For the Northwest Classen Knights, a tough early run in the Bishop McGuinness Classic last week was partially redeemed with a hard-fought final win over the Norman Tigers. Like the other two games in the Classic, it was a nail-biter that went down to the last few seconds before Coach Leroy Combs’ squad were assured of a 60-57 win.
The game was tight, and even at 17-17 after one quarter. At the end of the second stanza, Northwest had built a 29-24 edge. They seemed on the way to a solid win when they reached a 45-35 margin after three quarters.
Norman, however, made a strong move behind the powerful play of big man Jarrod Boersma, closing to the gap to four points twice, then to three points on two occasions in the final minute. Ultimately, Boersma led all scores in the seventh place game, with 23 points.
Two free throws with 31.2 seconds remaining, swished through by Paco Jones, may have secured Northwest Classen’s win. Paco and O’Shaka Robinson each missed a pair of charity tosses in the remaining half-minute, making the score tighter than it had to be.
The Knights had trouble at the charity stripe throughout the McGuinness tourney. The lad were only 11 of 26 in free throws Saturday. Even a modest improvement would have made the final minutes more comfortable.
While every Knight who played contributed to the win, speedy guard Jamil Donovan and big men Paco Jones and Quinton Hardwick might have been the difference-makers.
Donovan was stellar all three days of the competition, and was named to the All-Tournament team on Saturday night. He had 17 points in Saturday’s win. Other top scorers for the Knights on the last day were T’aries Taylor with 17 (including a three-pointer), and Jones, with 15. Rounding out he scoring were Hardwick with six points (four crucial points coming in the first half), Terry Arnold and Marvin Kerbo with two, and O’Shaka Robinson with a point.
The loss was disappointing for Norman High School, the only school other than the host Fighting Irish to have appeared in all 50 of the annual tournaments. The McGuinness Classic is now the oldest continuous-running boys basketball tournament in Oklahoma.
Jones was effective for the Knights all tournament long, getting 14 points in Friday’s game and 11 in the opener against Deer Creek. Donovan put in 10 versus Guthrie on Friday, and 24 against the Antlers on Thursday. Hardwick netted 15 in the opener and 12 against the Bluejays.
That opening game against Deer Creek, a 70-69 defeat in overtime, was one of the most heart-breaking losses of the last two years for Northwest.
The Knights raced to a 20-8 lead in the first quarter, but the Antlers roared back in the second stanza to close the gap to 28-23 at intermission. It was 38-37 for Northwest after three, and tied at 61 each at the end of regulation. Deer Creek won overtime 9-8 to advance to the semi-finals.
In the consolation semi, Guthrie edged a 22-19 lead early, holding on for a 24-21 advantage at the break. Things were as close as 30-29 in the Bluejays’ favor in the third. For a time, Northwest seemed to fade, dropping behind 41-35 at quarter’s end.
The fourth quarter was nearly even, at 22-21 for Guthrie, but that meant a loss for the Knights. Still, it was interesting until nearly the end. Seemingly out of range, at 12 points behind with just 44.6 seconds left, Northwest had a burst of energy to narrow the gap to 59-53 with only 21.9 remaining. Guthrie scored to make it 61-53. Then, Combs called a time out to set a creative play with multiple picks on the far right of the basket, opening Jones for a long bomb three-pointer with 13.9 seconds remaining. Then, Guthrie effectively stretched things out, scoring two more points for the final 63-56 advantage.
The Knights improved to seven wins and four losses with the victory Saturday afternoon. They face a rugged city-oriented schedule now, including a Jan. 15 rematch with the Fighting Irish of Bishop McGuinness. The Knights beat McGuinness in their first joust, in December.
