St. Joseph Central (Huntington, WV) overcame an early first-half deficit of 12 points to score a 74-58 win over Northwood (North Charleston, SC) and advance to the fifth-place game.
Northwood (7-3) built a 30-18 lead with 6:05 remaining in the opening half before the Fighting Irish stormed back with a 19-6 run to close the half. That run gave St. Joseph (6-2) a 37-36 lead at halftime.
The teams battled to open the second half, with Northwood regaining the lead at 44-43 on Antoinette Davis’ free throw with 11:41 on the clock. St. Joseph responded by scoring 10 quick unanswered points over the next 1:28 to open a 53-44 cushion. The run proved to be the spark that the Fighting Irish would need as they went on to win by 16 points, their largest margin of the game.
St. Joseph was led by Mychal Johnson’s 34 points and eight assists. Johnson connected on 11-of-18 from the field and 9-of-10 from the free throw line. Griffin Dempsey added 20 points for the Fighting Irish.
Amber Campbell paced Northwood Academy with 31 points on 14-of-18 shooting from the field.
