PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL: Fairfield edges Northridge in NLC-NECC shootout

Nov. 27—MIDDLEBURY — Following double-digit wins earlier in the day over Angola and Concord respectively, Northridge and Fairfield battled it out during the nightcap of Saturday's NLC-NECC shootout at Northridge Middle School in Middlebury.

While Northridge looked like the better team in the first half, Fairfield's veteran team made the proper adjustments in the second to help propel the Falcons to a 49-46 thriller of a win over the Raiders.

No. 13 Northridge (6-2) made a huge opening statement early in the opening quarter of the contest, holding Fairfield (7-1) scoreless through the first three minutes while building a nine-point advantage in the process.

"At times, we played a little too much on our heels," said Fairfield head coach Brodie Garber of his team's start to the game. "They came out swinging and got after it. We just backed off. For a while there, I thought this game was going to go way south."

"I thought we did a good job of moving the basketball early," Northridge head coach Doug Springer added. "We did the things that we worked on all week. I thought we were very disciplined in the first half with dictating the pace and getting the ball where it needed to be."

Midway through the first quarter, the Falcons began to settle in and play their game a bit more.

With a minute left before the end of the quarter, a basket from senior Morgan Gawthrop made it just 14-10 Northridge.

However, after a free throw from Raiders junior Morgan Cross followed by a three-point shot by sophomore Ella Mohamed, the Falcons found themselves down 18-10 heading into the second quarter.

Early in the second frame, Northridge's momentum fizzled away following a 7-0 run by Fairfield during the first two-and-a-half minutes of the period.

Senior Brea Garber was responsible for four of the seven points, while a trey by senior Bailey Willard rounded out the scoring during the blitz.

With 5:30 remaining before half, Northridge held a slim 18-17 advantage.

During the final five minutes of the half, though, the Raiders countered with a punch of their own, ending the half on an 11-5 run.

Junior Sabrina Miller, senior Eva Fisher, sophomore Rielyn Goodwin and sophomore Sophie Brown all scored points for the Raiders during the run.

Northridge led Fairfield 29-22 after two quarters.

Coming out of the locker room, Fairfield found a way to put itself in position to win.

The Falcons outscored the Raiders 15-5 during the eight-minute frame, opening the quarter with an 11-0 run during the first five minutes of the half.

On the other side of the court, Fairfield's physical zone defense stiffened, which made scoring opportunities much harder to come by for a strong offensive team in Northridge.

"I thought once we stopped the run and were down seven at halftime, I thought it was manageable to come back on," Brodie Garber said. "We felt like we were there, and we could come back. ... We have four seniors that have played a lot of basketball together, and they do a good job of making adjustments collectively. That's the nice thing about having an older group. We just kept at it."

Fairfield entered the fourth quarter up 37-34 and with a ton of confidence beaming from its sideline.

However, the Raiders didn't fade away in the final stanza going punch-for-punch with the Falcons.

With two minutes left and Fairfield leading 41-38, the Raiders tied the contest at 41 behind a '3' from Fisher with 1:50 to go.

However, on the next possession, Gawthrop answered with a '3' of her own for the Falcons, handing Fairfield a 44-41 lead with a minute-and-a-half left.

Two separate times during the final minute, Fairfield held two-possession leads following free throws by both Gawthrop and Willard.

A three-point basket by Fisher brought the Raiders to within one at 47-46 with just 11 seconds remaining.

Following a foul, Willard stepped up to the stripe and knocked down two freebies to hand Fairfield a 49-46 lead with nine seconds to go.

Then, the Raiders had one more possession to try to force overtime, but a tough pass from Fisher would get intercepted in the middle of the lane by Fairfield senior Delana Geiger to preserve the close win on the road.

"It was a read, and we had a couple sophomores in there that just aren't used to running that play," said Springer of the final possession. "They didn't get to the right spots to screen. It's a play that sometimes works and sometimes it doesn't. Fairfield just did a good job of reading it and taking it away."

The Falcons were led by Gawthrop, who scored 19 points. Willard finished with 11 and Brea Garber had nine.

For the Raiders, Fisher finished with 12 points, Cross had 11 and Miller added six.

Northridge will look to bounce back on the road against Westview (2-4) Tuesday, while Fairfield will try to extend its winning streak at Prairie Heights (0-5) next Saturday.

"A Northridge-type team is probably a team we're going to see at regional or semi-state," Brodie Garber said. "If you want to move on, you have to be able to beat teams like that. That second half, the girls really came through."

Evan Lepak can be reached at evan.lepak@goshennews.com or 574-533-2151, ext. 240326. Follow him on Twitter @EvanMPLepak.