Northeast upsets Lawrence

Published 12:00 am Monday, December 11, 2006

LASKER – Northeast pulled off an upset over conference foe Lawrence Academy as the Eagles came on strong in the fourth quarter to claim a 61-55 victory here Friday night.

Trailing 57-54 with 36 seconds left in the fourth, Lawrence gained possession of the ball after a Northeast turnover in the backcourt.

Judd Whitehead’s shot hit the rim and in the struggle to gain possession the Warriors were whistled for a backcourt violation.

The Eagles were awarded the ball and Drew Pinnix scored a layup to give the Eagles a 59-54 lead with 20 seconds on the clock.

Chad Oliver sank the second of two foul shots to pull Lawrence within four with 11 seconds left.

Arch Harrell took John Pope’s pass to the hoop for two to seal the Eagles win, 61-55.

Pinnix made all six of his attempts from the free throw line in the final quarter and Ryan Davis sank two of his four treys in a come-from-behind win.

&uot;Drew came through for Northeast in key moments,&uot; said Lawrence head coach Tommy Tripp.

&uot;His six-of-six was the difference in the game.&uot;

&uot;We tried to steal the ball and ended up fouling and putting him on the line,&uot; Tripp explained.

The Warriors controlled the game at the start, taking a 4-0 lead after a jumper from Michael Cseko and a putback from Marshall Ellis.

Davis hit from beyond the arch to cut the lead to one.

Gray Harrell answered with a trey and Ellis scored another putback to extend the Lawrence lead to six (9-3).

A Pinnix basket chipped at the lead but Whitehead sank two foul shots.

Alex Hodges sank a two after taking a long pass from the back court and followed it with another deuce to give the Warriors a 10-point lead (15-5).

Hunter Deloatch sank an Eagles three-pointer to trim the lead to seven.

Ellis made the second of two foul shots to extend the Lawrence lead to eight (16-8) at the end of the first.

Two Cseko baskets sandwiched a Brodie Harrell bucket.

Ellis scored on a putback as the Warriors took a 12-point advantage (22-10).

The Eagles scored three straight baskets to cut the lead to six (22-16).

A three-pointer by Gray Harrell stopped the Northeast scoring run.

Josh Jenkins sank two foul shots and Pope hit from beyond the arc to keep the Eagles within single digits, 25-21.

After Cseko sank the front end of two foul shots Pinnix scored from the paint to keep the Eagles within three, 26-23, at the half.

Deloatch put Pope’s pass in the basket for two to cut the Lawrence lead to one.

Harrell’s basket kept the Warrior’s out front by three.

Pope took the ball coast-to-coast for two and Pinnix scored a trey to give the Eagles their first lead of the night (30-28).

Hodges converted a three-point play but Davis answered, scoring from deep in three-point territory.

A putback by Ellis tied the score at 33.

Two Northeast baskets pulled the Eagles back out front but three Lawrence baskets gave the Warriors a two-point advantage (39-37).

Jeremy Parker sank two foul shots to tie the score at 39 going into the fourth.

Ellis sank two baskets to break the tie.

A bucket by Jenkins was answered by a Hodges’ two.

Davis and Pinnix scored from beyond the arc and Pinnix sank two foul shots to give Northeast a four-point advantage (49-45).

Cseko’s basket cut the lead to two.

B. Harrell’s foul shot bounced in for a point.

Oliver sank a free throw and Cseko scored form the floor to tie the score at 50 with 2:27 on the clock.

Harrell’s pass from the paint to Davis, who sank his fourth shot from three-point range for the go-ahead basket.

A Whitehead jumper kept Lawrence within one but Pinnix hit nothing but net on his next four foul shots, extending the Eagles lead to four (57-52).

Oliver scored two from the line to pull the Warriors within three (57-54).

Pinnix led all scorers with 18 points, including 14 in the second half.

Davis followed with 14.

Ellis had a double-double with 15 points and 15 rebounds.

Cseko and Hodges scored 11 points in the loss.

&uot;We didn’t stop their three-point attempt,&uot; said Tripp.

&uot;Five three’s in the second half doomed us.&uot;

Northeast coach John Brown was pleased with his team’s efforts.

&uot;We did an excellent job not letting Judd get any good looks,&uot; Brown said. &uot; He had to work hard for what he got.&uot;

After being outscored in the first quarter Brown adjusted his defensive plan.

&uot;We started out in the box and one trying to stop Judd, but they did a great job getting the ball inside to Marshall,&uot; he added. &uot;When we went to man-to-man we played the best man we’ve played all year.

We did a good job getting pressure on the ball.&uot;

Lawrence’s junior varsity team came away with a 48-33 victory.

Holden Ratzlaff led the Warriors with 16 points and Daniel Oliver had 14.

Jud Smith led Northeast with 18.

Northeast (61):

Drew Pinnix-18, Ryan Davis-14, John Pope-9, J. Jenkins-6, A. Harrell-6, H. Deloatch-3, B. Harrell-3, J. Parker-2

Lawrence (55):

Marshall Ellis-15, Michael Cseko-11, Alex Hodges-11, G. Harrell-8, J. Whitehead-6, C. Oliver-4