Northgate stuns McIntosh in region tournament

In what could be considered the biggest upset of the region 4-AAAAA boys basketball tournament, number one seed McIntosh High School lost to the Vikings of Northgate High School in a low scoring game 40-33.

The Chiefs, who previously beat Northgate twice early in the season, struggled offensively all night and were held to under 40 points for the first time all year.

“We slept walk throughout the whole game, I told my team last night that it’s hard to beat a team three times in a season,” said McIntosh head coach Jason Eisele. “I knew that Northgate we do everything they could to win, they deserve to go to state and we do not.”

Northgate’s Wendell Watson had a game high 16 points and Adrian Tolbert added 10. Freshman Jordan Lyons was the leading scorer for the Chiefs finishing the night with 14 points.

McIntosh had an early 15-9 lead but Northgate’s zone defense began to give McIntosh trouble. The Chiefs perimeter shooters couldn’t knock down open shots and Northgate took advantage going on a 12-2 run to take the lead 21-17 with 2:52 left in the second quarter.

“We just weren't aggressive at all we were too passive, no one wanted to take the big shot or drive a gap,” said Eisele. “We usually shot the ball well but we didn’t tonight, you live by the three and die by the three and we died by it tonight.”

Despite the Chiefs rough shooting night McIntosh had a chance to tie the game in the waning moments. Down 35-32 with 53 seconds left Lyons recovered a missed three pointer for an offensive rebound but missed the subsequent layup forcing the Chiefs to foul, ending their state playoff hopes.

“If you hold your opponent to 40 points you figure you’re going to win the game but not when you only score 33, hats of to Northgate they deserve every bit of it,” said Eisele.