gilley bucket would spark a 9-0 run by the Cards which also saw Gilley score on a short lay in while Devin Holt added a short jumper and a trey from the right wing.

Staring at a 9-0 deficit, the Jets, encouraged by a raucous home crowd led by the Lowman Lunatics, answered with baskets from Tyrece Turner and Chad McSwain to pull within five at the 1:52 mark.

It was a disappointing end to Northwood’s basketball season on Monday night in more ways than one.

The fact the Chargers lost their opening round to Gray’s Creek was bad enough.

Entering the state 2A playoffs, NW had to be a team to watch.

Since Dudley transfer, Prince Bowden, joined the team in late January, the Chargers had been rolling, winning six in a row before Friday night’s Mid-State 2A conference final versus High-Point Andrews.

Although NW got drug by the Red Raiders, many, including myself, thought that the loss might have been the best thing for them going into the playoffs.

Sort of bring them down to earth a little and get the team to re-focus on making a serious post-season charger.

In the first quarter Monday night, NW had never looked better.

The offense was making shots, and the defense was shutting down the visiting Bears.

Five and a half minutes into the game, the Chargers led by 16, 20-4.

Then the game got to be something other than basketball.

Although Northwood and Gray’s Creek are no where close to each other, the game developed a fever pitch that would rival any Duke and Carolina match-up.

The problem came when the passion was not about competing, but about overblown testosterone.

more- See Thursday, February 24 paper: Vol 85, No. 13

Entering the contest, the two clubs had split during the regular season with each taking a win on the road. Finishing tied for second in the league standings, the winner would secure the No. 2 playoff spot out of the YVC heading into post-season play and garner a bye in the opening round while hosting a second round match up at home.

Needless to say the outcome was disappointing for the Lady Bears.

"We didn’t show up to play, there was just no intensity from us," said CC coach Gerald Binkley after the tough loss. "We had way too many turnovers and their trap really shook us up. West Davidson is also physical and we’re not, and they just took it to us."

For the contest Central turned the ball over 26 times, many of which led to easy transition baskets by the Green Dragons.

West Davidson (16-7) began the game with a 6-2 run sparked by a pair of baskets from Brandi Thompson.

The Bears (18-8) answered with a pair of foul shots by Becca Bolton, a driving hoop from Erin Leonard and a short lay in with :09 seconds remaining from Natalie Phillips to pull to within 10-8 after one period of play

more- See Thursday, February 24 paper: Vol 85, No. 13