Clarksville, TN – The Kenwood Knights (12-4, 5-0) held off the Northwest Vikings (9-7, 3-2), 63-53, at Kenwood High School for their first district win of the new year.
The Vikings came very close to orchestrating a comeback victory. They cut down an 18-point deficit at the beginning of the third quarter to three points in the fourth quarter.
But the Knights executed down the stretch, eating up time with the lead and making five of six free throws in the fourth quarter to get the win.
Matthew Norl led the Knights with 18 points. He was one of seven different Knight’s scorers. Keith Dowlen scored 15 and Deandre Radcliffe added 10 points.
The Knights made just one 3-pointer, but shot 16-of-18 from the free throw line. The Vikings converted 13-of-18 free throws.
After a close first quarter, the Knights opened the second quarter with a 9-2 run to take a 17-8 lead. They ended the quarter with an 8-0 run and appeared to have full control of the game, ahead 31-13 at halftime.
The Knights relinquished that control in the third quarter. Turnovers resulted in the Vikings outscoring the Knights 28-18 in the third quarter.
McCoin opened the second half with his first 3-pointer. Later, he made his third jumper to cut the Knights lead down to 13 points, 45-32, an ignited a Vikings 10-0 run. The Knight’s downward spiral continued as McCoin started the fourth quarter with another 3-pointer. It was the beginning of a 5-0 run that put the Vikings within three, 49-46.
Angel Hall made a layup to stop the Vikings run. Then back-to-back baskets by Norl and Dowlen increased the Knights lead back to nine, 55-46.
With 3:09 remaining in the game, Norl made two free throws to make the score 58-50. Afterwards, the Knights ran almost two minutes off the clock dribbling and passing around Viking defenders. As the clock dwindled to under a minute the Vikings were forced to foul. However, they missed several 3-point attempts and managed to score only three points with free throws while the Knights continued to score when put on the free throw line.
The Knights remain undefeated in District 10-AAA and will play another home game Friday against the Rossview Hawks. This was the Vikings second loss in a row. They will also play at home Friday against the Henry County Patriots.
Box Score
Kenwood 63, Northwest 53
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Kenwood Knights | 8 | 23 | 18 | 14 | 63 |
| Northwest Vikings | 6 | 7 | 28 | 12 | 53 |
Kenwood
Matthew Norl 18, Keith Dowlen 15, Angel Hall 9, Tyree Boykin 7, Deandre Radcliffe 10, Kyrus Newman 2, Tariq James 2.
Northwest
Elijah McCoin 27, JaRyan Young 9, Markel Kea 4, Marice Wright 4, Correall Murray 4, Dezman Stacker 3, Jahral Browne 2.
