Northwest ends skid with win over rival Oakland Christian
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
ROCHESTER HILLS — On the tails of a eight-game losing streak, Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest girls basketball coach Mike Murphy was trying to sell his team of finding another gear to try to turn the season around.
The Crusaders found that on the defensive end Friday night at its arch rival.
Northwest put the finishing touches on its first sweep over Oakland Christian in more than two decades, stymying the Lancers with tenacious defense for a 35-24 MIAC Blue Division victory.
“We haven’t had many games like this. We’ve been struggling, losing eight in a row,” sighed Murphy. “So it was nice for us to get a win. We started out 7-2, then we’ve faded a bit. We had lost eight in a row. We sat down, got together, put all of our differences beside and started doing things in practice to do help us along. I think that showed in this game.”
Oakland Christian, suffering through a major rebuilding period after not having a varsity program last winter, slipped to 5-13 overall and 3-10 in MIAC-Blue. The Lancers struggled scoring just nine points through nearly three and a half quarters.
Oakland Christian didn’t make its first field goal in the fourth quarter until there was 5:56 left in the game and that shot finally put them in double digits, which closed the gap down to 24-9.
Oakland Christian did outscore Northwest 15-13 in the fourth quarter, although the Crusaders (9-9, 5-6) swished a pair of 3-pointers in the final minute to keep the Lancers at bay. The closest that Oakland Christian would get was 31-24 with just seven second left.
“We needed this win to try to help turn it around,” said Muphy. “This was the best defense we’ve played all year, stingy defense. We out-rebounded them by 15. We just did a tremendous job defensively.
Senior guard Kim Lepor scored 11 and senior forward Abbey Looker added seven points for the Crusaders. Lepor scored 24 points the last time the two rivals met last month.
Becky VanSloten scored nine and Rachel TerMarsch and Erin Washington scored six apiece for the Lancers.
Northwest led only 4-3 at the end of the first quarter and 14-8 at the half. The Crusaders tightened the grip even further in the third frame, going on an 8-1 run for a 22-9 lead entering the fourth quarter.
Northwest will face league champion Grosse Pointe Woods University-Liggett nest Tuesday. The Knights were the Class C state runner-up last season.
“We just have to keep moving forward,” said Murphy.
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