Northside Christian Academy uses 16-3 run in 4th quarter to win 1st region boys basketball title

Posted 2/14/23

It was celebration time at Northside Christian Academy gymnasium on Feb. 13.

As the final buzzer sounded, the student body excitedly stormed the court and gathered around the home rim to watch the …

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Northside Christian Academy uses 16-3 run in 4th quarter to win 1st region boys basketball title

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It was celebration time at Northside Christian Academy gymnasium on Feb. 13.

As the final buzzer sounded, the student body excitedly stormed the court and gathered around the home rim to watch the nets cut down by the boys’ basketball team.

For the first time in school history, the Crusaders finished the regular season as SCISA region champions after defeating Orangeburg Prep 67-59.

Dane Sundell, Sullie Crider and Cade McNeil combined for all 21 fourth-quarter points for Northside Christian Academy in the ‘winner-take-all’ game for the Region 4-3A title. Crider finished with 21 points, Sundell had 19 and McNeil finished with 13.

The Crusaders close out the regular season against Hammond on Valentine’s Day. They will then await the release of the SCISA playoff brackets which begin Feb. 17.

“This team is a team that has been tough all year long,” said first-year head coach Peter Wilkerson, who previously served as an assistant at both Chapin and Brookland-Cayce high schools. “They’ve never doubted themselves. They’ve always battled back. They was a point in time in the beginning of the year where they lost a bunch of games in a row and they kept it together and then they came back and won a bunch of games in a row.

“So, resiliency really makes up this team’s mentality. They play hard every single possession and they never give up and that’s how we were able to win tonight.”

The Crusaders’ resiliency was put to the test both before and during the matchup with the Indians. Just 48 hours earlier, they suffered a lopsided road loss to Palmetto Christian Academy.

Northside Christian Academy also entered the game short-handed with two injured starters. After erasing an early deficit with a 8-0 run to take a 16-15 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Orangeburg Prep responded with a 12-2 run in the second quarter to take a 31-23 halftime. Jody Gillium led the offense with a game-high 26 points, Austin Hall had six of his 15 points in the second half and center Tilden Riley was effective in the paint defensively in blocking shots and rebounding.

The Indians enjoyed their biggest lead at 41-31 midway in the third quarter. Crider sparked the comeback with 10 points, most of which came during a 15-5 run to tie the game at 46-46 going into the fourth quarter.

Orangeburg Prep scored the first six points of the final quarter to take an early advantage. Sundell kept the Crusaders in striking distance with a three-pointer and two free throws.

Trailing 56-51, Crider took over with six unanswered points to give Northside Christian the lead for good with 2:42 left. A steal and layup by McNeil and free throws from Sundell were part of a game-ending 16-3 run which propelled the Crusaders to victory.

“I was pretty confident just because we’re a pretty good free-throw shooting team and I thought we could handle the pressure at the end of the game,” Sundell said.

“Last Friday wasn’t really us,” Crider said. “This is us.”

Following the celebration, Wilkerson saluted his predecessor as head coach, Jason Harmon, who was in attendance, for leaving a solid foundation in place. He now looks to get Northside Christian Academy healthy to make a long post-season run.

“Jason Harmon did a fantastic job of building this program from the ground up,” he said. “And so, to be able to get to take it to a region championship means so much to me, my family and the Crusader family as well.”

Girls Basketball

Orangeburg Prep 34, Northside Christian Academy 31

Senior Drea Pringle’s 16 points was not enough to lift the Lady Crusaders to victory.

Northside Christian Academy led 14-12 at halftime, only to exchange the lead several times with Orangeburg Prep. Down as many as five points, Pringle rallied the Lady Crusaders to within a tie before free-throw shooting by Campbell  Dellny (11-13 from the line) allowed the Lady Indians to hold on for the win.

Dellny led the Lady Indians with 13 points. 

Despite the loss, Northside Christian Academy qualified for the post-season.

Thomas Grant Jr. | Chronicle
Northside Christian Academy head coach Peter Wilkerson following the 67-59 win over Orangeburg Prep.
Thomas Grant Jr. | Chronicle
Northside Christian Academy 's Sully Crider and Dane Sundell on rebounding from the loss to Palmetto Christian Academy to win the SCISAA Region 4-3A title.

Northside Christian, SCISA, basketball, Sully Crider, Dane Sundell, region, champions

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