The Northeast Lauderdale High School Trojans gave the Mendenhall High School Tigers all they had at home Friday night, but the loaded Tigers got their shots to fall while the Trojans went cold at the wrong time, giving the Tigers a 69-52 win and sole possession of first place in Class 4-A Division-5 play in a game much closer than the final score indicates. 

The Northeast High School Lady Trojans defeated the Lady Tigers 47-29 in the opening game behind a stifling defense that created turnovers that the Lady Trojans converted into points. 

Northeast Lauderdale head coach Hazel Clark, who took the head coaching job just a couple weeks before the school year started, came in emphasizing defense, and judging by their play against Mendenhall, her squad of young ladies have bought into her philosophy.

“Overall, were getting better individually, but we’ve got to get more consistent as a team. Like tonight where our aggressiveness and guard play was the difference,” Clark said. “Now, we’ve got to work on our killer instinct and learn to put people away.”

Daisha Robinson hit six points for Northeast Lauderdale on offense, but it was her defensive play that was more valuable to her team as she finished with six steals and grabbed four rebounds. 

“We played better defense as a team tonight; we are a defensive team, and defensively, we came together as a team tonight,” Robinson said. 

Neesha Moss started the Lady Trojans off with a 3-pointer and added another one near the end of the first quarter, as she went for 10 points in the first frame to give Northeast Lauderdale a 17-8 lead after one quarter of play. 

Northeast Lauderdale’s 1-3-1 trap came alive in the second quarter, holding Mendenhall to just seven points in the quarter and taking away the size advantage the Lady Tigers had to hold a 22-15 lead at the halftime break. 

Northeast Lauderdale put the game away at the beginning of the third quarter by going on a 9-0 run and holding the Lady Tigers to only four points in the period and 10-total in the second half to claim the 47-39 division win. 

Moss led Northeast with 12 points and Alexis Dearing had 10 coming off the bench. Dearing also added four rebounds. 

The boys contest was akin to a heavyweight fight for three-plus quarters, but Lewis Lightsey’s squad couldn’t contend with the size advantage inside and struggled to contain the Tigers’ guards at the same time. Northeast Lauderdale held its own against the big guys, but the Tigers’ guards were able to be the difference in the hard fought- contest. 

“I’m proud of the effort my guys gave — Mendenhall’s length gave us trouble, and their guard play was the difference. They got some shots to fall and we missed some shots that we should have made,” Lightsey said. “Our three seniors, Harvest Brunson, Ulysses Lebron and Desmond Bland, stepped up tonight and gave the team everything they had, and I couldn’t be prouder of those young men.”

Northeast Lauderdale and Mendenhall entered the contest tied for first place in the division with both teams sporting perfect 3-0 records. The first quarter showed that both teams wanted sole possession of the division’s top spot. Northeast Lauderdale scored first, and Mendenhall took a mid-quarter lead. Northeast Lauderdale battled back to hold a 14-11 lead at the end of the frame. 

Mendenhall went on a 9-2 run to start the second quarter, but the Trojans kept battling and only trailed by two, 28-26, at the break. 

The third quarter was no different, as both teams found ways to score. Northeast Lauderdale hit 15 points in the frame but Mendenhall countered with to lead 48-41 with one quarter to play. 

The Tigers’ guards took over midway through the fourth quarter after Northeast Lauderdale scored five unanswered points to begin the period, but the Tigers reeled off a 12-2 run and held on to take the 69-52 win. 

Lebron led the Trojans with 19 points, while Bland and Jay Burton added 10 apiece.