Boys Basketball: Linden-McKinley beats Northland, moves into title position
Friday, February 2, 2024
By Jarrod Ulrey
julrey@cbussports.com
Linden-McKinley’s Philip Towns, who finished the night with 21 points, works against Northland on Feb. 2 at Linden. Photo: John Hulkenberg
When Kevin Darthard took over as the Linden-McKinley boys basketball coach for the 2018-19 season, he vowed to turn the program into a perennial City League power.
By his second season, the Panthers won the City-North Division to reach their first league championship game since 1992.
Linden, which then captured its first district championship in 17 years in 2021-22, have added to their run of success this winter by putting themselves on pace to qualify for another City title game.
With a 49-37 victory Friday over defending league champion Northland, the Panthers moved into a first-place tie with the Vikings at 11-1 in the City-North.
The City championship game is scheduled for Feb. 17, and Columbus South will represent the City-South Division.
“We have high expectations and goals here,” Darthard said. “We’ve done great things. We have a saying that Linden would never be bottom-feeders again as long as I’m here. I feel great with where the program is. Our program is built off of hard work, family, consistency. The hard work these boys have put in has gotten us here through it all.”
After being outscored 20-7 in the second quarter of a 77-53 loss at Northland on Jan. 9, the Panthers’ defense was more than up to the task in the rematch on their home court.
Linden-McKinley’s Thorne Love shoots over Northland’s Elijz’ah Monroe on Feb. 2 at Linden. Photo: John Hulkenberg
Linden took a 27-20 lead into halftime after senior guard Philip Towns hit a 3-pointer just before the second-quarter buzzer.
Northland sophomore standout guard King Kendrick sat the final 1 minute, 33 seconds of the second quarter after picking up his third foul.
Then in the third, Linden senior guard Donald Milton hit a 3-pointer to give his team a 10-point lead and prompting Kendrick’s return despite foul trouble.
A 3-pointer by Milton and a basket by Kevin Darthard III gave the Panthers a 35-22 lead with 3:40 to go in the third quarter.
“All we work on in practice is defense, defense, defense,” Towns said. “If we win the defensive side, we’ve got the skilled players to get a bucket. They don’t have any defense that can handle all of our guards. We’re guard-heavy, and it’s hard for teams to handle that.”
Kendrick, who entered the game averaging 18 points, scored six points in the fourth quarter and wound up with 15, but Linden led 45-32 with 4:06 and never led by fewer than nine during the game’s remainder.
“It was chilly out there (offensively),” Northland coach Tihon Johnson said. “Hats off to Linden. I respect their effort and their game plan and their execution. Our team came out flat today and just couldn’t get it going, none of us. Our execution was lacking, and I take the blame for that as the leader of this team. I know we’ve gotten everybody’s best shot the last couple years, but we try to preach the sentiment of trying to find a way to win, and ultimately we couldn’t do that.”
Northland’s Nehemiah McMorris moves with the ball against Linden on Feb. 2 at Linden. Photo: John Hulkenberg
While Northland dropped to 14-4 overall, Linden is 14-6 overall and must beat Beechcroft on Feb. 6 and Whetstone on Feb. 9 to qualify for the City title game. The Panthers, who beat Beechcroft 62-53 on Jan. 18 and Whetstone 64-28 on Jan. 16, hold the tiebreaker because the Vikings competed in the City championship game more recently.
“This means the hard work we put in in practice is actually working, and it feels good that it happened,” Hinton said. “We try to execute our plays and work on different situations that would be in the game so that we get better every time. We’re a hard-working team.”
Towns finished with 21 points, including making three 3-pointers, Milton hit three 3s in the second half and finished with 11 points, and Darthard added nine points.
Milton is a move-in from Dallas and one of six seniors in the program.
The district tournament drawing for Northland, which competes in Division I, and Linden, which competes in Division II, is Feb. 11.
“Philip Towns came into the locker room (after the loss to Northland) and said everybody needed to lift their heads up because (Northland had) to come around and see us again,” coach Darthard said. “Even though we took time to take it in tonight and celebrate, Philip Towns said to the guys, ‘Don’t forget, we’ve got Beechcroft on Tuesday.’”
Northland’s Jaden Shoultz shoots against Linden-McKinley on Feb. 2 at Linden. Photo: John Hulkenberg