King Kendrick powers Northland past Africentric in City League boys basketball title game
If King Kendrick heard the deafening noise created by almost 2,000 fans in the final seconds of Saturday’s City League boys basketball championship game, he wasn’t letting on.
Northland’s 5-foot-10 freshman point guard treated arguably the biggest free throws of his young career as two run-of-the-mill shots, draining both with 3.6 seconds left to a cap a career-high 33-point outing as the Vikings came from behind to defeat Africentric 60-58 at East.
“I wasn’t really nervous, I was just super excited to be on this stage,” Kendrick said. “Once the game starts, it’s a regular game. I just played like I’ve played all year. It was just me versus me, and us versus them. Me versus me is all I was thinking with those free throws. I shoot those every day.”
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Kendrick fueled runs all afternoon, starting with consecutive layups moments into the second quarter to give Northland (15-7) its biggest lead of the day at 21-13. But his biggest moments were ahead of him, including two coast-to-coast layups in a row midway through the fourth to draw Northland within 52-50 and a 10-foot jumper to give Northland a 56-54 lead with 3:45 left.
The Vikings did not trail after Kendrick hit two free throws with 2:51 to go that made it 58-56.
Laron Fuller’s running layup with 33 seconds left tied the game, and it was Fuller who fouled Kendrick at the other end with time running down.
“This (win) was (because of) a lot of togetherness and stick-to-itiveness,” Northland coach Tihon Johnson said. “The guys were ready. They responded. I really feel like we were prepared for a dogfight and ready for anything we were going to face today.”
City League boys basketball championship is Northland's first since 2019
It was an upset on paper, as the defending City champion Nubians (16-5) are ranked sixth in the Division III state poll and Northland, the 19th seed in the upcoming Division I district tournament, was seeking its first championship since 2019. The Vikings, whose 12 championships lead all City programs, admitted they came in with a chip on their shoulder.
“Everybody doubted us,” Kendrick said. “We prepared for this. We knew what we could do. We knew we were going to be the underdogs coming in, but this is what happens when you believe, prepare and stay focused. We were locked in all week.”
The Vikings’ win overshadowed a strong afternoon from Africentric senior forward Dailyn Swain.
Dailyn Swain has big night in losing effort for Africentric
The Xavier recruit had 28 points, 13 rebounds and six assists — and a steal he converted into a slam dunk in the waning seconds of the third quarter to give the Nubians a 50-44 lead — but was held scoreless on five shots in the fourth quarter.
“He got double- and triple-teamed the whole game and I thought he did an excellent job dealing with that,” Africentric coach Michael Bates said. “We just didn’t make enough plays down the stretch to hold on and win the game. Those (eight) missed free throws haunt you in a two-point loss, too.”
Preston Steele added 13 points for the Nubians. Latrell Ucker scored 10 for Northland.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Northland beats Africentric for City League boys basketball title
