Northridge boys edge Taft in D-II district final

Twon Hines was money on two free throws with 3.9 seconds left and Northridge pulled off an unlikely 60-58 defeat of Cincinnati Taft in a boys high school basketball Division II district final at the University of Dayton Arena on Thursday night.

It was the last of three games and followed wins by Cincinnati Aiken over Alter and Trotwood-Madison’s defeat of Thurgood Marshall.

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Northridge (18-7) will play the Columbus DeSales vs. Columbus Hartley winner in a D-II regional semifinal at 8 p.m. next Thursday at Fairmont’s Trent Arena. The DeSales/Hartley district final will be played at Columbus on Saturday.

Trotwood (23-2) will play Aiken (20-6) in the D-II regional semi opener at 5:30 p.m.

Except for an early lead, Northridge played catch up throughout. Hines scored the Polar Bears’ final seven points in the last minute, including five consecutive free throws. Taft missed a shot to go ahead and fouled Hines after Northridge rebounded, setting up the winning heroics.

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Hines hit 12 of 14 free throws and had a game-high 32 points. Charles Drewery added 10 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks.

Taft (19-4), which beat top-seeded Hughes in a district semifinal, was paced by Chis’seon Stringer’s 16 points and 14 more by Nehki Smith.

Northridge has won 13 of its last 14 games, losing only to Stivers, which will play in a D-III district final on Friday.

THIS STORY WILL BE UPDATED.

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