Northridge boys stave off Chillicothe comeback bid, improve to 6-1

On Dec 28, 2022

CANAL WINCHESTER ― For the second time in this young season, Northridge nearly frittered away a second-half lead.

But on a promising note, the Vikings’ experience showed through again when things got tight, and they walked out of Harvest Prep’s Holiday Hoopfest with a 54-47 victory Tuesday against scrappy Chillicothe.

“We have some older guys, our top five to seven, who have been a through a lot, and we know what to do in those situations,” junior post Ethan Payne said after the Cavaliers trimmed a 21-point halftime deficit down to six early in the fourth quarter. “We were up 15 at Zanesville. They cut it down to two, but we came through there, too,” Payne added.

Of course, coach Bill Mallernee would rather his team not be put in those situations. But it’s all part of the learning experience against bigger schools and in the end, Division III Northridge (6-1) still bagged a win against a Division I opponent. It was coming off its first loss, at home to Division II Bishop Watterson.

“I just care about winning,” said junior Carter Mallernee after a 26-point performance, including 16 in the first half that helped the Vikings build a 34-13 halftime cushion. “I know their (Chillicothe’s) record wasn’t very good, but it was still a good win against a big school, and we got the job done. Teams like that aren’t going to give up. It’s going to help us in our big games later in the season.”

After Northridge eased into a 10-4 first-quarter lead, the Vikings’ bench helped crank up the offense in the second. Braden Knerr drilled a 3-pointer, and Ian Travis passed to Zach Holder for a 3-point play, then followed it up with a 3-pointer off a Payne assist. Mallernee then took off, cashing in nine points in the final 3:43 of the half and twice assisting Justin Townley inside as the Vikings completed a 24-9 blitz.

But the undermanned Cavaliers (2-8), with 6-foot-5 Tayvion Galloway not suiting up, and 6-4 Tre King seeing limited court time due to foul trouble, fought back behind their switch to a man-to-man defense and aggressive drives by guards Cayden Lee and Mason Siberell. Lee tallied 16 of his 18 points in the second half and Siberell had 10 of his 19 as Chillicothe outscored Northridge 20-7 in the third quarter, getting it down to 41-33, and when Lee scored on a drive with 6:10 left, it was suddenly 41-35.

“Our goal is to give maximum effort, all the time, and in the first half, we were caught flat-footed and were not giving our best all the time,” coach Pat Beard said. “We told them at halftime, quit worrying about making mistakes, and just go out there and have fun.”

The Vikings responded when they needed, with Payne hitting a foul shot, Mallernee scoring on a drive and Townley powering in a rebound basket, getting the lead back up to 46-35. Payne then scored inside with 2:45 left, keeping it at 48-39, and another Townley rebound bucket and four consecutive Mallernee free throws finally finished things.

“Ethan is just so reliable in there, with that spin move and jump hook,” Mallernee said. “He’s going to score every time.”

“Coach Mallernee played at Youngstown State, and every day, Justin, Alex (Quinlan) and Iare learning from him in there,” Payne said.

The third-year Northridge coach credited Chillicothe with its halftime adjustments.

“They switched up the defense (from 2-3 zone to man), and the intensity, and we didn’t take care of the ball very well,” he said. “We had just three turnovers in the first half and eight in the second. You get in the mindset of zone, zone, zone, then they went man. We have to learn to switch up, but we will. We’ll watch the film and get it corrected.”

“We came out the second half and relaxed. We were up 21, but we shouldn’t have,” Carter Mallernee said. “We can’t be doing that against the better teams.”

Mallernee’s big game also included six rebounds and three assists. Townley added 13 points and eight boards, while Payne contributed with seven rebounds, four assists and all six of his points in the second half. Holder also had four assists . The Vikings made just 14-of-22 foul shots for 64 percent, but Chillicothe got to the line just three times and went 3-for-3.