HILLSBOROUGH — It was a rout from the get-go here on Friday night in Hillsborough as Northwood dominated 3A Cedar Ridge 70-34 in Big Eight Conference action.
Northwood (7-1, 13-5) received 17 points from Rae McClarty while Tekeyah Bland and McKenna Snively added 11 each.
“Good win and it was nice that we got to play everyone tonight,” said NW coach Cameron Vernon. “Cedar Ridge is young and rebuilding but they fought very hard. For us it was very nice to see Rae McClarty have a breakout game. She’s been under the weather the past couple games but she was clearly feeling better tonight. Bland and Snively were again very consistent as they have been all year.”
The Lady Chargers outscored the host Red Wolves 19-6 in the opening period and never looked back. Natalie Bell had five points including a trey for Northwood while Bland chipped in four and Gianna McManaman a trey. Jacori Walton had a three-pointer in the period for Cedar Ridge (0-8, 1-16).
The lead ballooned to 39-13 at the half as the Chargers continued to dominate the action. McClarty torched the Red Wolves for nine points while Chandler added three in the stanza.
“Chandler Adams and Caitlin Bailey were very good again inside,” added Vernon. “I thought Natalie Bell was great hustling and Gianna McManaman continues to distribute the ball well to her teammates as was evident with 4 assists.”
Northwood won the third period 23-12 to advance the lead to 62-25 entering the fourth as the Chargers offense clicked on all cylinders. Snively canned a pair of treys in the NW run while Bland added five points, Adams four, and McManaman and McClarty a three-pointer each. Walton answered with five points including a trey for Cedar Ridge while Nadia Oswald chipped in three points.
McClarty would collect five points in the fourth as Northwood cruised to the 70-34 triumph.
Adams chipped in nine points in the win for the Chargers while adding seven boards. Bland chipped in six rebounds and three steals, Bell three assists, and Snively and McClarty three steals each.
“Next week is going to be extremely important and will definitely determine the conference with games at Southern and home versus Chapel Hill,” closed Vernon. ”I like where this team is at right now. We are getting better every week.”