Naz Mitchell made a great opening statement on Friday.
But he later had the emphatic last word that left the North Hagerstown boys basketball team speechless.
After staking South Hagerstown to an early lead Round 2 of city rivalry, Mitchell made sure it stuck by blocking the Hubs’ last-gasp 3-point shot to secure a 72-70 win that not only evened the score with North, but ended the Rebels’ eight-game losing streak.
“My man Naz over here … game winning block,” said South teammate Avery Crosley, who was the major cog in the Rebels’ offensive success on Friday.
Cosley and Mitchell scored 19 points each as South got revenge over the Hubs for the heart-pounding 80-77 loss they endured at North on Wednesday. Tristan Redick hit a 3-pointer out of the corner with 14.3 seconds remaining to put North ahead. The game ended with Cosley rimming out a possible game-tying 3 from near halfcourt.
On Friday, South led for 46 ½ minutes, thanks to Mitchell’s early heroics, but need one last stop to pull this win out.
The Hubs fought back from a 48-48 deficit to start the fourth quarter get within two points of tying in the final eight minutes.
Ja Ron Nicholson scored a layup with 22.3 seconds remaining get North within 72-70. Still down by two, North stole the ball with :06.4 remaining, moving the ball to the front court before calling time with :02.6 remaining.
The Hubs inbounded the ball and whipped around to the left corner, where Redick was getting the call for some déjà vu. This time, three Rebels – including Mitchell and Cosley charged – to the ball with Mitchell going the highest to slap the ball out of bounds as the buzzer sounded.
“I knew that they didn’t want to go to overtime,” Cosley said. “We had the momentum. So, I knew they wanted the three. I knew that Tristan is their shooter. Once I seen the ball go to the corner and I see it was Tristan, I just ran out to put my hands up because I knew I had four fouls and I want to foul him.
“That was a tough block from (Mitchell). He’s only not even 6 foot (he’s 5-foot-9). When I heard the ball get smacked and seen Naz’s No. 2 in the air, I knew the game was over with. He made the big play right there.”
But in Mitchell’s eyes, he was just making up for Wednesday’s loss.
“After the last game, I could see how I could have been more aggressive,” Mitchell said. “I wanted to do that this game to help my team. And I just kept going after that. I just wanted to do more this game.”
The two teams met for the second time in three days because Wednesday’s game was rescheduled after late January’s snowstorm. It was a tough loss for the struggling Rebels, but it gave coach Shane Santell some fodder to prepare South before this game.
“it’s tough to give the pregame speech for North-South, especially after the game we just had (on Wednesday,” he said. “But my speech was “Seniors – and my best player, Avery – need to show up tonight and be leaders and be young men. Be a tougher team. And I think they answered the call tonight.”
And that started with Mitchell doing “more.”
The Hubs took the early 3-0 on a Nicholson jumper at the 7:14 mark. Mitchell responded with seven straight points on a jumper, a 3 and a layup in a 64-second span to give the Rebels a 7-2 lead they never relinquished.
“It felt easy. I got the ball in my spots,” Mitchell said. “It just felt like it was supposed to happen. I was going with the flow of the game. Avery kept giving me screens, and I was playing from there.
“Since this was my last one against North, I wanted to do more. I wanted to win.”
South steadily pulled away in the first quarter to build a 25-12 lead at the break, closing with a 9-2 run with the help of five points by Cosley.
The Rebels caught a break with about a minute left in the first quarter. North leading scorer Brayden Cespedes – who scored 43 points in North’s win on Wednesday – was called for his second foul. He immediately went to the bench and didn’t return until 1:46 was remaining in the half.
The Rebels maintained their double-digit lead, taking a 39-28 advantage into halftime.
“I think Cespedes is the best player in the county,” Santell said. “He’s one of the best players we’ve played all season. So, yes, him getting two early fouls … I mean, we had a good halftime lead. I told the guys, ‘We were able to hang on and build something.’”
Mitchell picked up where he left off by draining another of his four 3-pointers in the first eight seconds of the third quarter. Then South turned to Cosley to take control in a head-to-head battle with Cespedes.
“It was all let’s get downhill. Let’s look to attack,” Santell said. “Let’s throw some pump fakes in to try and get to the foul line. (Cosley) doesn’t know how good he can actually be. We hold him to a high standard and we want more out of him every single game.
“When he shows up like this – when he’s rebounding, locked in defensively, and he’s sharing the ball – he can drive anytime he wants. It’s when he makes the extra pass … That really helps us, because the next couple times on the floor, that drive will be open.”
It was slash and dash for South for the rest of the night. North tried to match the Rebels, turning the game into a stampede to both baskets.
“My mindset going into this game was we already lost to them Wednesday. Everyone seen that,” Cosley said. “I turned the ball over at the end and that last shot I took (the desperation 3-pointer), that’s all been sitting on me. Today I just, kept trying to keep everybody up, Lately, I haven’t been going well. I’m supposed to be a leader for this team. Now I see when I’m on the road, my guys are on the road.
The third quarter was an even battle, allowing South to take that 10-point lead to head down the stretch.
Nicholson and Micheal Bell led North on a 12-4 run to start the fourth quarter to make 62-60 with 5:04 remaining. The Rebels were leaking oil, but did just enough to maintain the lead, pushing it to 72-66 with1:33 to go.
It led to the final sequence with 2.6 remaining.
“I told them nothing is going to be easy in this game,” Santell said. “I knew – even when we were up eight with three minutes left – it’s gonna come down to the wire. We had gone 2-3 zone on inbounds plays the whole game, but then we went man there. We knew Redick or (Brayden) Cespedes was probably getting it.”
That was Mitchell’s cue to get the final say of the game.
Nygil Jefferies followed Cosley and Mitchell with 17 points, while Tavon Harris had 12 as the quartet scored 67 of South’s 72 points.
Brock Lapole led North with 21 points and four steals, while Nicholson finished with 17 points, four assists and five steals. Bell added 14 and a team-high seven rebounds.
The Rebels and foul trouble held Cespedes to 10 points after Wednesday’ breakout game.
For South, this one feels really good.
“I’m hoping we’re moving towards playoffs and I know this meant a lot to these guys,” Santell said. “Eight straight losses. … Yeah. When you beat your rival, finally, after we got a buzzer beater against Heritage hit on us, and then we get beat at North with 10 seconds left, it’s good to bounce back and get a win.”
