NAPPANEE -ÊGoing into the NorthWood Sectional, the Panthers had played all five of their possible opponents during the season. The Panthers lost to No. 10 Lakeland, Angola and Northridge in regular-season play.

Then NorthWood's boys basketball team avenged the loss to Lakeland with a 63-56 win in the first round of the sectional Tuesday. Then the Panthers got back at Angola with a 70-59 win in Friday's sectional semifinal.

And finally, NorthWood downed Northridge 64-54 Saturday to win its first sectional since 1995. It is the just the second sectional championship in NorthWood history.

"The kids wanted to play Northridge because I think they felt they did not play well the first time we played them," said NorthWood coach Dan Gunn.

But the win was not a cakewalk for the Panthers.

In the first quarter, the teams were nearly identical. Both the Panthers and the Raiders hit 5 of 10 field goals. Both teams had four rebounds. NorthWood committed two turnovers, and Northridge had three.

The only difference at the end of the first frame was that Northridge held a one-point lead, 11-10, because the Raiders hit a three-pointer.

The dogfight continued through the second quarter.

Robbie Lightfoot hit two free throws to give NorthWood the lead, but Justin Gingerich answered with a basket of his own.

Then NorthWood went on a 11-2 run to take a 21-16 advantage with 3:43 left in the first half. However, Northridge answered with a run of its own. The Raiders finished the second quarter with a 9-3 run to knot the score at 26-all at halftime.

The Panthers and Raiders traded baskets for the first four four minutes of the third frame, but then NorthWood took control.

Rory Clouse hit a free throw at the 4:11 mark to start a 9-0 run that gave the Panthers a 43-35 advantage with 47.1 ticks left in the third frame.

Northridge's Mario Ingraffia hit a three-pointer with 1.2 seconds left to make the score 43-38 going into the fourth frame.

NorthWood continued to pour it on in the final frame of play. NorthWood outscored Northridge 21-16 to finish with the 64-54 win.

"It was a heck of a game," said Gunn. "Northridge played well, but we just played a little bit better.

"We put pressure on them the whole game. I think that kept them off balance enough for us to get a few key steals."

The Panthers remain undefeated at home (10-0) and improve to 18-5 overall. NorthWood will host the regional Wednesday against Columbia City. The Eagles (12-10) defeated Fort Wayne Wayne 44-35 to advance to the regional.

NORTHWOOD 64

NORTHRIDGE 54

NorthWood FG FT R S Pts.

*Will 10-12 1-3 10 3 21

*Reynolds 5-6 2-2 4 1 15

*Lightfoot 1-2 2-2 0 0 4

*Bradley 5-12 4-4 4 2 14

*Clouse 3-5 1-2 2 1 9

Clem 0-0 1-2 1 1 1

Newcomer 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Klotz 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Hill 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Leeper 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Hall 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Santistevan 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Totals 24-37 11-15 21 8 64

Northridge FG FT R S Pts.

*Ingraffia 2-4 0-0 1 3 6

*Bontrager 2-6 0-0 1 1 6

*Crawford 5-11 0-0 2 1 10

*Whitten 3-3 0-0 1 0 6

*Eaton 3-4 0-1 3 0 6

Yoder 3-6 0-0 3 0 8

D. Gingerich 1-1 0-0 0 0 2

Kropf 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Mast 1-2 3-3 0 0 5

J. Gingerich 1-2 2-2 1 0 5

Weirich 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Sabo 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Totals 21-39 5-6 12 5 54

Three-point goals -ÊNorthWood 5-12 (Reynolds 3-3, Lightfoot 0-1, Bradley 0-4, Clouse 2-4), Northridge 7-20 (Ingraffia 2-4, Bontrager 2-6, Yoder 2-5, Mast 0-1, Crawford 0-3, J. Gingerich). Fouls -ÊNorthWood 12, Northridge 15. Fouled out -ÊNone. Turnovers -ÊNorthWood 8, Northridge 13. [[In-content Ad]]