Javen Vaughn buries a three-point shot during the first half against Winton Woods. Vaughn led Northmont with 25 points including six field goals from beyond the arc.
Photos by Ron Nunnari | The Register-Herald
B.J. Hatcher drives past Winton Woods 6-foot-7 center Emontae Weah to score during the third quarter.
Victor Drummond puts up a shot inside the paint.
CLAYTON — After getting soundly thumped by second place Beavercreek 65-28 Friday night, Northmont bounced back to score a 62-57 overtime victory over the Cincinnati area’s No. 2 ranked team Winton Woods (16-2 overall) of the Eastern Cincinnati Conference.
Tied 52-52 at the end of regulation play, Northmont guard Javen Vaughn scored a pair of three-pointers and Da’lin Wilkins scored four points in overtime to lift Northmont to a five point victory.
Vaughn finished the night with 25 points while B.J. Hatcher tallied 17 to lead the Thunderbolts attack.
Senior guard Sean Harmon, Jr. paced the Warriors with 26 points while center Emontae Weah and Seaonta Stewart tossed in 10 points each.
Winton Woods was without the services of 6-foot-9 center Tyler McKinley, who is leading the ECC with 19.4 points per game.
Northmont took a 19-7 lead at the end of the first quarter when Vaughn buried a three-pointer from beyond mid-court at the buzzer.
Winton Woods chipped its way back into the game to trail 26-24 at halftime.
The Warriors took their first lead, 33-32, on a three-pointer by Harmon with 4:35 left in the third quarter. Eight of Harmon’s nine baskets came from beyond the arc.
Winton Woods took a 52-48 and called timeout with 4:01 remaining. When play resumed Duece Cortner scored on a put-back and Vaughn snared a rebound and scored to tie the game.
After another Winton Woods timeout with 1:35 left neither team scored to send the game into overtime. Vaughn buried a pair of three-pointers in overtime and Wilkins scored two baskets while the Thunderbolts limited the Warriors to five points to secure a 62-57 victory.
“That’s a really good team. I’ve got a ton of respect for their coach. He’s been at Winton Woods for a long time and I’ve known him a long time,” said Northmont coach Darnell Hoskins. “We knew this was going to be a tough one. They are No. 2 overall in Cincinnati, so they are really good but their best player was hurt tonight but he will be ready for tournament.”
Hoskins noted that even without McKinley the Warriors are still a very good team with many talented players, especially Harmon.
“Harmon really shot it in, but he also missed some shots late that were critical which helped us some,” Hoskins said. “It was a great tournament feel preparation type of game for us, especially on the heels of what happened last night in that debacle.”
Hoskins said he told his players that he was extremely proud of the way they bounced back from the loss to Beavercreek.
“That is two times this year that we have done that,” Hoskins noted. “The Miamisburg game we played like dogs and then came back the next game to beat Centerville when nobody gave us a chance, and again tonight.
“We lost badly to Beavercreek last night and then you have the No. 2 team in Cincinnati come in and it looks daunting and we responded, so that lets me know we have the bones to fight through adversity,” Hoskins added. “So, that’s encouraging moving into the postseason. This was a good tune-up for the postseason and then we have Alter on the road Tuesday, No. 1 in Division II, so our schedule tests us.”
Hoskins pointed out that he makes it a point not to schedule cupcake opponents because February is all about getting prepared for tournament play.
“I learned a lot about us tonight and I feel very-very confident going into postseason. I think we are the No. 5 overall seed, so we will see tomorrow where we are positioned in the tournament bracket,” Hoskins concluded.
Northmont, No. 5 seed, opens tournament play at Centerville High School on Friday, Feb. 23 at 5 p.m. against No. 14 seed West Carrollton.
WIW 07 17 16 12 05 – 57
NMT 19 07 17 09 10 – 62
Winton Woods: Seaonta Stewart 3-3-10, Sean Harmon, Jr. 9-0-26, Nate Dawson 3-2-8, Bryshawn Brown 1-1-3, Emontae Weah 5-0-10. Totals: 21-6-57.
Northmont: B.J. Hatcher 4-7-17, Victor Drummond 2-0-4, Da’lin Wilkins 4-0-8, Duece Cortner 1-0-2, Javen Vaughn 9-1-25, Chisom Ibe 2-0-4, Brady Weaver 1-0-2. Totals: 23-8-62.
Three-point field goals: Winton Woods 9 (Harmon 8, Stweart); Northmont 6 (Vaughn 6).
Records: Winton Woods 16-2, Northmont 12-8.
Reach Ron Nunnari at (937) 684-9124 or email [email protected].
