By By Matthew Nascone
The final outcome of a game will tell a team which side to add a notch to on the win-loss column, but the outcome does not always display the effort of the players involved.
NHS head coach Shane Reid said his team played with a lot of heart Tuesday in a double overtime 64-53 loss to Catholic High.
"We played hard in our last district game," Reid said. "When you go to Catholic and get to double overtime that is good, but not getting a win never feels good. I am proud of the way they responded and how far they have come since day one this year."
The NHS boy's basketball team's hot 2-0 start in district play ended with a not so hot streak as the Chiefs (9-11, 2-4 in Florida High School Athletic Association Class 2B District 1 play) lost their final four games.
The game against Catholic was one of spurts for the Chiefs. Reid said his team was down at one point 25-7, but scored 10 in a row to cut the lead to 25-17 at the half. The game then went back and forth and was a battle to the end.
Cedric McKinley came up big for NHS with a big three-point basket at the end of regulation.
"Cedric hit the game-tying three-pointer with four second left in regulation and that was huge," Reid said.
NHS had a shot to win the game in the waning seconds of the first overtime, but they could not get a shot off. Then the game unraveled for the Chiefs as McKinley and Courtney Whatley fouled out in the early minutes of the second overtime.
DeAngelo Kirkland led the scoring for NHS with 15 points. Nakita Myles added 11 points, McKinley scored eight, Whatley contributed seven, Ahmadh Simpson scored five, Jordan Cook added four, John Yuhasz added two and Josh Donaldson contributed one point.
The Chiefs faced East Hill Friday and the results will be in Wednesday's edition of the Advance. NHS hosts Jay tomorrow and Central on Tuesday. And the district tournament starts Feb. 9 at Walton High School. Reid has only positive comments about the tournament.
"We will probably draw Catholic in the first round," Reid said. "And I have tried to remind my guys how hard it is to beat a team three times in one season, which is what they would have to do to get past us. No matter what, this season has been an improvement for this program."
In girl's action
The Lady Chiefs were defeated at home 52-39 at the hands of Central High School.
"We started out good, but we had a lapse in the second half," NHS head coach Lorenzo Jones said. "I was able to play everybody and it would have been closer if my big girl had not fouled out."
Jones said the loss of an inside presence hurt his team.
"We had to try make do without our big girl," Jones said. "We just got beat inside. We didn't play how we are capable of playing."
The Lady Chiefs faced East Hill Friday and the results will be in Wednesday's edition of the Advance. NHS host Jay tomorrow in their final game before the district tournament, which starts Feb. 2 at Catholic High School.