Wilson’s 32-point effort leads Northside Christian past ESA

Trailing by as many as seven in the first half, the Northside Christian Warriors were in need of a spark Monday evening in their 2014 prep basketball opener against Episcopal School of Acadiana at The Nest.

Ty Wilson provided that spark, igniting a fierce rally that saw the Warriors surge to a 63-57 victory.

Wilson, a senior, scored 20 points in the second quarter, including three straight 3-pointers just before the intermission, to give the Warriors a 33-27 advantage.

“To get 20 points from Ty in the second quarter was a real big boost,” said NCS coach Glenn Daigle of Wilson, who finished with a game-high 32 points. “And it came at the right time because we were kind of struggling up until that point.”

ESA’s Mason Schuffler rallied the Falcons in the third quarter by pouring in eight of his team-high 29 points to cut the lead to 48-45.

The Falcons actually regained the lead (49-48) early in the fourth quarter and the two teams traded baskets until Bradley Ancelet’s steal and layup put the Warriors up 55-53 with just under four minutes remaining.

The Falcons would never lead again.

Sophomore Tyler Johnson came in off the bench and logged a number of rebounds late in the game as well as drawing two fouls on Schuffler, fouling him out with just over a minute to go. He also sank three free throws that basically put the game away.

“Big T (Johnson) contributed a lot off the bench tonight,” said Daigle of Johnson, who is still recovering from a knee injury suffered during the summer. “He is a big body so he rebounds well and he was able to foul out their big man which was big for us because he (Schuffler) was killing us on the boards.”

Cole Henry followed Wilson, who also had 12 rebounds, with 13 points. Ancelet added 10.

“Cole is stepping up for us,” said Daigle of Henry, who scored 10 points in the third quarter. “It’s his first time as a starter, so he’s just trying to find his role right now. But once he hits a shot, he’s going to be on; so we just have to look for him early and get him some open looks.”

Johnson finished the night with three points, Jonathan Herman and Nick Martin each had two and Zion Lott had one.

Cole Mckay followed Schuffler with eight points, Andrew Shenkan added six, Tucker Arkin had five and Danny Ahluwalia had four. Dom Berthelot pitched in three points and Riley Nickel rounded out the Falcons’ scoring with one.

The Warriors will be in action again this weekend when they participate in the Lacassine Tournament beginning on Thursday.