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SYRACUSE - After NorthWood finished dismantling West Noble 63-31 Friday in the first semifinal sectional game, Panther head coach Steve Neff admitted that he and his team would rather play Lakeland in the sectional finals than Wawasee.
Lakeland, of course, is the only team to beat NorthWood this year and the Panthers want a chance to avenge the one-point loss from early in the season.
Neff and his Panthers got their wish when the Lakers knocked off the host school, Wawasee, in the second game by a score of 51-35. Lakeland won in a game that featured a three-quarter court shot that went in and a matchup of two of the best players in the sectional, Brooke Crawford and Lydia Carpenter.
NORTHWOOD 63, WEST NOBLE 31
The No. 2 (3A) Panthers jumped out to a 22-9 first quarter lead and never looked back in reaching the sectional finals with an easy win over West Noble. Amy Zercher scored 12 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. She also had five rebounds, four assists and four blocked shots for NorthWood.
LoriDawn Klotz led the Panthers with eight first-quarter points, and Natalie Will and Jamie Gill had four each as NorthWood built a double-digit lead.
The Panthers struggled shooting in the second quarter, making just four field goals, but the NorthWood defensive pressure kept the Chargers from getting any closer than 12 points. West Noble shot a miserable 2 of 13 in that period.
NorthWood went on an 11-2 run early in the third period to take a 41-20 lead as Will scored five points and dished out three assists in the period.
In the fourth period, the Panthers' starters got a chance to rest as Neff went deep into his bench to get his younger players experience in sectional action.
"We kept things pretty simple tonight," Neff said. "I thought we were pretty aggressive tonight and I think that set the tone. You could tell we hadn't played for a week. We weren't nearly as sharp as we wanted to be."
NorthWood turned the ball over just 11 times and forced 24 turnovers with 19 steals. Although the Panthers shot just 40 percent from the floor, West Noble was just 26 percent on the evening.
LoriDawn Klotz led all NorthWood scorers with 18 points and Will added 15 points, five steals, four assists and three rebounds.
"We got a good rotation in," Neff said. "Everybody got a good amount of playing time and we came out of the game without getting injured. We did exactly what we wanted to do tonight. We didn't show a whole lot so we've still got a few surprises up our sleeve."
Alison Kreager was West Noble's top player with 13 points and 10 rebounds, yet she never took over any stretch of the game like she is capable.
"She's a player," Neff said. "I was really impressed with her. I can see why she got a volleyball scholarship. She got up in the air and played solid defense."
LAKELAND 51, WAWASEE 35
Lakeland defeated Wawasee for the second time this season by moving out to an early lead and holding off a number of Wawasee spurts in the second half.
New Mexico State bound Crawford picked up two fouls in the first five minutes of the game for Lakeland. It was the second consecutive night that she had to play through foul trouble for the entire game.
That helped Wawasee take a 9-7 lead after one quarter of action.
However, in the second quarter, Carpenter picked up her second foul quickly and went to the bench for the rest of the half. The hole inside gave the Lakers the opportunity they needed to go on a 12-2 run to open the second period. Lakeland led 19-11 with 3:40 to play in the half but the Lakers joined Wawasee in its offensive struggles.
Neither team scored again until Sara Frantz hit a three-pointer with 33 seconds left in the second quarter, but Crawford answered with a jumper and Kelly Dillon hit a three-quarter court line drive heave with no time on the clock to make the score 24-14 at the break.
What could have deflated Wawasee's hopes actually seemed to help the team in the third quarter. The Warriors opened in a press and scored seven points in just over a minute to close to within three points. But Lakeland came right back with seven straight points to make the score 31-21.
"I was happy that the kids stayed in it," Wawasee head coach Mark Sumpter said. "We just couldn't quite get over that hump."
Wawasee wouldn't go away, though, and the Warriors got six straight points from Carpenter to get within four points. That was as close as Wawasee would get the rest of the way as Crawford nailed a three-pointer and made a couple of free throws to help extend the lead to 11 points at 38-27 heading into the fourth period.
In the final quarter, Lakeland never allowed the Warriors to get back to within single digits despite the fact that Crawford fouled out with five minutes left in the game.
"I told our kids that it's just a game," Wawasee head coach Mark Sumpter said. "I know it hurts, but we're all healthy and most of us are going to be able to play tomorrow if we want to play. That's the way I've approached the whole season."
Crawford ended the game with 17 points and 10 boards, while Carpenter was the only Wawasee player in double figures with 11 points but only four rebounds.
Wawasee shot just 24 percent from the floor for the entire game and made just 1 of 18 three-pointers on the night. Lakeland also outrebounded the Warriors 40-30.
"We had been shooting well," Sumpter said. "They just didn't fall tonight and that happens. We never got that fluid shooting touch."
Wawasee ends the season with a record of 12-10 after the Warriors opened the season 5-7.
NorthWood (20-1) will meet Lakeland (22-3) tonight at 7:30 p.m. for the sectional championship.
