The Superior Telegram
The Northwestern High School girls basketball team remained undefeated in the Heart O' North Conference with a 31-28 win over the Barron Bears Tuesday night in Maple.
The Tigers now hold a 6-2 record overall and are tied with Hayward for first place in the conference with a 5-0 record. Barron drops to 4-3 and 2-2.
"The girls put forth a tremendous effort (Tuesday) night in a defensive battle against Barron," said Shawn Leith, head coach of the Tigers. "I knew it was going to be a battle of possessions; we like to limit the amount of possessions and so does Barron. The girls knew that every possession was critical in a game like this and they executed on the offensive end when they needed to."
Barron and Northwestern have been known for tough defense this season. The two teams lead the HON Conference in fewest points allowed, with the Bears averaging 24 and the Tigers averaging 34.
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Barron led 16-14 at halftime, and the game was tied a handful of times in the second half, last at 26-26. In the end, however, defense allowed NHS to win the game.
"Barron has the ability to score a lot of points and has a very talented ball club, but our defensive effort was there tonight and we were able to hold them to just 12 points in the second half," Leith said. "With Barron it's never a high-scoring frenzy, and that was the kind of game we saw tonight -- two teams digging in on defense."
Anna Morgan led the Tigers with 16 points. Lindsay Garay and Lindsay Taipale added four points apiece, Carinda Larson made a 3-pointer and Cassidy Stolzman and Taylor Prior both made two free throws.
"Anna Morgan had a great night for us playing well in the post, she came up with some big baskets in the closing quarter to help with the victory," Leith said. "Overall the girls showed a lot of patience on offense and were able to get the ball inside when we needed it."
The Tigers are at Cumberland at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and then face Hayward next Thursday at home.
