Northern Guilford Girls Dominate, Boys Follow Suit on “Andy Pack Night” at Northern Guilford – Wyatt Smith Reporting

Elissa Cunane scored 23 points and Kassie Robakiewicz scored 20 to lead Northern’s Lady Nighthawks to a 67-29 domination of Eastern Alamance on Friday night. The Nighthawks were, at times, unstoppable in the victory. Northern is now (16-1, 10-0) on the season and remain favorites in the state at the 3A level.


1st Q: EA-7, NG-22

2nd Q: EA-13, NG-36

3rd Q: EA-25, NG-57

4th Q: EA-29, NG-67


NORTHERN GUILFORD SCORING LEADERS:

ELISSA CUNANE: 23 pts.

KASSIE ROBAKIEWICZ: 20 pts.

STEPHANIE CHANDLER: 10 pts.


On the night of recognition of a career milestone for one Nighthawk—Andy Pack’s 1000th career point—it was a team effort that sent the Northern Guilford faithful home celebrating a 69-46 win over conference foe Eastern Alamance Friday night. The Nighthawks’ win gave the Eagles their first conference loss of the season.

Northern opened scoring in the first quarter and ran out to an early 7-0 lead that was sparked by a physical defensive effort. The Nighthawks held Eastern Alamance scoreless until the 3:49 mark of the first quarter. The Eagles’ first points came in the form of two free throws. The Eagles didn’t hit a shot from the field until there was only a minute and a half left in the first frame. Northern led 14-7 at quarter’s end.

Eastern Alamance picked up their scoring in the second quarter, however. The Eagles mounted a comeback that put them within two points, 18-20, with 2:50 to play in the first half. That’s as close as they would get, as Northern answered the call.

The halftime score was 27-20 in favor of the Nighthawks, a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

The second half was completely dominated by the home team, and the Nighthawks appeared to be the team with the (14-1) overall record.

Northern’s defense forced many turnovers and they capitalized on the offensive side of the court as their lead grew to 15 and above before the two teams ended the third quarter with a 16-point margin and a Northern lead of 48-32.

In the fourth quarter, Northern reached a lead as high as 25 points, 69-44, before two fouls by Nighthawk reserves gave the Eagles a chance to make the final score 69-46.

Andy Pack was the game’s leader offensively, scoring 18 for the Nighthawks. Alec Hildreth added 14, Jarrett Boyd 12, and Trey Johnsen had 10 to round out the Northern scorers in double-digits.

For Eastern Alamance, the team was led by Ce’Darius Williams who scored 11 points. The only other Eagle who contributed double-digit scoring was Hayden Mann, with 10 points.

“I thought our defensive intensity was really great tonight,” Northern head coach Bill Chambers said. “That’s something we’ve been really harping on. When we play hard on defense with a lot of passion and intensity, good things happen.”

Good things happened all night for Northern, but Eastern Alamance’s head coach, John McPherson, said he had thought his team would bounce back.

“We definitely weren’t as good as we can be tonight,” McPherson said. “I wouldn’t start feeling sorry for us just yet, though. We’re going to be okay,” were his words concerning what the loss meant to his team.

One person who won’t be feeling sorry for himself, or anyone, is Andy Pack, who showed why he was honored pre-game for 1,000 career points.

“We just beat, apparently, the number one team in the state, so it feels great. I’m very happy with how we played, this is the best we’ve played all year.”

“Our energy was the difference,” Pack said. “We out-hustled them tonight.”

Chambers agreed: “Everything clicked tonight. Hopefully we can continue to play with that type of intensity, passion and smartness. Play hard, play smart, play together. That’s out motto.”

Northern is now (10-7) overall and (7-3) in the conference following the win Friday night. The Eastern Alamance Eagles fall to (14-2) overall and this is their first conference loss, making their record in the Mid-State 3A (9-1).


1st Q: EA-7, NG-14

2nd Q: EA-20, NG-27

3rd Q: EA-32, NG-48

4th Q: EA-46, NG-69


NORTHERN GUILFORD SCORING LEADERS:

ANDY PACK: 18 pts.

ALEC HILDRETH: 14 pts.

JARRETT BOYD: 12pts.

TREY JOHNSEN: 10 pts.


EASTERN ALAMANCE SCORING LEADERS:

Ce’Darius Williams: 11 pts.

Hayden Mann: 10 pts.