DUNLAP — This victory was “Taylor-Made” for the Northridge High School basketball Lady Raiders.

Taylor Miller, a 5-6 sophomore “super sub,” scored 19 points Friday night in leading the Raiders to a thrilling 45-38 Class 4A sectional semifinal win over Goshen at Concord’s McCuen Gym.

Miller’s shooting was nearly flawless as she went 3-for-3 from 3-point range and 6-for-6 at the free-throw line. She scored all seven NHS points in the fourth quarter.

“I don’t mind not starting,” said Miller. “The coaches give me a lot of encouragement and I just try to give the team a little spark.

“Usually our scoring is pretty well spread out, but I was open in this game and my teammates did a great job of driving the ball and kicking it out to me. I had been in a slump, but we worked a lot on shooting this week.”

The victory puts 19-4 Northridge in tonight’s championship game at 7 against 21-1 Warsaw, which rolled to a 59-21 win over Concord in Friday’s opener.

Northridge has never won a girls basketball sectional title while Warsaw has won numerous sectionals and two state championships.

The Goshen Lady Redskins finish the season with a 14-8 record and the only senior on the squad is dynamic guard Aimee Swihart who is the program’s career scoring leader. She led the Skins with 21 against Northridge.

The Redskins had a solid game plan and the effort was there, but they couldn’t overcome a woeful 7-for-20 performance at the free-throw line.

“Northridge dominated us earlier this season, but our kids fought hard and the fact we are talking just about missed free throws shows how far they have come,” said GHS head coach Lenny Krebs.

The Raiders were blazing at the outset, going 7-for-11 from the field in the first quarter. They led 17-9 at the first stop and stretched it to 23-9 early in the second. Goshen got within 30-19 by halftime.

The Redskins scored the last five points of the third period to get within 38-30. When Swihart drove in for a layup and sophomore Yadira Cabrales hit a free throw, Goshen trailed just 42-37 with 5:13 to play.

But, Goshen would score just one more point the rest of the way and Taylor Miller netted the final Raider points on a ‘3’ with 4:10 to go.

Northridge spread the floor and, even though the Raiders were 0-for-3 at the free-throw line down the stretch, the Redskins couldn’t cash in.

“I was extremely nervous playing Goshen again,” said NHS coach Doug Springer. “Aimee Swihart is the most competitive player I have ever coached against. She put that team on her shoulders in the second half.

“Our good start was due to being zeroed in defensively and hitting some shots. Taylor Miller is a great sixth player for us and has a very bright future.”

Senior Madison Schrock tallied 11 points for Northridge while juniors Brianne O’Dell and Morgan Miller both grabbed six rebounds.

Sophomore Kayci Troyer of Goshen was the leading rebounder in the game with nine and freshman Olivia Love scored eight points for the Redskins.

Swihart finished the season with 369 points in 22 games for a 16.8 average.

“She is a special player and helped turn our program around,” said Krebs. “As for our team, I can’t fault the effort. We just weren’t smart at times and couldn’t hit our free throws.”

Concord, by losing the opener, finishes the season with a 6-17 record. Jade Iavagnilio, a 5-0 sophomore, hit a trio of ‘3s’ to lead the Minutemen with nine points.



N’ridge 45, Goshen 38

NORTHRIDGE — Brianne O’Dell 0-1 1-2 1, Morgan Miller 3-7 0-0 6, Haley Schrock 2-4 0-3 4, Madison Schrock 4-7 1-2 11, Mikaela Zook 1-3 0-0 2, Taylor Miller 5-9 6-6 19, Molly Bontrager 0-0 2-2 2. Totals: 15-31 10-15 45

GOSHEN — Aimee Swihart 8-16 4-7 21, Christina Gipson 0-2 0-2 0, Olivia Love 4-5 0-6 8, Kayci Troyer 1-2 1-1 3, Deja Felder 2-3 1-2 5, Yadira Cabrales 0-2 1-2 1, Leslie Vanlandingham 0-0 0-0 0, Desiray Brown 0-1 0-0 0, Alyssa Hershberger 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 15-31 7-20 38

Northridge    17    13    8    7 — 45

Goshen    9    10    11    8 — 38

3-point shooting: Northridge 5-10 (T. Miller 3-3, M. Schrock 2-4, O’Dell 0-1, H. Schrock 0-2). Goshen 1-10 (Swihart 1-4, Gipson 0-2, Felder 0-1, Cabrales 0-2, Brown 0-1)

Rebounds: Northridge 24 (O’Dell 6, M. Miller 6), Goshen 18 (Troyer 9, Love 5)

Turnovers: Goshen 11, Northridge 12

Fouls (fouled out): Northridge 19 (M. Miller), Goshen 19 (Swihart)

Officials: John Walczewski, Bruce Wirick, Darrell Watson



Warsaw 59, Concord 21

WARSAW — Melanie Holladay 3-7 0-0 6, Eryn Leek 2-3 0-0 6, Jennifer Walker Crawford 4-6 3-4 11, Lindsay Baker 3-5 2-2 9, Nikki Grose 4-6 2-3 10, Brooklyn Harrison 5-7 1-2 11, Sarah Ray 0-2 2-2 2, Pam Miller 1-1 0-0 2, Gabby Monroy 1-2 0-0 2, Vicki Harris 0-2 0-0 0, Courtney Farling 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 23-41 10-13 59

CONCORD — Jade Iavagnilio 3-5 0-0 9, Mackenzie Rutter 1-3 0-0 2, Anna Heck 0-6 2-2 2, Shanice Matthews 0-1 0-2 0, Michelle Detwiler 0-0 0-0 0, Dayana Watson 0-2 1-2 1, Taylor Milnamow 0-1 1-2 1, Breona Bloch 2-4 0-2 4, Kaeona Clopton 0-2 0-0 0. Jenna Makin 1-3 0-0 2, Rachel Hahaj 0-0 0-0 0, Chloe Emerick 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 7-28 4-10 21

Warsaw    14    17    17    11 — 59

Concord    6    0    9    6 — 21

3-point shooting: Warsaw 3-8 (Leek 2-3, Baker 1-3, Holladay 0-1, Harrison 0-1), Concord 3-13 (Iavagnilio 3-5, Rutter 0-2, Heck 0-3, Makin 0-2, Emerick 0-1)

Rebounds: Concord 23 (Matthews 5, Rutter 4, Heck 4), Warsaw 22 (Grose 5)

Turnovers: Warsaw 10, Concord 25

Fouls: Concord 12, Warsaw 10

Officials: Tom Hinz, John Wright, Russ Melcher.