GRIZZLIES CAP REMARKABLE RUN THROUGH STATE WITH 6A TITLE, 44-41

A shot from half-court to end the first half was the difference in Friday’s 6A boys championship game between Northside and Bryant. However, it was another shot late in the game that turned out to be even more important. Javion Releford’s deep 3-point basket from the left corner with 1:10 left broke a tie score. Releford also hit two foul shots in the closing seconds as the Northside Grizzlies won their second state title in three seasons, capping a dramatic run through the 6A tourney by downing the Hornets 44-41 at Bank OZK Arena. “Three weeks ago, nobody was talking about Fort Smith Northside, which I liked that,” Grizzly coach Eric Burnett said. “I told (the players) nobody was talking about us going into the state tournament and that’s cool. “I said we were going to ride under the radar; just take care of business one game at a time. ... When the state tournament started, they were on a mission and I think we beat four really good teams to win this title.” The title was the 11th in school history, and the second one in three seasons. Two years ago, the Grizzlies defeated North Little Rock for the 7A championship and went back to the 7A title game last season before NLR returned the favor. Even more improbable was the fact that the Grizzlies (21-11) went into this season without the services of last year’s statewide player of the year, Isaiah Joe. The team also went 2-4 at home and finished 6A-Central play at 8-6, good for the fourth seed out of the conference going into the state tournament. But the Grizzlies opened state by beating Bentonville West before knocking off two higher-seeded squads in Fayetteville and Conway. Northside was also the last team to beat Bryant, which was in the 6A-Central opener, as the Hornets had reeled off 15 straight wins entering Friday, before the Grizzlies prevailed again. “You look at our away record (in conference), and we went 5-2, and the two games we got beat were by one point,” Burnett said. “So I told them, we are built for this stage right here when it comes to state tournament time because we make our non-conference season so dang hard, and when it gets to this time of the year, they’ve seen everything. ... These guys really stepped up.” Releford’s 3 came when Northside, which had led 35-27 through three quarters, was held to four points over the first six minutes of the fourth quarter. In the meantime, the Hornets rallied to tie it at 39-all. But on the next trip down the court, Releford received a pass deep in the left corner, and the senior guard came up clutch, getting the shot to drop to put Northside back in front, 42-39. Up to that point, Releford had been held scoreless. “Coach B has a lot of confidence in me to put me in that position to knock down that shot, so I felt like that shot was (important) for me to knock down,” Releford said. After the Hornets scored on a put-back to cut the Grizzlies’ lead to one entering the final minute, Releford drew a foul with 8.5 seconds left, going to the line in a one-and-one situation. Releford was able to hit both shots for a three-point lead. The Hornets came back down the court and released a potential tying 3, but the shot was missed. Northside junior center Jaylin Williams grabbed his 16th and final rebound on the day as the buzzer sounded, allowing the Grizzlies to celebrate. Williams finished the game leading all scorers with 20 points to go with those 16 boards as he was named the game’s MVP. He also went 9-of-17 from the field, even making a 3. It was sweet redemption for Williams, who missed most of last season’s 7A title game loss to North Little Rock due to an injury. “Missing last year’s state finals game hurt me a lot, and I knew I wanted to get back here and show what I couldn’t do last year,” Williams said. “This year meant a lot to us as a team and everybody that went to the finals last year.” Northside set the tone early Friday by jumping out to a 9-0 lead, with Jaylin Williams scoring six of those points. “I told them the first team that settles down and starts playing their game was going to be the team that had the advantage,” Burnett said. “We did a little something different to start out this game, to isolate Jaylin down on the block where there was no backside help, and he was able to finish a couple of buckets for us, kind of got us going and we were able to kick those jitters out and relax and start playing.” The Grizzlies held Bryant to single digits in the opening two quarters and ended the first half with a dramatic flourish, as senior point guard Jermualle Norwood’s desperation shot from mid-court hit nothing but net, giving Northside a 25-14 halftime advantage. “That gave us some momentum going into the second half because they had just made a run, and when (Norwood) hit that shot, that was big for him,” Burnett said. “He has worked his tail off these last couple of weeks getting himself ready, and I was so glad for him to finish out his final game like that.” Khalen Robinson and Camren Hunter had 11 points apiece to lead Bryant (24-5).

GRIZZLIES CAP REMARKABLE RUN THROUGH STATE WITH 6A TITLE, 44-41

BUCK RINGGOLD

Times Record | 3/9/2019

PHOTO CREDIT: Brian D. Sanderford