New names. Familiar results.
With five first-time varsity starters on the floor Thanksgiving Eve, Northridge High School’s boys basketball Raiders appeared to be in midseason form.
The Raiders vaulted to an 8-0 lead and were never threatened in steaming to a 61-40 non-conference triumph over Central’s Blue Blazers at North Side Gym in Elkhart.
Northridge had to replace its entire starting five from a team which went 20-0 last regular season. Yet, the newcomers performed like veterans.
“I wouldn’t have predicated this after last night’s practice, but our guys came out and played with confidence,” said Raider head coach Jason Ridge.
“It helped to get on a roll right away shooting. We got a little bit of cushion and that allowed us to play the way we want to play, spreading the floor and attacking the basket.”
Luke Davis, 5-8 junior dynamo, led the Raiders with 16 points while junior Malcolm Thurmond tallied 13 and senior Jeff Yoder 12.
Senior Justin Yoder contributed seven points and 6-1 senior Craig Thomas led the team in rebounds with four. In relief, sophomore Gavin Blyly scored six points and senior Skyler Mitchell three.
The Raiders actually shot better from 3-point range (8-of-13) than they did from the free-throw line (11-of-18). Overall, Northridge was a sizzling 63.6 per cent from the field.
Jeff Yoder hit a pair of ‘3s’ in the first quarter, Thurmond, Justin Yoder and Blyly one each. It was 21-7 after a staggering eight minutes and the Blue Blazers never recovered.
“I knew we were in trouble at 8-2,” said Central coach Matt Windy. “They hit five ‘3s’ in the first quarter and that’s 15 points bang, bang.
“Northridge has kids who are basketball smart. They are patient and get good looks. We were being beaten off the dribble all night long. When we’d help, they’d kick it out for a ‘3.’
“We have only one senior (6-7 senior Josh Riikonen) and even had a couple freshmen (5-7 Terrell Street and 6-2 John Stahl) in there toward the end.
“Riikonen sprained an ankle and (6-7 junior) Mason Braden has been sick, so this is the first time we’ve had all our guys together in 10 days. But, don’t feel sorry for us. We just have to keep working and get better.”
After the blazing start, Northridge was even hotter in the second period with 8-for-9 shooting including ‘3s’ by Blyly and Thurmond. That stretched the score to 39-15 by halftime.
It was 51-24 after three periods and the lead peaked at 59-28 with 4:52 to go. Central enjoyed a 12-2 scoring advantage the rest of the way.
Riikonen had 16 points and 15 rebounds for the Blue Blazers. Oddly, the entire Northridge team had just 16 rebounds — but then there were few misses on the offensive end.
Satori Stahl, 5-11 junior, tallied seven points for Central and 5-9 junior Tyllis Mason six.
“The execution of our offense allowed us to get into a good rhythm,” said Ridge. “Luke Davis can create some matchup problems with his ball-handling ability and getting to the bonus sets us up to spread the floor.
“Jeff Yoder gave us a big lift on the defensive end, taking charges and diving for loose balls.
“We will be back here (North Side) for both the holiday tourney and sectional. We want to be a better basketball team each time we return.”
Both teams have home games Saturday, the Raiders facing Westview and the Blue Blazers meeting Goshen.
