By Robert Morgan | Published Sunday, February 8, 2009
The Northwest High School boys' and girls' basketball team made the short trip to Hurst Tuesday night to take on L.D. Bell in a pair of games that did not play out as expected.
The Northwest boys delivered one of the biggest upsets in District 5-5A play when they shocked first-place Bell 62-50 just two hours after the last-place Bell girls stunned the Lady Texans 40-37.
The Texans needed the upset to salvage its thin hopes of making the state playoffs. With Bell star Marshall Henderson (26.6 points per game) out with an injury, Northwest was able to contain the Raider offense this time around.
In fact, the Texans served noticed right from the start that they meant business. Will Assama and LaMarquis Letchaw helped limit Bell to just two baskets in the first quarter.
The defensive work paid off at the other end of the floor where Jeff Hughes and Rodney Nobles were solid. The duo scored the bulk of the points to lead Northwest to a 16-6 lead.
Bell rang up some shots in the second quarter to the tune of a game-high 17 points. It slowed the Texans momentarily but not enough to change the pace of the game as they took a 31-23 lead into halftime.
The Raiders chipped away at the NHS lead in the third quarter where the hosts pulled within three points. That was as close as things got before Northwest pulled things back together.
The Texans, who also got buckets from Chance Billups, Ryan Russell and Letchaw, scored a game-high 19 points in the fourth quarter to seal the deal.
The Lady Texans were not as fortunate against the district's lowest-ranked offense. They were held to single-digit scoring in each of the first three quarters and never led the Raiders.
After holding on to a slim 5-4 lead in the first quarter, Bell took control of things in the second. That's where they held NHS standout and Texas Tech signee Shauntal Nobles at bay during a 13-5 run.
The late run put Bell in front 18-9 at halftime, the lowest first-half scoring total of the year for Northwest. Things did not get better in the third, either.
Bell held the Lady Texans to just eight points in the third quarter while building a game-high 12-point lead.
Northwest finally found some offensive life in the fourth quarter. The locals outscored the Raiders 20-11 in the final eight minutes before Bell ran the time out on the furious rally.
