GOSHEN —
Basketball is a game of runs — and the team that makes the last run is usually going to come out on top.
Tuesday night, Northridge was that team, as the Raiders raced out to an early lead, held off a furious Goshen rally in the third quarter, and pulled away late for a 60-49 victory over the Redskins in a Class 4A Goshen Sectional quarterfinal contest at Goshen.
The game was every bit the garden-variety NLC slugfest Northridge coach Doug Springer expected.
“Our sectional is basically a glorified NLC Tournament,” Springer said. “Give a lot of credit to Goshen ... Their girls played hard, and that’s just what you expect from a Lenny Krebs-coached team.”
The Raiders (18-5) surged out to an early 9-2 advantage, and that early Northridge push seemed to set the tone for the night.
Goshen (13-8) was able to scratch back to within three at 9-6, and trailed 15-8 at the first stop.
The Redskins scored the first four points of the second stanza to cut the Northridge lead to three at 15-12.
That would prove to be as close as Goshen would get the rest of the night, as Northridge closed the half outscoring the Redskins 8-4 over the final four minutes to lead 23-14 at intermission.
Northridge led by as many as 16 in the second half, but the Redskins did not go quietly, making a run to cut the Raider advantage to four at 42-38 with time waning in the third period.
The Redskins cut it to two at 42-40 with the opening bucket of the fourth quarter, got a steal, and had a chance to tie. But the Raiders got a clutch takeaway from Brianne O’Dell and converted at their end. The play ignited a brief but critical 6-0 run that pushed the Northridge lead back out to eight at 48-40.
The Raider defense took over from there, holding the Redskins to a single field goal in the final stanza.
Sophomore Haley Schrock had 23 points to lead all scorers for Northridge. Her twin sister Madison added 19.
Madison Schrock said her team’s determination helped the Raiders weather the Redskin late rally.
“We had to keep focused, and then we got a stop when we needed one,” Schrock said.
O’Dell’s steal early in the fourth quarter was that stop, and Springer said O’Dell played 30 of 32 minutes Tuesday night on a hyperextended knee suffered in practice.
Junior Aimee Swihart had 21 points to lead the Redskins.
Goshen coach Lenny Krebs was disappointed with the outcome but not with the effort put forth by his team.
“You just can’t spot a team like Northridge an 11-point lead,” Krebs said. “And those 11 points ended up being the difference in the game. “We need to take care of business early.”
The Redskins will say goodbye to just four seniors: Liana Yoder, Diamond Kelly, Yesenia Montanez and Hailey Warrick.
Goshen’s 13 wins this season are the most of Krebs’ nine-year tenure.
The Raiders move on to Friday night’s sectional semfinals against Concord. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.
Sports
Related Photos
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GOSHEN'S DEJA FELDER drives to the basket as Northridge's Brianne O'Dell defends during a Class 4A Goshen Sectional quarterfinal game Tuesday night at Goshen. DAVID VANTRESS
Raiders move on
Northridge holds off late Goshen rally in sectional
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