In the storied annals of Denver Public Schools basketball, Northfield is hungry to write its own chapter.
The Nighthawks advanced to the Class 5A Final Four on Friday at the Denver Coliseum with a furious fourth-quarter comeback against Mead. Northfield won 61-52, outscoring the Mavericks 21-3 in the final frame.
After going 5-16 two years ago and losing in the first round of the playoffs last season, top-seeded Northfield rolls into next week’s Final Four with the wind at its back.
“Everyone’s still underrating us, even though we’re the No. 1 seed,” said senior Justus Michael, who had a game-high 14 points. “We don’t feel like we’re the No. 1 seed with (the lack of respect) we’ve been given. The whole state has underrated us all year, knowing that we weren’t that good the last couple years. But now we’re in the Final Four.
“Everybody’s surprised, but we’re not. We’re ready (to make history).”
The Nighthawks racked up a program-record 24 wins this season en route to their second Final Four. Northfield also made it to that stage of the Class 4A tournament in 2020 before the final games were canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Northfield, which opened its doors in 2015 in the growing Stapleton neighborhood, is after the school’s fourth team title. The other three all came on the pitch, two in boys soccer and one in girls soccer.
The team is led by head coach Dre Calloway, who starred on Lincoln’s Class 4A title squad in 2008 and also coached the Lancers for six seasons before coming over to Northfield. Against Mead, Calloway said his team came out hesitant, and the Mavericks jumped out to a 16-7 lead after ending the first quarter on a 8-0 run.
“In the first half, we were anxious,” Calloway said. “We went out there playing to not make mistakes. We told them at half to relax, play for each other and we would be fine. … We’ve been a part of every basketball scenario throughout the season, and we knew we just needed to continue to compete. We went out and let the chips fall where they may.”
Behind Michael, Northfield also had three other scorers in double-digits: junior Jordan Jefferson with 12, senior Da’Quan Slayton 11, and junior Gyasi Hawthorne 10. Mead was paced by 13 points from senior Dominic Reed McLawrence, while junior Matthew Angelo and senior Mason Willyard each had 12.
Northfield’s relentlessly raucous crowd, which made a strong case for the best student section of the weekend thus far, provided extra mojo for the Nighthawks, erasing a 49-40 deficit entering the final quarter. Slayton got the comeback going with a fast-break lay-up and a banked three on Northfield’s first couple possessions of the fourth.
From there, the Mavericks never recovered as Northfield controlled the tempo, hit tough shots and forced empty Mead possessions on the other end of the floor.
“We weren’t crashing the boards in the first half, but that changed in the second half and especially the fourth,” Slayton said. “And the crowd had so much energy, we fed off that, especially as the tide started to turn.”
The Nighthawks, whose lone losses this year came to Class 6A teams (Mullen and Fruita Monument) in tournament play in December, face the winner of defending champion Mesa Ridge and Dakota Ridge in the Final Four.
Meanwhile, the Northfield girls are also headed to their first Final Four amid a historic season for their program. The Nighthawks beat Windsor 66-55 to improve to 23-3.
“This is putting Denver Public Schools (basketball) back on the map,” first-year Northfield girls head coach Sydney Price said. “Northfield has the ability to do some great things all levels (of athletics). That’s what (both programs) are stepping up and showing right now: We’re a contender, and we will be for a long time.”
Want more sports news? Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver’s teams.
