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GREENSBORO -- You could see it in the eyes of the players on the court. You could see it in the face of the Ragsdale bench, in the small but vocal contingent of the Tigers' loyal fans.

Big, bad Northern Guilford was going down. And by the time junior Jay Canty pumped his fist three times in a post-game celebration, the Tigers, in fact, had sunk Northern 72-65 in Friday's nightcap of the Pizza Hut Invitational boys semfinals at the Greensboro Coliseum.

The Tigers have another big game awaiting them tonight when they play top-seeded Greensboro Day School in the championship game.

But that can wait. Canty, who scored a game-high 27 points, and his teammates wanted to savor beating their cross-county rivals in what was easily the most meaningful game of the season so far for both.

"This feels great," he said. "Anytime you win is good, anytime we can beat Northern is great."

Northern (7-2) is only 3 years old, but it already has a rival on its hands in Ragsdale (12-0). That's because players from the schools have played AAU basketball together for years. Canty and Northern's Jonathan Frye go back even further -- to their playing days at Jamestown Middle School.

"It's always exciting when we play them and how much we beat up on each other, but it's all love between us," said Canty.

Outside Ragsdale's locker room, Ragsdale coach Craig Shoemaker was asked if the Tigers' win over Northern was a little more special than others. Shoemaker looked over his shoulder and saw Northern coach Stan Kowalewski waiting in the wings.

"No comment," he said.

But the smile said it all. Ragsdale won because the Tigers started the game white-hot beyond the 3-point line (7-of-14 for the game) and finished the game off by pounding the ball inside. Canty hit 5 of 7 3-pointers in the first half to stake the Tigers to a 37-34 halftime lead.

The Tigers quickly extended that lead in the second half by attacking the basket more. Whenever Northern tried to make a run, Canty, Wally Jones and Josh White were there for a clutch basket in the fourth quarter. The Tigers sealed the game at the line, hitting 8 of 10 free throws in the final 90 seconds. Ragsdale shot 51 percent from the field. Northern shot 41 percent.

Shoemaker said the Tigers made an effort to tone down their perimeter game at halftime.

"We got hot from the outside, but you can't stay hot all game long," he said. "Part of our offense is to attack the glass and we wanted to do that."

Contact Robert Bell at 373-7055 or robert.bell@news-record.com

Northern Guilford (7-2) -- Northern (7-2): Michael Neal 15, Jonathan Frye 18, Asad Lamot 8, Christian McCain 8, Jacob Lawson 8, John McBeth 8.X.

Ragsdale (12-0) -- Josh White 13, C.J. Plummer 2, Wally Jones 16, Jay Canty 27, Tyquan Roberts 9, D.J. Alston 2, Cody Horne 3.