FeedsNorthville hoopsters split week
Pressure was the key in the Northville Lady Mustang’s 49-32 victory at Churchill last Thursday.
“We did not do a great job with our press,” said Northville Coach Pete Wright. “However, I think we wore then down over time and we did not give up any easy ones with the press. Our second and third quarter defense was very good.”
Churchill outscored Northville, 10-9, in the first quarter. That would be the only lead the Chargers would amass before Northville’s suffocating defense took over. The Lady ‘Stangs limited Churchill to a total of nine points during the next two quarters—five in the second and four in the third.
The offense did its job, scoring 13 points in each of the periods. It never let up either, outscoring Churchill again in the final frame, 14-13.
Junior point guard Sarah Stern was a huge factor in the victory. She not only led the offense with 14 points and eight assists, she also recorded 10 steals and one blocked shot on defense.
“Sarah plays in the center of our full court pressure defense,” Wright said. “She does a great job anticipating the next pass and steps in and steals or deflects a lot of balls. She also does a good job in the half court of jumping in the passing lane and causing a lot of turnovers. It isn’t something that you can teach; she just has great instincts for where the ball is going next.”
Sophomore Chelsea Atzinger was the closest to the point leader with nine. Junior Allison Holmes added seven and nabbed nine rebounds. Senior Emily Pelts and junior Brittany Birdsall each scored six.
It was a different story when Northville hosted neighboring rivals Novi last Tuesday. The Lady Wildcats held Northville to single digits in each of the first three quarters to pull out the win, 37-33.
Novi came out and put down 12 points in the first while holding Northville to six. The second was a low scoring affair. Northville cut Novi’s lead to 14-13 with a 7-2 output. Novi then outscored Northville 23-20 in the second half to hang on for the win.
“We had trouble matching their intensity the first quarter,” Wright said. “We did a much better job the last three quarters. Stephanie Crawford was the difference. She was able to handle our pressure and she made her foul shots.”
Crawford led all scores with 18 for Novi. Novi remains undefeated, 5-0, as of last Tuesday.
Atzinger led Northville with 11 points. Senior Jessica Boerger followed with eight and had 12 rebounds.
The Lady ‘Stangs head to a tough Salem gym at 7 p.m. tonight.
“We will need to match their intensity,” Wright said of the upcoming match. “We will have to make a few perimeter shots in the game.”
