Northampton does it again; Charles City eliminated from regional playoffs

Charles City's Jonlei Coles (right) tries to judge which direction Northampton guard Quay Washington (left) is planning to go.

Andre' Jones photo

There are times when destiny intervenes with fate. Unfortunately for Charles City’s Panthers, their fate has been intertwined with Northampton’s Yellow Jackets for the last two years in the Group 1A Region A playoffs. And just like last year, the result was the same.

Northampton blitzed Charles City out the gate before coasting to an 82-48 victory over the visiting Panthers, ending the season for the guests.

Similar to their earlier regular season contest, Northampton’s guard trio of Ronyell Coston, Quay Washington, and Jaylen Anderson orchestrated the offense and caused Charles City problems with their harassing defense. Coston scored the first two baskets of the game with Washington adding the next, forcing Panther head coach De’Quantae Mason to burn an early timeout. After Charles City forward Joseph Simms got the Panthers on the board with a lay-up, a corner three by Washington launched an 11-0 run for the hosting Yellow Jackets, putting them ahead 17-2 and having Mason to resort to utilizing his second timeout.

Charles City’s best run of the night saw Taylor Bey drain a three-pointer with Jonlei Coles scoop and score to cut Northampton’s lead down to eight (19-11). But four more quick points by Coston propelled the Yellow Jackets to a 23-11 lead after one.

The second quarter didn’t fair any better for the Panthers, as Coston and Washington’s harassing defense led to easy transition baskets. The duo combined for 21 of Northampton’s 25 second quarter points, resulting in a 48-26 halftime lead for the hosts. From there, efforts made by the Panthers to slice into the lead were countered by scores from the Yellow Jackets, resulting in a running clock and the season ending for Charles City.

After the game, Mason praised the play of Northampton, but said that his Panthers could have done more.

“You see them [Northampton] flying across the gym and hustling after every loose ball, and that was one of the factors that beat us tonight,” the head coach commented. “When the ball was on the ground, we didn’t fall on it or try to grab it.

“We missed a lot of key opportunities with rebounding as well,” Mason continued. “I do praise the effort of my players tonight, but we just didn’t do enough to get the win.”

For Mason, his focus shifts now to a program that will be in a rebuilding mode as four players will graduate, including top scorers Coles and Bey.

“I told the kids in the locker room that they are going to have to put in a lot of offseason work for next year,” he said. “I am looking for someone to step up and show that leadership quality and take charge. We will be relatively young, but we have a lot of good talent coming up through the system.”

Bey’s 22 points led Charles City in the scoring column, while Coles also finished in double figures with 17 points. Shane Jones tossed in five, and the duo of Simms and Sherod Barnes chipped in with two apiece.

Charles City concludes the season with a record of 9-14.