Tenth-ranked Yellow Jackets sting Charles City for fourth consecutive time

Charles City’s Christian Holloway (13, right) battles for a rebound with Northampton’s Timothy McCaskill as Yellow Jacket teammate Jaylen Anderson (13, left) observes.

Robb Johnson photo

At the rate that the Charles City Panthers and Northampton Yellow Jackets play each other, they might as well be district opponents.

Meeting for the fifth time in two years, it would be the fourth consecutive win Friday night for the visiting Yellow Jackets as they breezed by Charles City 75-44.

Still playing with an undermanned roster, Charles City held their ground in the first quarter against the Class A tenth-ranked team. After Northampton jumped out to a 9-4 advantage, the senior backcourt duo of Jonlei Coles and Taylor Bey would cut that lead down to one. The duo kept Charles City in the game with their scoring in the first quarter, keeping the visitors’ advantage to only four (19-15) by the end of the frame.

But in the second quarter, Northampton’s senior guard trio of Ronyell Coston, Tywone Sebastian, and Quayshawn Washington began to orchestrate offense. Coston’s dime to Jaylen Anderson set up the latter’s three-point basket. Moments later Sebastian and Washington dropped trifectas of their own as they outscored the hosts 27-12 in the frame to take a 49-27 lead into the halftime break.

After the break, Charles City’s defensive flaws continued to be exploited by Northampton, as Washington and Sebastian drained trifectas as the team emerged from the locker room. Coupled with the Panthers’ offensive struggles, Northampton utilized a running clock in the final frame to capture the victory.

Charles City Head Coach De’Quantae Mason admitted he had to search for answers on the offensive end as only three Panthers found the scoring column.

“They got hot tonight,” Mason commented. “We wanted to do an extended 2-3 zone ,but it did not work out in our favor.

“On the offensive end, we have to embrace pressure defenses,” the head coach added. “We have to play with more heart and play more aggressively. We have to take care of the ball more in these type of games.”

Coles 23 topped Charles City (7-8) in the scoring column. Bey also finished in double figures with 16, while Joseph Simms contributed five.