Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
AKRON — Northfield imposed its defensive will on host Tippecanoe Valley Thursday in a 54-49 Three Rivers Conference girls basketball at Rita Price Simpson Court.
The Lady Norse (12-4, 5-1) held the Lady Vikings (12-4, 4-1) to 15-of-51 shooting from the floor and went 8-of-15 at the foul stripe in the fourth quarter.
“They were able to dictate the pace of the game with their defense tonight,” said Valley coach Chris Kindig of the victors. “We didn’t get out to run like to run. We were playing a half-court game pretty much the whole game.
“We still had an opportunity in the fourth quarter and could’ve tied it up with a 3-pointer.” The Vikings trailed 49-46 in the last minute but could not get any closer the rest of the way.
Northfield coach Melissa Allen employed a man-to-man defense against Valley.
“We knew they could drive so we wanted to keep everything at the 3-point line,” said Allen. “Defensively, we were playing as much help as we could.
“They played great.” The Norse made 18-of-31 from the floor.
“That’s more of a symptom of us not getting out on their shooters,” said Kindig. “Defensively, we didn’t have any intensity when we needed it.
“Our defense let us down quite a few times tonight. We’ve got a long way to go there.” Northfield’s balanced scoring attack was paced by Emma Hoover (17 points), Kearston Stout (13), Addi Baker (10) and Fayth Leming (8).
“We’re improving and right where we need to be,” said Allen. “Once we get those turnovers cut down (the Norse made 20), we’ll be 20 times better.” The lanky Stout also shined on defense and she drew the defensive assignment of guarding Sidney Wagner.
“If she did play that defense on (Wagner), we wouldn’t have won — plain and simple,” said Allen. “She was huge for us, playing defense like that and still being able to score.”
Valley was led by Jillian Walls (13), Emma Craig (12), Wagner (11) and Hayley Backus (8).
Northfield, which pushed it win streak to five, opened the second half on an 8-2 run for a 29-22 lead.
The Norse were ahead by as many as 10 during the third quarter at 37-27 and were up 37-30 at the end of the period.
Northfield went 6-of-6 from the floor and 3-of-4 from the foul stripe in the third quarter while Valley was 2-of-11 and 5-of-6. Hoover tossed in five of the visitor’s 16 third-period points.
Wagner and Jillian Walls canned three points each in the third quarter to pace the Vikings.
Powered by a pair of Hoover 3-pointers for a team-best six points in the second quarter, Northfield led 21-20 at halftime.
Backus tallied eight of Valley’s 11 second-quarter points.
The Norse out-rebounded the Vikings 16-9 in the first half.
“They got two offensive rebounds,” said Allen. “We got on the girls and said if you want to win this game, you’ve got to block out.” Said Kindig, “Every 50-50 ball was theirs.” Valley jumped out to a 9-4 lead but the score was tied a 9-all at the end of the first quarter.
Emilly Pennington was the first Northfield player off the bench and tallied four points in the opening period.
Wagner paced the Vikings in the first quarter with four points.
Tippecanoe Valley goes to NorthWood and Northfield visits Homstead, both Tuesday.
In junior varsity action Thursday, Tippecanoe Valley defeated Northfield 45-26. Riley Holloway (13 points) and Corinna Stiles (11) paced the Vikings (9-3).
NORTHFIELD 54,
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 49
N 9 12 16 17 — 54
TV 9 11 10 19 — 49
Northfield – Kearston Stout 5-7 2-4 13, Kenzie Baer 1-5 0-3 2, Addi Baker 3-3 4-6 10, Emma Hoover 5-10 3-4 17, Fayth Leming 2-3 4-4 8, Emily Pennington 2-2 0-0 4, Addy Rosen 0-0 0-1 0, Ainsley Dale 0-1 0-0 0. Team: 18-31 13-22 54
Valley – Kaydence Mellott 0-6 5-6 5, Hayley Backus 4-8 0-0 8, Jillian Walls 4-7 2-2 13, Emma Craig 4-9 3-4 12, Sidney Wagner 3-20 5-6 11, Karina Young 0-1 0-0 0, Corinna Stiles 0-0 0-0 0. Team: 15-51 15-18 49
Three-pointers – Northfield 5 (Hoover 4, Stout 1), Tippecanoe Valley 4 (Walls 3, Craig 1); Rebounds – Northfield 30 (Baer 7, Stout 6), Tippecanoe Valley 24 (Backus 10, Wagner 7); Fouls – Northfield 13, Tippecanoe Valley 21; Fouled out – none; Records – Northfield 12-4 (5-1 TRC), Tippecanoe Valley 12-4 (4-1 TRC).
JV — Tippecanoe Valley 45, Northfield 26. Valley — Riley Holloway 13, Corinna Stiles 11, Mercedes Snapp 8, Milly Moriarty 7; Northfield — Autumn Custer 14, Avery Shrider 5.
