No. 1 Myers Park at Northwood in matchup of two of NC’s best teams

It’s not often that you get a public school basketball game in North Carolina that features four national top 100 recruits. But fans in Pittsboro got a treat when Myers Park played at Northwood High on Saturday in a battle of state championship contenders.

Myers Park won its ninth game in a row, beating Northwood, 63-47, and for the most part, the Mustangs looked like a team ranked as high as No. 3 nationally, No. 1 in the N.C. 4A statewide rankings and No. 1 in The Charlotte Observer’s Sweet 16 regional poll.

“It was fun,” Myers Park coach Scott Taylor said. “We got there at 4 p.m. and they already had students lined up to try to get in the gym. It was good to be able to go on the road and play a really good team that doesn’t lose at home. We still haven’t found our rhythm offensively but we’re starting to find a place defensively where we understand how much we can set the tone and affect the game by defending the way we’re capable of.”

To Taylor’s point, the Mustangs (13-2) used their defense to handle an overflow crowd in Pittsboro and a first-rate effort from Northwood (12-3), which had a four-game win streak snapped. Northwood is No. 2 in the N.C. 2A statewide poll.

Early on, Myers Park looked like it might win easily, working out to a seven-point, first-quarter lead. But led by UNC signee Drake Powell, a top five national recruit in the class of 2024, Northwood grabbed a 19-16 lead early in the second quarter.

Northwood, ranked as high as No. 77 nationally, also grabbed Myers Park’s attention. The Mustangs went on a 14-2 run to end the first half and quiet the crowd.

Myers Park held Northwood to just 34 points in the first three quarters before Taylor eased up on the lineup and the Mustangs eased up on their focus, but when the game was being decided, Myers Park junior Sadiq White was dominant for his team.

He blocked Powell’s first shot and helped keep his scoring down until Powell got loose in the fourth for the bulk of his 23 points. White finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

“He had the challenge of guarding Drake Powell to start and he was excited about it,” Taylor said of White. “He understood the significance of it. Early on, he was intent on getting his catches in and around the rim. He’s getting really hard to handle down there because he’s added a lot to his game.

“He poses a lot of problems because he can guard everybody on the court and offensively, not many people can match up with his length and athleticism. He’s a winner, too, and doesn’t care about anything but winning. I’m not sure he gets enough credit for that.”

Notes

▪ The game featured three of the state’s top 10 senior boys’ players: Northwood’s Powell is No. 1. Myers Park’s Sir Mohammed, signed to Notre Dame, is No. 6, and teammate Bishop Boswell, signed to Tennessee, is No. 8.

▪ Myers Park junior power forward Sadiq White is ranked No. 1 in the state among juniors.

▪ Coaches from Syracuse were at the game to scout White and UNC sent coaches to watch Powell....Former Myers Park star Elijah Strong got his first start Saturday for Boston College at Clemson. He finished with 14 points and four rebounds.

Three who made a difference

Sadiq White, Myers Park: The 6-8 junior got an early block on Powell to help set a defensive tone. He finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks.

Sir Mohammed, Myers Park: The 6-6 senior wing got off to a slow start, but had a run of 3-point shots in the second half to get going. He finished with a team-high 18 points, six rebounds, making five 3-point shots. Backcourt mate Bishop Boswell had eight points, struggling from the field, but he had 11 assists and six rebounds.

Drake Powell, Northwood: A lot of Powell’s 23 points came in the fourth quarter after Myers Park led 55-34 before the final eight minutes. But he also had five rebounds and four blocks and showed off a much improved jump shot. He made four 3-point shots.

They said it

“Our shooting shirts say, ‘Stay Present.’ We realize there’s a lot of things pulling kids in different directions, and this group has been together for awhile and they could listen to different things and get complacent or get bored. But they know we’ve still got to win the league to be a No. 1 seed (for the playoffs), and you’ve got Olympic at home Tuesday and then you got South Meck (14-1 before Saturday) and I’m sure it will be packed. So Olympic will have our full attention Tuesday and we’ll turn it to South Friday and that’ll be one more week down.” — Myers Park’s Taylor on keeping his team motivated.

This story was originally published January 13, 2024 at 7:25 PM.