MIDDLEBURY — It was a test of wills Thursday night in a high school boys basketball game at Northridge.

The hometown Raiders were very patient on offense and made the Concord Minutemen play defense for long stretches. It was a two-point game entering the fourth period before the Minutemen opened the final stanza with a 10-0 run on the way to a 43-30 NLC victory.

“We played hard on defense in the first half. We went to a zone in the second in an effort to give our guys a little rest and because we were in foul trouble,” Concord coach Steve Austin said. “I told the guys to stay in the zone, but to know where the Northridge shooters were.

“We knew Northridge would try to limit the possessions in order to keep the game close.”

The Minutemen looked like they were going to run away with the game early on by opening a 16-4 lead with 2:19 left in the first period. Northridge battled back and when sophomore Nate Ritchie converted a three-point play and classmate Sam Ahonen added a layup the Raiders trailed 16-11 at the first stop.

Northridge kept the momentum going in the second quarter and when Ritchie swished two free throws with :12 left to play the Raiders led 20-19 at halftime.

On Concord’s second possession of the third quarter junior Frank House drilled a 3-pointer and Concord was in the lead again this time for good.

“It was important for us to get back in the lead,” Austin said.

“Our idea was to limit the possessions since we knew Concord had a distinct size advantage,” Northridge coach Jason Ridge said. “We wanted to make Concord chase us on defense. We wanted to draw some of their bigger players out on the floor and make them chase a smaller player. It worked for three-and-a-half quarters. I’m proud of our guys. We just went toe-to-toe with one of the best teams in northern Indiana.”

It was a “Red Out” night for the American Heart Association with Northridge fans dressed in red and the Raider players wearing red T-shirts during warm ups and red socks during the game. Over $4,500 was raised for the Heart Association.

Concord (13-3, 5-2 NLC) visits South Bend Riley Tuesday while Northridge (8-8, 2-5 NLC) hosts West Noble Saturday afternoon with a 1 o’clock JV start.

Sophomore Adam Glanders was a key for the Minutemen, scoring all 10 of his points in the second half. Glanders had a layin during Concord’s streak to begin the fourth and was 4-of-6 from the free-throw line by driving to the basket.

“My shot was off so I decided to drive to the basket in an effort to create some offense,” he said.

Glanders matched his career-high of 10 points. He also had 10 in the third game of the season against John Glenn.

Glanders is the only non-senior or junior in the starting lineup.

“At first it was a little intimidating, but (seniors) Jason Spriggs and Seth Huxford have been such great leaders they have made me feel like I belong,” Glanders said.

“We knew Glanders was capable of getting the ball to the rim,” Ridge said. “He got a couple of transition baskets. Our defense was so focused on Spriggs and House we knew someone else could step up.”

Only four Concord players scored. House tossed in a game-high 16 points, Spriggs added 14 and Huxford three.

“I felt we did a good job defensively on House,” Ridge said. “Our goal was to make their big people catch the ball as far away from the basket as possible. We had to do something to try and counter their size.”

“Northridge did a good job of neutralizing our size,” Austin said. “We had some guys open around the basket, but couldn’t see them because Northridge was putting some much pressure on the ball.”

Junior DuWhan Alford contributed a couple of fourth-period steals that lead to fast-break buckets for the Minutemen.

“DuWhan did a great job on defense in the second half,” Austin said.

Just three Raiders scored. Ritchie finished with 13, senior Gavin Blyly nine and Ahonen eight.

Concord was a 48-34 JV winner. Filip Serwatka tossed in 19 points and Ryan Tepe five for the winners. Tom Morrison netted 12 and Michael Fickert 10 to lead the Raiders.