Northview Lady Titans Shock Brookwood 84-64

Sydney Wallace scored 37 points and the Northview Lady Titans rallied in the second half to pull off a major upset 84-64 over the Brookwood Lady Broncos. The Lady Broncos were ranked No. 1 in the state earlier this season and went into the contest ranked No. 5.

 The Lady Titans met the Lady Broncos on Friday night for the first round of the Girls AAAAA State Tournament.  Brookwood, the Region 8-AAAAA champs, hosted the contest. Northview, fourth seed in region 6-AAAAA, came into the game with a record of 17-10, including two recent losses to Alpharetta and Milton. Given Brookwood’s impressive 25-2 record, it appeared it would be a major battle for the Lady Titans.

Both teams came out swinging in the first half.  Scoring was steady with Brookwood’s Katie Mallow and Northview’s Sydney Wallace both showing early dominance. The Lady Titans grit showed early as they matched Brookwood point for point with each team fighting for the lead. At the half, the Lady Broncos led by only three points with a score of 40-37.

In the second half, however, the game's tone changed as the Lady Titans seemed to come out of the locker room with renewed determination. By the end of the third quarter, Northview was up by six points over Brookwood.  The Lady Titans had found their rhythm and never looked back.  Northview’s lead continued to increase in the fourth quarter to a phenomenal 20 points as Northview blew the lid off the game with an 84-64 upset.

When asked what was the key to Northview’s victory, Coach Evan Deis explained, “We gave up 40 points in the first half and it was off of turnovers and silly offensive rebounds.  In the second half, we cut their offense down with 24 points.  We got on the glass, we got more physical and we were smarter, not turning the ball over. Because we knew our offense had been our strong point all year.  We knew we would put up points, we just had to shut them down and we did.  We shut them down in the second half and that was the win.”

Head Coach Russell Harrell added, “Everybody had a good game.  Meredith Tarver was a big part of the game and nobody can guard Sydney (Wallace).  She’s one of the best players in the state.  We just came out – we played with a lot of intensity, a lot of heart and didn’t let up the entire game.  They really played well as a whole team.” 

Wallace and Tarver both had great games, scoring 37 and 17 points respectively.  Alyse Anderson-Brown also had a strong showing with a total of 16 points.

Northview will meet Mill Creek in the next round of the playoffs on March 1.