Jags fall short to defending champs, 60-52

The Northridge Jags basketball team faced off with the defending 6A state champion Paul W. Bryant Stampede, on Friday. Bryant finished the first quarter with a on-point lead and built on that lead the entire game, before fending off a late run by Northridge. Unfortunately for the Jags, the Stampede secured an 8-point area win, 60-52.

In a slow starting affair, the Jags found themselves down a single point, 10-9, after one quarter. The Stampede added three to that lead in the second quarter, in a still somewhat slow scoring game. The Stampede outscored the Jags 15-12 to claim a 25-21 lead at the half.

The scoring picked up in the second half. The Stampede ended the third quarter one bucket short of double their first half output, outscoring Northridge 23-18. The result was a 48-37 lead for Bryant. The Jags made a run and closed the Stampede lead down to two points, 52-50 with 3:10 remaining in the game. However, the defending champs put together an 8-2 to close out the game with a 60-52 win over the Jags.

Mize Parker led Northridge with 17 points on the evening. Elias Fleming joined Parker with double-figures, totaling 14 points on the night. Adam Hall and Miller James finished with seven points each. James Walked added five points and Garrett Ingram closed out the Jag scoring column with two points.