Charles City wins second straight game by downing Northumberland 66-58

Charles City's Bryan Lewis Jr. (11) battles with Northumberland's Jerimiah Toulson for a rebound under the basket.

Robb Johnson photo

Charles City High School’s boys’ varsity basketball season has been one of several enigmas and uncertainties. From cancellations to rescheduling, teams that the Panthers thought they were going to play at first usually have switched at a moments notice. But for now, the mentality of “play who is on your schedule” has resulted in the Panthers climbing back over the .500 mark.

Led by a quickening pace and game-high 30 points from senior guard Kameron Johnson, Charles City emerged victorious over the visiting Northumberland Indians 66-58 in a Jan. 28 matchup of Region A teams.

Northumberland showed their hand early on with swingman Jerius Morris and long-distance threat Markeem Waller threatening to make the game a runaway. Morris’ three from the top of the key followed by Waller matching the feat from the wing propelled the visitors to an early 9-2 advantage over the Panthers.

Charles City was able to halt the threat after Johnson’s trifecta on an inbound play. The hosts whittled down Northumberland’s advantage to two (13-11) by the end of the first quarter.

Panther pressure and ability to lock down on defense resulted in only one field goal in the second quarter for the visitors. Meanwhile, Charles City orchestrated a 13-2 run, closed out by Liam Sweeney’s long-distance connection to give the hosts a 24-17 advantage to end the first half.

Northumberland emerged from the intermission behind the energy of Waller. Another three-pointer followed by a pull-up jumper cut the Panther lead to two (24-22). That lead was quickly wiped out as Morris stickback tied the game up at 24 apiece.

Both teams continued to trade baskets for a majority of the second half, but Charles City sophomore guard pumped in a dozen of his 14 points in the second half. After Harris’ drive and lay-in to up the hosts lead to five (57-52), his assist to teammate Kobie Trull for a corner three-pointer proved to be the basket to seal the win for Charles City.

After the contest, Charles City head coach Terrell Brooks applauded his team’s effort on the defensive end to make the adjustments for the win.

“We talked about helping each other on defense and that’s what it boils down to at the end of the day,” the coach said. “Most teams we play don’t have prolific shooters, so a lot of people want to drive and score the basket.

“We can help each other in the paint on defense and that can start our offense once we box out and rebound,” Brooks continued. “My younger kids are growing up and I am getting quality minutes out of my reserves. If we can commit to defense and shut the perimeter down, we will be good down the stretch.”

Other scorers for Charles City (5-4) included Bryan Lewis’ seven points, Trull’s five, Keondre Barnes four, and three each from Sweeney and Mitchell Whitehead.