Written by Shane Lattimore
Clarksville, TN – The No. 5 Northeast Eagles beat the Kenwood Knights 61-49 in District 10-AAA action Friday night at Kenwood High School Gymnasium
The Eagles (22-2, 12-1 10-AAA) were led by Kentucky commit Alex Poythress along with help from junior Darius Brown. Poythress started the game with a two-handed dunk to set the tone. The Eagles jumped to an early six point lead that forced the Knights to take an early timeout. Immediately following the timeout, Maleek Hall picked off a pass for an easy layup that ended the 6-0 run.
Early in the second the Knights forced two turnovers and cut the lead to four on a jump shot by junior Guy Stanford. Poythress and Brown came alive in the second as the Eagles forced turnovers and took a six point lead with 4:30 remaining. Daniel Norl hit a 3-pointer to cut into the lead but picked up his third foul. Brown put the Eagles back up by nine. DeAndre Lisenbee’s three cut it back to six with 2:00 remaining in the second. With less than a minute, Lisenbee hit another three that tied the game at 26-all going into the half.
Poythress started the third quarter the same way he started the first with a monster dunk. Norl hit a three to put the Knights up one. Michael Pardue get a take-a-way for a layup to put the Eagles up one. The Knights would get a couple more baskets as the Eagles would go on a 9-0 run and end the third quarter and out score the Knights 21-12. The Eagles would not look back.
Brown picked up his fourth foul with 7:00 minutes remaining in the game. Guy Stanford hit a three to cut the lead to six, 47-41. Hall left the game with an injury which would look to be the downfall for the Knights. Poythress and Brown would go on to dominate and put on a dunk-fest. The Eagles took a 10 point lead to f14 with 1:16 left. The Eagles went on to win 61-49 out scoring the Knights 14-9 in the quarter.
Junior Anthony Longstreet did not play much. “He got rattled in the first half. We have a thing at Northeast called ‘Get Your Game Tight’. His game wasn’t tight. I think Carlos did a great job.”, said coach Al Cooper.
Poythress led all scorers with a quiet 30 points to go along with seven rebounds and three blocks. Brown finished with a strong 25.
“We started working around the rim. Anytime we work around the rim, I think it pays to our advantage,” Cooper said. “Darius came in at semester so we are trying to get him acclimated to our system and playing with Alex. At the end of the day any one of those guys are good options around the rim.”
Kenwood had four players in double figures — Guy Stanford 13 points, Daniel Norl 10, DeAndre Lisenbee 13 and Maleek Hall 11 — but it was not enough to overcome Poythress’ and Brown’s.
Box Score
Northeast 61, Kenwood 49
| Box Score | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northeast | 15 | 11 | 21 | 14 | — 61 |
| Kenwood | 9 | 17 | 12 | 11 | — 49 |
Northeast 61
| Player | Points | FGs | 3pts | FTs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 Jaylen Baker | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Darius Brown | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 Michael Pardue | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 Myron Poydras | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 Alex Poythress | 30 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Kenwood 49
| Player | Points | FGs | 3pts | FTs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 Maleek Hall | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 15 DeAndre Lisenbee | 13 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 21 Trent McLaurin | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 Daniel Norl | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 4 Guy Stanford | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
