CUMBERLAND — Northern overcame a sloppy first half by both teams, controlling the second half in a 42-24 win over host Fort Hill on Thursday.
“Our main goal was to play really good team defense, and I think we accomplished that,” Northern head coach Dave Yoder said. “I think Fort Hill is gonna be a team that’s gonna be reckoned with. I think they’re gonna get nothing but better.”
The Huskies (1-0, 1-0 WestMAC) beat the Sentinels (0-2, 0-1 WestMAC) for the first time since a 49-48 victory on Feb. 7, 2019.
“We knew Northern was a good team,” Fort Hill head coach Mike Allen said. “We knew they were fast, we had to be able to handle the ball to start our offense. We weren’t able to do that tonight. The girls played hard and right now as we’re growing as a team, that’s really my first priority. Get them to play hard and compete and two games in they’ve done that.”
The first quarter was an offensive struggle on both sides. It took nearly four minutes for either team to score.
With 4:08 left, Aubry Spangler set up Jaidyn Elliott for a jumper to give Fort Hill a 2-0 lead.
Abby Nelson responded with a steal and a fastbreak layup to tie the game for Northern with 3:33 left.
“I think we were shocked, they played really intense defense,” Yoder said. “That’s something we have to work on is playing tougher defense.”
About three minutes later, McKenzie Upole hit a layup after the Huskies got an offensive rebound from a missed 3-pointer.
Northern led 4-2 after one quarter.
The teams combined for 14 turnovers as the Sentinels shot 1 for 11 from the field while the Huskies went 2 for 9 in the first quarter.
“I don’t know what happened,” Allen said. “We all lost mental focus. With a team like ours, we can’t afford to come out that slow.”
Each team scored on its opening possession of the second quarter. Lydia Nelson set up Abby Nelson for a 3-pointer to push the Northern lead to 7-2.
About 45 seconds later, MaeLeigh Plummer assisted Lindsay Fleming on a floater for Fort Hill.
It remained a 7-4 score for three minutes until Karter Marshall hit a free throw for the Sentinels.
“We needed to slow down a little bit,” Yoder said. “Two fast-paced, we needed to slow down and move the ball around. Move their defense back and forth.”
With 2:07 left in the first half, Elliott set up Talia Young who banked in a jumper and tied the game at 7 for Fort Hill.
The Sentinels took the lead going into halftime with 16 seconds left. Fleming assisted Brenly Hershberger on a banked 3-pointer to take a 10-7 lead.
“That has been us so far this year, and that’s just competing,” Allen said. “We get down, we start to fight back. We get down again, we don’t quit. We fought back the whole night until the very end. That shot was huge momentum going into the half.”
In the first half, each team had committed 12 turnovers.
Fort Hill shot 4 of 24 from the field while Northern went 3 for 17 in the first half. Both teams were 1 of 9 from 3-point range.
The Huskies retook the lead in the third quarter on a 3-pointer by Upole off an Abby Nelson assist.
Northern pushed the lead to five points on an and-one 3-pointer by Abby Nelson with 5:22 left in the quarter.
“That was really big, it was great for our team confidence,” Yoder said. “It kind of lit a little fire under us to get moving.”
Down 16-11, the Sentinels fought back again, this time led by Plummer. After not scoring in the first half, she scored six of Fort Hill’s nine third-quarter points to help cut the deficit to 21-19.
“She’s such a great athlete that she doesn’t need much space,” Allen said. “She can out jump anybody in probably the whole state. We needed to concentrate on getting her the ball inside.”
After making one 3-pointer in the first half, the Huskies got hot from deep in the second half, hitting six shots from beyond the arc including three by Lydia Nelson.
“We shoot a lot of 3s in practice, and we have three or four girls that can really nail it,” Yoder said. “Once we got our offense moving, those shots were more open than in the first half.”
The Huskies scored 11 unanswered points to open the fourth quarter. Lydia Nelson scored eight including a pair of 3-pointers.
“Foul trouble forced us into a zone,” Allen said. “Both of our guards had three fouls in the first half. We almost had to go zone to save them. They started to hit shots because they’re a good shooting team.”
Nelson scored three of Northern’s first four baskets in the quarter, helping to push the lead to 32-19.
The Huskies outscored the Sentinels 10-5 to end the game.
Abby Nelson led all scorers with 19 points, scoring 14 in the second half. She added four steals, three assists and two blocks.
“Defensively, she’s gained the most knowledge,” Yoder said. “In the past, she’s been more offensive focused. She’s been spending a lot of time in the offseason focused on learning to help side and on the ball defense.”
Lydia Nelson scored 11 points, all in the fourth quarter.
Plummer led Fort Hill with nine points, adding five steals and an assist. Spangler scored five points with three steals, two assists and a block.
“Two great players,” Allen said. “Us being a young team, having those seniors, we’re waiting for a leader to develop. My thoughts are those two will eventually take that role.”
In the junior varsity game, Northern won 24-14. Ainsley Sorber led the Huskies with nine points while Tatum Bishop and Briley Shoemaker each scored five for the Sentinels.
Both teams are at home on Friday. Fort Hill hosts Keyser at 7 p.m. while Northern faces Meyersdale at 7:30 p.m.