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Northern's Malik Tonkins caps his night with a steal and an assist to Dustin Jones in Northern's 68-61 win over Largo on Friday night.
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By Andy States
SMAC Content Manager

Malik Tonkins emerged with his teammates from the Northern locker room to a roar from the Patriots' faithful following the team's 68-61 win over defending 3A champion Largo on Friday night.

The five-foot-five point guard accepted congratulations from dozens on lingering attendees following the team's 3A South first-round triumph, and with good reason. Tonkins was a giant in Friday night's contest, scoring a team-high 20 points. He converted on 5 of 6 free throws  -- in addition to a pair of key steals -- in the final minute to help his team past the defending state champs.

"He played superb," Northern coach Clarence Tennell said. "He couldn't do any more. He did everything we ask him to do. The guys just showed some mental toughness and physical toughness and we hung on."

"People always tell me that I play like I'm seven-foot," Tonkins said. "I go out there and try to show my heart and I go out there and play to win the game."

Northern (16-7), the region's No. 8 seed, trailed ninth-seeded Largo (10-13) 47-45 at the end of three quarters. But the Patriots ripped off a 10-0 run to open the final period, and eventually went up by as much as 60-49 before the Lions mounted one final charge.

"Coach just said keep your composure and that's what we did," Tonkins said. "We got off just a little bit, but we got back in the game."

 The defending state champs did not go quietly, as Rashaud Richardson spearheaded a rally that eventually saw the Lions pull as close as 63-61 on Richardson's three-pointer with 19.8 seconds left. But Tonkins answered with three free throws, and then stole the ball on Largo's last chance to score and dished to Dustin Jones for an easy bucket just before time expired.

"I think that's just been indicative of our team," Largo coach Lewis Howard said of the team's effort down the stretch. "We're a fighting team and we were the defending state champs until tonight. With that being said, people are going to be gunning for you and they're always going to play hard for a Largo basketball team."

Largo had its chances, missing upwards of 20 layups in the opening half. And in the decisive fourth quarter, the Lions turned the ball over 12 times, according to Howard.

"Great job by Northern -- great job by them for playing and playing hard," said Howard, whose team was led by Malik Thomas' 22-point effort. "[Northern] could have laid down. We thought we had them at a point where they were going to. We kept them in the ball game. Anytime you let a team be in the ball game with the home crowd and everything else, that's a tough situation and they rose to the occassion tonight."

Fueled by the perception that no one expected them to win, the Patriots served notice that they are a team to be reckoned with. Supplementing Tonkins' night in the scorebook, Jones and Terrell Long each scored 14 points. Northern advanced to a Monday-night date at top-seeded Friendly in the regional quarterfinals.

"You've got to come to play every night. You've got to come to play," Tennell said. "Like I told my guys, we practice like everybody else. We're here six days a week. We run, we shoot, we play defense. We do everything everybody else does. Some teams just have a little more talent than we do, so we have to work twice as hard."

Northern 68, Largo 61
L    10    16    21    14
N    14    12    19    23
Largo: Thomas 9 4-8 22, Richardson 6 1-2 17, Lane 3 6-9 12, Martin 0 4-6 4, Harmon 1 0-0 2, Miller 1 0-0 2, Markham 1 0-0 2
Northern: Tonkins 5 10-13 20, D. Jones 6 1-2 14, Long 6 0-0 14, Parker 4 0-2 8, Brown 2 0-2 4, T. Jones 2 0-2 4, McAuliffe 1 0-0 2, Ryon 1 0-0 2
Three-pointers: Largo 4 (Richardson 4); Northern 3 (Long 2, D. Jones)

astates@digitalsports.com