Norland boys hoops survives close call against Northwestern to advance to regional finals

After putting on a terrific show in their GMAC quarterfinal matchup a month ago, it was more of the same when the Northwestern and Norland boys basketball teams took the floor on Tuesday night.

The two teams turned in an instant classic with so much more on the line as only one team’s season would continue.

And it’s Norland that will move on as a Northwestern 3-point shot at the buzzer by Camari Austin bounced off the rim allowing the Vikings to hang on for a 62-59 victory in a Region 4-5A semifinal in front of a capacity crowd at Norland High School.

Norland (20-9), the No. 2 seed in the region which beat Northwestern 73-66 in the first meeting between the teams, will travel to Fort Lauderdale on Friday to take on top-seeded Stranahan in the regional final at 7 p.m. The Dragons, who beat Belen Jesuit 54-36 on Friday, won back-to-back state titles in 2019 and 2020.

“We just had to gut it out and find a way and that’s what these kids did,” Norland coach Lawton Williams III said. “We were really up against it tonight. Northwestern is a great team and very well-coached but our kids are a tough and determined bunch and it took everything we had.”

Williams watched his team open up a lead as large as 10 points in the third quarter but the Bulls, led by P.J. Paulk who led all scorers in the game with 22 points, were relentless as they kept rallying to get close.

They finally made it over the top when Brandon Gilgeours buried a three pointer and followed that up with two free throws one possession later to put NW up 51-50 with 3:19 left.

But the Vikings, led by senior point guard Adefemi Akinwole who scored eight of his 10 points in the fourth quarter draining six of seven free throws from the line, battled back to lead 60-56 with 21 seconds left.

When Northwestern’s Jami Hagger completed a three-point play with 15 seconds left, it was 60-59. But Norland’s Cameron Johnson was all alone underneath the basket on the inbounds pass after the free throw and made the easy layup to push the lead back to three.

The Bulls pushed the ball back up the floor quickly and called time out with seven seconds left to set up a potential game-tying shot.

A perfectly executed screen off the inbounds pass gave Austin a clean look from the corner but the ball bounced off the front rim.

“I’m a senior and I just did not want this to be my last game tonight,” said Akinwole. “I knew when I got up to that line, I had to come through for my team. Coach talks all the time about ‘be a senior, be a senior’ and to be here four years, work for this moment – this was a big moment for me. We worked really hard to get to this point and now we really want to try and finish it off.”

Akinwole and his Vikings teammates will be looking to make their first trip to the state final four but it won’t be a first for Williams.

He has taken his team to Lakeland six times and never lost, going a perfect 12-0 including four consecutive state titles from 2012-15, one of only two teams in South Florida to do it (Dillard 2000-03) and one of only six teams in the state to four-peat.

“These kids are a special bunch,” said Williams. “It’s been awhile since we’ve gotten up there and I think this might be a special year. We’ll see as we’ve got another tough one Friday.”

This season marked the return to prominence for Northwestern basketball. The Bulls, who were looking to make it to their first regional final since 2007 (the last year they went to the state final four) enjoyed their best season since that last trip to state, finishing 17-4.

And it’s no coincidence that it was under first-year legendary head coach Melvin Randall who has more state titles (nine, seven at Blanche Ely, two at Deerfield Beach) than any coach in state history.

NW – Paulk 22, Hagger 13, Austin 9, Gilgeours 8, Acosta 4, Glasgow 2; NOR – Allen 17, Akinwole 10, Parrish 8, C. Johnson 6, Swaby 6, Burts 4, Wilson 4, Ware 3, Machado 2, K. Johnson 2; 3-Pointers: Hagger (3), Gilgeours (2), Allen. HALF: NOR 30-24.

MORE SCORES

Region 4-7A: Cypress Bay 57, Palmetto 56.

Region 4-6A: Pembroke Pines Charter 74, St. Thomas Aquinas 59

Region 4-5A: Stranahan 54, Belen Jesuit 36

Region 4-4A: Mater Lakes 66, Cardinal Gibbons 63

Region 4-3A: Riviera Prep 64, Somerset Prep 53; Westminster Academy 66, Florida Christian 51

Region 4-2A: Miami Christian 75, True North Academy 72; Sagemont 73, Lake Worth Christian 38

This story was originally published February 22, 2022 at 11:25 PM.