Titus Leads Northview Girls To Victory in State Opener

By Mike Blum

On a night when some of her younger teammates suffered through some state tournament jitters, Shannon Titus stepped up to make sure top-ranked Northview advanced to the second round.

The Lady Titans defeated visiting South Paulding 54-36 Feb. 17 in a game that was still competitive late in the fourth quarter. South Paulding trailed by only eight points with three minutes to play before Northview closed the game on an 11-1 run to pull away.

Northview advances to the second round of the AAAAAA playoffs Feb.22 at home against Valdosta, which traveled to the Augusta area to score a 57-37 victory over Evans in the first round. The Lady Titans (26-3) quickly fell behind 8-2 as South Paulding hit a pair of 3-pointers, but Northview connected on back-to- back 3s late in the opening period to take a 16-13 lead and never trailed after that.

Titus scored all seven Northview points in a 7-2 spurt during the second quarter to put the Lady Titans ahead by seven. Northview led 32-25 at the half and the defense took over from there, limiting the Lady Spartans to two points in the third quarter and 11 points in the second half.

“They hit some threes early, but we made some adjustments at halftime,” Northview coach Chris Yarbrough said. “We clogged up the middle and just took it to them.”

Titus keyed the defensive effort for the Lady Titans, ranging all over the court to swipe South Paulding passes and using her size, speed and agility to repeatedly swat away shots. She had 10 steals and 10 blocks and also led Northview with 17 points for a triple double. She also had nine rebounds and seven assists, coming close to a quintuple double.

“She played amazing,” Yarbrough said of Titus. “She’s the heart of the team. She does everything for us and rarely comes off the floor. She was huge defensively tonight. Teams don’t score much in transition against us because of her.”

Titus is the lone senior in Northview’s starting lineup and the Lady Titans have only one other senior in their 7-player rotation. The team starts a freshman and two sophomores, with a sophomore the first player off the bench.

“We were nervous a little bit and we’re still a little young and don’t have much tournament experience,” Yarbrough said.

At times, the Lady Titans looked like a team with three sophomores and a freshman playing significant roles, but overcame some mistakes at both ends of the court to win going away. Playing against a team with comparable size, six-foot Northview sophomores Ashlee Austin and Maya Richards held their own on the inside, with both coming up big on the boards, combining for 21 rebounds. Austin also scored 14 points and Richards added 10 despite not having one of her more effective games on offense.

Sophomore Makayla Davis came off the bench to score six points, putting the Lady Titans ahead for good on a 3-pointer in the closing seconds of the opening period and starting the second quarter with another 3.

Starter Megan Cistulli managed just one basket, but it was a big one. After South Paulding (15-13) closed within 43-35 with three minutes left, Cistulli drilled a 3-pointer to build the Northview lead back to 11, and Tyson assisted on an Austin basket inside to put the game away.

The Lady Titans will face a Valdosta team that brings a losing record (12-15) into the second round of the state playoffs. Valdosta features two players – junior point guard Asia Harrison and 5-9 senior Desiree Arnold – who average almost 2/3 of the team’s points, combining for 32 a game.

The Chattahoochee girls also won their first round state tournament game Friday, taking a defensive struggle at New Manchester 30-19. The Lady Cougars (21-6) travel to the Augusta area it play at region 3 champion Grovetown (21-7) in the second round Feb. 22.

Image via Patch