Northside squeezes Cabot in second half

FORT SMITH – Fort Smith Northside used a 42- point second half to beat Cabot 6552 and earn a first- round bye in next week’s Class 7A State Tournament.

The Grizzlies outscored the Panthers 10- 0 early in the fourth quarter to take the lead for good after trailing by three at halftime in 7A- Central boys action Tuesday at Kaundart Fieldhouse.

Northside ( 19- 7, 10- 3) clinched the second seed and finishes the regular season against rival Southside Friday at UA- Fort Smith.

The Grizzlies forced 19 turnovers, and limited the Panthers to 45 shots. Northside took 63 shots while turning it over five times.

“I think we scored 25 points off their turnovers,” Grizzlies Coach Eric Burnett said. “That really got us going in the second half.”

Northside outscored Cabot 23- 16 in the third quarter to lead 46- 42 going into the final period.

A Cabot free throw made it 46- 43, but the Grizzlies scored 8 consecutive, 6 coming from Tyrell Perry, to open a 54- 43 lead with 5: 58 left.

Four points from Cabot’s Matt Stanley made it 54- 47, but Northside put the game away in the final 50 seconds making seven consecutive foul shots.

Isaiah Joe led the Grizzlies with 24 points. Perry had 19 and Tevin Brewer added 10.

Cabot ( 19- 5, 9- 4), which will be the Central’s third seed, was led by Stanley’s 22 points, while Logan Gilbertson added 10.

Stanley scored 12 in the first half, including a drive with two seconds left in the second quarter to give the Panthers a 26- 23 halftime lead. Stanley had 12 first- half rebounds.

Cabot led 7- 5 after a quarter, but a three- pointer by Joe gave the Grizzlies their first lead at 10- 9 with 7: 03 left in the second quarter.

Stanley warmed up with two postup baskets to give the Panthers the lead again at 15- 11. He later added a threepoint play to get Cabot ahead 20- 18 with 3: 34 left in the half.

Brewer’s two free throws gave Northside a 23- 22 lead, and Noah Allgood hit two more free throws at 1: 25 to give the Panthers the lead again before Stanley’s basket set the 26- 23 halftime score.