In one of the best opening round games that anyone can remember in the CresCom Bank Holiday Invitational, Northwood Academy (North Charleston, SC) scored a come-from-behind 71-68 victory over Seton-LaSalle (Pittsburgh, PA).
Trailing most of the game and by as many as 14 points in the second half, Northwood Academy (7-1) used a 20-6 run during a 6:34 stretch to tie the game at 52-52 with 7:12 to play. Amber Campbell scored eight of her game-high 39 points during the run and Haliyah Sumter connected on a pair of 3-pointers. Seton-LaSalle (2-3) rebuilt leads as many as four points before losing the lead on an Eden Crowell 3-point basket with 2:25 to play that gave the Chargers a 65-63 lead. The lead was the first for Northwood Academy since a 4-3 lead at the 13:48 mark of the first half.
Erika Martin’s back-to-back layups gave Northwood Academy a 69-63 cushion with 1:29 to play. Nicolete Newman connected on a long trey and Naje Gibson hit a jumper from the left wing to pull Seton-LaSalle to within one point at 69-68 with just 19 seconds to play. Campbel connected on a pair of free throws with six seconds remaining to give the Chargers a 71-68 advantage. Newman’s three-pointer from the baseline at the buzzer rimmed out to secore the win for Northwood Academy.
Campbell’s 39 points is the third highest single game total in the 15-year history of the CresCom Bank Holiday Invitational. Ivory Latta of York (SC) High School scored 53 points in the 2002 tourney and Maddy Brown of Honeoye Falls (NY) netted 42 in 2004. Campbell, who will play collegiately at Wake Forest, connected on 15-of-17 from the field and 9-of-10 from the free throw line. Martin added 14 points on 7-of-12 shooting for Northwood Academy. The Chargers connected on an amazing 73.9 percent (17-23) from the field in the second half.
Shaunay Edmonds paced Seton-LaSalle with 15 points while Gibson added 14 points and nine rebounds.
