A sweaty practice jersey never smelled so good for Lance Golmon.
Earlier this week, the North Pike girls basketball coach issued a challenge to his players after several lackluster defensive performances.
They responded with intense practices that left their jerseys in need of a good hard soak and a wash.
That intensity carried over Tuesday night when North Pike held Purvis to 17 percent shooting and 13 points in a 58-13 clobbering.
“The last three ball games we haven’t played well defensively,” Golmon said. “I have been on them in practice about playing better defensively. That’s the best we’ve played.”
North Pike (14-6, 7-0) didn’t miss a beat Tuesday.
The Lady Jaguars opened the game on an 18-1 run behind 11 forced turnovers. The defense was so suffocating that Purvis barely had enough time to get off shots. Purvis attempted only 14 in the first half and 29 during the entire game.
“Even in the half court, they got no easy touches,” Golmon said. “They had about five easy shots (Tuesday) — those were free throws and one layup. Other than that, everything else they had to earn.”
North Pike coasted into halftime up 35-5 and put it on cruise control for the remaining two quarters, which featured a running clock to speed up the game.
Forward Zana McCray, who rested the entire second quarter when the game was already out of reach, led North Pike with 17 points, five rebounds and three steals. She was a perfect 4 of 4 from the field en route to 11 of the Lady Jags’ 18 first-quarter points.
As the leader of North Pike’s full-court press, McCray helped force 27 turnovers, many of which led to easy layups.
Tatyana Turner chipped in with 15 points for North Pike and Nicole Jefferson had six points, 14 rebounds and five steals. Jefferson, who outhustled Purvis the entire night for loose balls, helped the Lady Jags post a 36-15 rebound advantage.
“Some of these other teams may have better players, but sometimes it’s not about players,” Golmon said. “We played as a team. When one was on the floor, we were all there to help them up.”
Freshman Rachel Thompson saw her playing time increase and scored three points and pulled down eight rebounds.
Yet another district win for North Pike has now set up a huge matchup Feb. 5 at South Pike. A win Friday at home against Columbia and a win over South Pike would just about wrap up the Region 7-4A regular season title.
“We can’t read the paper and find out how everyone else does,” Golmon said. “We have to take care of our own business. We can’t worry about everyone else.”
North Pike picks up controversial win
North Pike has a knack for winning close games.
The Jaguars added another down-to-the-wire finish to their resumé with a 56-55 victory over Purvis on Tuesday night.
Jalen Jackson’s free throw with 21.1 seconds left and a late stop down the stretch gave North Pike its third district win of the season (10-10 overall).
“It seems like every game we’ve won this year has been close,” North Pike coach Keith Russ said. “I know sometimes I may get on them a lot, but they show no quit.”
The fourth quarter came with controversy after Purvis coach Charles Neely and the bench disputed the score.
At the time, Purvis had just pushed its lead to 55-47 after a bucket by Timothy Thomas. Seconds later, a North Pike turnover led to another basket that was waived off because of a charging call. The referees signaled no basket and the score mysteriously went back to 53-47, much to the dismay of Purvis’ bench.
The confusion ultimately helped North Pike escape with a one-point victory instead of a one-point loss.
Nonetheless, North Pike closed the game on a 9-2 run, including a big 3-pointer from Xavius Turner with 56.9 seconds left that made it 54-53.
“It seemed like we had a lid on the basket (early in the fourth quarter),” Russ said. “We couldn’t get any shots. Then the last two or three minutes of the ball game, those shots finally went in. Again, I commend my kids for not quitting and stepping up when we needed to.”
D’Hendrick Wells led North Pike with 17 points and seven rebounds. Turner added 17 points, six rebounds and two steals, while Jackson had 16 points on a sizzling 7 of 12 shooting to go along with five rebounds.
Colton Magee helped North Pike force 20 turnovers with a game-high 10 steals.
North Pike led 29-25 at the half before Purvis used a 9-4 run to regain the lead midway through the third quarter.
Purvis’ David Davis was on fire for the Tornadoes and finished with a game-high 29 points.
