Honaker 79, Northwood 62

BY ANTHONY STEVENS
for the Daily Telegraph
SALTVILLE, Va. — There was no surprise in the opener as regular season champ Honaker’s winning streak has now grown to 22 games. The Tigers had went 13 days without playing but advanced to the title game with a 79-62 victory over host Northwood.
“It was ugly but I’ll take it,” Honaker coach Marcus Dunham said. “You could tell we hadn’t played since February 13th. I think the layoff really affected us more in the second half, I don’t really think we had our legs. Give Northwood credit, they played hard for 32 minutes.”
Honaker (23-1) had a 10-point lead after the first eight minutes of play and stretched it out to a 39-22 advantage at halftime. The Panthers could never cut it to single digits, but made it interesting when they pulled within 60-50 after a basket by Chris Greer early in the fourth quarter.
“My kids haven’t given up the whole year,” said Northwood coach Jerad Ward. “My boys responded in the second half, they kept battling the entire game.
“Hats off to Honaker, their transition game is awesome and they have tons of talent.”
Casey Dye totaled 18 points to lead the Tigers and also dished out seven assists. Casey Harman posted a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Hunter Lester also had 16 points. Tanner Robinette saw extremely limited action because of foul trouble but had 17 points.
Will Cardwell led Northwood (10-15) with 16 points. Greer and Dylan Jones added 15 points each.


NORTHWOOD (62) – C. Call 3 0-0 7, Young 0 0-0 0, Jones 5 4-4 15, Cardwell 7 2-5 16, Greer 7 0-0 15, Roberts 1 1-3 4, Sauls 1 0-0 2, Doane 1 1-2 3, S. Call 0 0-0 0, Dinsmore 0 0-0 0, Pickle 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 8-14 62.
HONAKER (79) – Sample 2 1-2 7, Dye 7 2-4 18, Lester 6 2-5 16, Harman 7 2-4 16, Robinette 8 1-3 17, Hartley 0 0-0 0, B. Coleman 0 0-2 0, J. Coleman 0 3-6 3, Stinson 0 2-2 2. Totals 30 13-28 79.
Northwood 10 12 26 14—62
Honaker 20 19 21 19—79
3-point goals – Northwood 4 (Roberts 1, C. Call 1, Jones 1, Greer 1), Honaker 6 (Sample 2, Dye 2, Lester 2). Total fouls – Northwood 21, Honaker 14. Fouled out - Doane. Technicals – none.