Offense has long been a part of Javion Releford’s game, as the Northside senior guard is the team’s second-leading scorer.

For the Grizzlies to make another deep run through the state tournament, Releford’s defense might be an important factor.

He leads the team in steals, averaging 2.2 per game and has made a concerted effort to work on the defensive side of his game going into this season.

“I’ve created a lot of steals and a lot of defensive things instead of (generally focusing on) offense like last season,” Releford said.

For Releford, it was all just a matter of using his hands to become better on defense.

“Getting my hands on the ball with steals, tips, helping rebound and pushing the ball up (the court), but it’s really been deflections and steals and being active,” Releford said. “That’s what coach B (Northside coach Eric Burnett) and (assistant) coach (Greg) Scott have pushed me to do to be better on defense because last year, that wasn’t my best thing but I feel like now it’s improved a lot and it’s now one of the things I’m good at doing.”

But make no mistake, Releford’s shooting has been his primary bread and butter.

He is second on the Grizzlies in scoring, averaging 11.3 points per game and leads the team in 3-point attempts (154), 3-pointers made (53) and 3-point percentage (34 percent).

“When he gets on, he’s pretty dang good because he’s hard to guard; he can attack you off the dribble, you lay off of him, he can hit the 3,” Burnett said. “Also, he can create his own shot. ... And he has unbelievable range from the (3-point line).


“He can step out there and get you 20 (points) at any given time; I don’t care who he’s playing against, he can step out there and do that.”

Last season, his first at Northside after moving in from Roland, Releford didn’t have to do too much of the shooting playing alongside Isaiah Joe. With Joe having moved on to the University of Arkansas, Releford admits there has been times he feels more pressure to launch shots.

But there’s also been times where he has had teammates more than pick up the slack.

“I feel like I’ve gotten a lot more responsibility; I had to like grow up and be a leader on the team,” Releford said. “But I’m not the only one making all of the shots, I’ve gotten help from guys like Jermualle Norwood, he’s hitting shots; Noah (Gordon) is hitting shots and Jaylin (Williams) is knocking down shots. It’s a team effort really.

“Individually, I feel like I could have played better and shot more shots, but I feel like the team, they’ve done good even though I haven’t come through, they’ve always been there to help me get through.”

Wednesday, the Grizzlies attempt to reach the state title game for the third straight season as they face host school Bentonville West at 8:30 p.m. in the opening round of the 6A State Tournament. The winner advances to a 6A quarterfinal game against 6A-West top seed Fayetteville, set for 5:30 p.m. Friday.

Northside (17-11) is the No. 4 seed out of the 6A-Central while West is the No. 5 seed from the 6A-West, although West (12-15) is coming off an upset win against rival Bentonville.


“They’re very good,” Burnett said of West. “They have won five out of the last six ballgames and they beat Bentonville twice up there, which finished second.

“So it’s not a game where we just show up; they’re going to get after us and we’ve just got to come ready to play, but they’re playing really good right now.”

But Burnett is confident that the Grizzlies can make another strong run through state as evidenced by their schedule. They have already beaten the No. 1 seeded teams from both 6A conferences, Bryant and Fayetteville, and also beat 6A-Central runner-up Conway.

“It’s going to be tough; the last couple of years have been kind of tough but this group, I think we’ve got a chance just like everybody else has a chance,” Burnett said. “If we step up and play like we’re capable of playing, we can play with anybody and we’ve proven that all year long.”


