Northwood girls basketball squeezes out overtime win over Orange

Posted

HILLSBOROUGH — Find a way to win. It’s an age-old adage in sports.

Northwood’s Lady Chargers basketball team did just that on the road Wednesday night in Hillsborough, capturing a hard fought 51-44 victory requiring extra time over a fiesty Orange club in 3A Big Eight Conference action.

Northwood coach Cameron Vernon labeled the tight game as a “tough conference overtime win.”

“Our girls right now have to understand we have a bullseye on our chest being the top team in the conference, and every night we are going to get the opponent’s best shot,” he said. “I thought Orange played really hard and gave great effort. We played hard, but our shot selection was suspect at times and a lot of our shots weren’t falling.”

After an even contest in the opening half which saw the teams tied at 7-all after one and 19-19 at the break, Northwood (10-1 conference, 16-5 overall) appeared to grab some breathing room in the third with a 13-7 surge that sent the locals into the final eight minutes of play leading 32-26. Chandler Adams and Natalie Bell had four points apiece while McKenna Snively drained a trey. Aliyah Harris countered with four points for Orange in the third while Grace Andrews sank a three-pointer.

Orange (4-7, 10-9) would come roaring back in the fourth, with a 14-8 advantage to send the contest into overtime. Harris put on a show with eight points in the period for the Lady Panthers while the Chargers received six from Adams.

In overtime, the Chargers controlled the action with a tenacious defense that allowed just four points as the locals pulled out the seven-point triumph. Bell swished a trey in the overtime stanza for Northwood.

Gianna McManaman had five points in the second period for Northwood to keep the locals tied at the break.

“We shot 29 percent for the game and were only 4-of-10 from the free throw line, so not our best statistical night, but we found a way,” Vernon said. “I thought Chandler Adams and Gianna McManaman had good games offensively. At the end of regulation McKenna Snively came up big with a made shot after a out of bounds play to tie it up. I thought in overtime we were focused and had a little more gas in the tank than Orange did.”

Adams had 15 points to pace Northwood in the win while McManaman added nine, Snively eight, and Bell seven. Bell, Snively and McManaman all sanke a trey in the win while Snively added seven rebounds, two assists and five steals, Adams 11 boards and a steal, Rae McClarty three rebounds and three assists, Bell two boards, an assist and three steals, and Tekeyah Bland five points, 10 boards, two steals and three blocks.

Orange was led by 12 points from Harris while Andrews chipped in 11 more.