Summit took on the Nottingham Northstars on Wednesday afternoon looking to snap a two-game skid. Dave Field was at the helm again and Rhett Grieco got his first start of the season.
A slow Hilltopper start combined with hot Nottingham shooting found Summit staring down the barrel of a 10-2 deficit. A Myles Blackley 3 sparked a Hiltopper rally. Imevar Justice found a bucket off a broken play, Wes Hellings added a free throw, and Brett Colon knocked down a wing 3. Before you knew it, the Hilltoppers scored 9 unanswered and closed the quarter with an 11-10 lead.
Summit only mustered 4 total points in the second quarter on buckets by Colon and Justice. The Hilltoppers just weren’t able to knock down shots. The Northstars weren’t much better, but they took a narrow 16-15 lead into halftime.
Grieco brought some great energy to start the second half – knocking down a corner jumper and taking a charge. The Nottingham shooting got hot in the third, knocking down three triples in the early going. Colon kept Summit close with 5 straight points, but the Northstars built a 25-22 lead. The Hilltoppers closed out the third on a 6-2 run to take a narrow 28-27 edge going into the 4th.
The teams traded leads throughout the quarter. Nottingham opened things with a 5-0 run until a Schaffer drive followed by a Blackley wing 3 gave Summit a 33-32 lead. Grieco had a couple of nice plays to keep the Hilltoppers in it – an offensive rebound and putback, then a nice assist to Colon underneath – but the Northstars led 40-37 with a minute remaining.
Joaquin Russell answered with a bucket and foul, making it 42-40. A great diving hustle play by Justice to grab a loose ball led to two free throws by Blackley, knotting things at 42.
The Northstars held for the final shot and took a timeout with 3.5 seconds left. A wing 3 clanked off the iron but Nottingham put back the offensive rebound as time expired. 44-42 final.