VikingsWinOpener

**Vikings win ‘raggedy’ matchup with Eagles**
“Raggedy.”

 That was Northern Vance coach Wilton Baskett’s best description of the play of the Vikings and Warren County in both teams’ season openers.

 Northern led by as many as 19 in the second half of Tuesday’s 57-47 win.

 The Eagles narrowed the gap to single digits with 57 seconds left in the game on a 3-point jumper from B.J. Davis. Northern entered the fourth quarter up by 15.

 “I thought both teams looked raggedy at points,” said Baskett. “I thought there were moments that looked like we could be real good.”

 The Vikings missed the front ends of two one-and-one free throw opportunities with less than a minute to play, but Warren County couldn’t capitalize.

 Charles Durham closed the game out for Northern on a put-back with eight seconds remaining.

 Erick Williams was making his varsity head coaching debut for the Eagles.

 “Started out a little jittery. Basic fundamental mistakes. We’ve got a lot of things to work on,” Williams said. “I hate to say it, but the loss was a good loss. We see the mistakes that we need to work on and eventually, we’ll get it together.”

 Warren County sank the first two points of the fourth quarter, but the Vikings responded with a 10-4 run. John Nelson grabbed a steal and finished with a layup to make it 51-34 before D.J. Alston knocked down two free throws to give Northern its biggest lead of the game.

 The Vikings forced 13 second-half turnovers and 22 on the game.

 “I was going to do that at first, but a couple of my key guys to that got little cheap fouls. Therefore, I just kind of had to wait a minute,” Baskett said of his defensive pressure.

 Quasim Burgess got the Eagles back into it by knocking down a triple with just under four minutes to play. Burgess hit another 3 with two minutes left to make it 55-42.

 A Sean Brake free throw and a Burgess free throw cut the lead to 55-44.

 “I’m just pleased with the effort of the guys to get back in it, especially with a program of Wilton Baskett’s stature,” said Williams.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Burgess led Warren County with a game-high 16 points. B.J. Davis had 14 points for the Eagles, including three 3-pointers.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> “They’re juniors and we’ll look to see some progressive performances from them throughout the season,” Williams said.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Brake finished with nine points for Warren County.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Nelson led the way for Northern with 15 points, shooting 3 of 6 from outside. Quentin Rice and Phillip Martin both had 12 points.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Both coaches said their point guard play is a work in progress.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> “I used three different people. I used John Nelson, I used La’Darius Brandon, I used Quentin Rice. I didn’t think they did a bad job,” said Baskett.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> “I’ve learned that our point guards are still not point guards and we’ve got some work to do at that position,” Williams said of the Eagles at the one-spot.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Northern led by 10 at halftime and began to pull away late in the third quarter.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Warren County got within seven points on a Brake lay-in, but Martin answered with a trey from the wing for the Vikes with 1:26 on the clock.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Less than 30 seconds later, Nelson drove to the rack before laying a pass off for Martin, who finished with an easy 2 under the basket to make it 40-28.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Holding for the last shot of the quarter, Northern’s Larry Champion banked in a long-distance jumper from well beyond the 3-point line just before the buzzer sounded.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> “We drew it up for Larry to shoot it,” said Baskett. “The play that we drew up obviously never did formulate. They kind of ad-libbed. They knew Larry was supposed to be the shooter, so they got the ball in Larry’s hands.”

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Both teams knocked down six 3-pointers. The Vikings had 10 more attempts than the visiting Eagles.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Northern built a 13-4 first-quarter lead. Warren County whittled the advantage down to two in the second quarter by way of a Davis trifecta.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Nelson put the Vikes up by 10 on a 3 from the corner with 3:45 on the clock. Nelson hit another 3 with 1:04 to play in the half, again putting Northern up 10.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> “John carried us in the first half. He’s one of the returning guys and getting some of the same shots he got last year,” Baskett said. “As a 10th grader, he didn’t quite knock them down, but as a junior, he’s knocking them down.”

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Baskett also praised the first-half play of Alston and Armani Williams.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> The Vikings return to action Friday in the Person Thanksgiving tourney. Warren County is away at Nash Central today,

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> “I’m just happy with the guys’ performance,” said Williams. “I just think as a program in itself, coaches, players, we’ve got some work to do. Hopefully, tomorrow night at Nash Central, we’ll do that.”

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Contact the writer at kholtzman@hendersondispatch.com.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Read more: [|The Daily Dispatch - Vikings win ‘raggedy’ matchup with Eagles]