LASKER – Brad Johnson’s 17 points paced Northeast Academy to a 49-41 win over Halifax Academy here last week.

The Eagles got started well in the contest with Jud Smith hitting a pair of free throws. Ray Etheridge responded with a three-pointer for the Vikings, but Northeast came back with a hoop each from Johnson and Smith as they pulled away 6-3.

Etheridge added a pair of free throws for Halifax, but was answered by a Davis Harrell hoop that gave Northeast an 8-5 lead after one quarter.

Northeast added to its advantage in the second period when Johnson paced a 9-2 Eagle run. He had four points on the spurt that gave the Eagles a 17-6 edge.

Etheridge scored again for the Vikings with a three-pointer at the 2:21 mark of the second period that allowed the visitors to close within 17-10 at the intermission.

Northeast started the third quarter with a Smith hoop, but Halifax came back with two straight buckets to close within 19-14 at the 6:39 mark of the period.

Northeast, however, got a free throw from James Pope and consecutive scores from Johnson to push their lead back to 10 (24-14) with 4:40 to play in the quarter.

Halifax, however, rolled off 10 of the next 12 points to close the gap to 26-24. Northeast regained their composure, however, when Johnson and Harrell hit consecutive buckets. Harrell then added a free throw which was answered by Clint Sieber for Halifax.

The Eagles took a 31-26 lead into the final period of play.

Halifax was able to get within one point (32-31) midway through the final period, but Northeast responded with a 5-1 mini-run that pushed the advantage to five (37-32) with 3:09 to play in the contest.

The Vikings continued to push, but never got closer than four thanks to the play of Smith down the stretch. He had six of the final 12 points scored for Northeast.

Halifax got within four (45-41) after a three-point play with 23 ticks left on the clock, but the Eagles responded with a pair of free throws by Pope and a hoop by Johnson to seal the win.

In the varsity girl’s contest between the two schools, Halifax claimed a 43-36 victory.