Northville Boys Basketball Loses to Salem at Last Second

—Submitted by Bob Lasley

Friday night the Northville High School gym was the place to be. Prior to warmups, the five seniors and their families were recognized during Senior Appreciation night. Several video cameras recorded the game action for replay on the local Xfinity cable system. And on the court the Mustangs were hosting the Central Division leading Salem Rocks, hopeful of revenge for their lopsided loss earlier this month. For the better part of 31 min, 21 sec the game went about as well as Northville would have wanted. However, with approximately 0.2 seconds remaining on the clock, Salem senior Chris Dierker banked in a jump shot for a 57-55 win over Northville.

Northville jumped out to a 13-5 lead in the first quarter on the strength of 3 three-point field goals, but Salem countered with 3 three-pointers of their own to reduce the margin to 13-11 at the end of the period. The second quarter was a back and forth affair with Salem taking a 19-15 lead near the midway point. Northville responded with a 6-0 run to regain the lead 21-19. The two teams then traded the lead before the Mustangs tied it 26-26 at halftime.

The third quarter can be summed up rather easily. Salem came out with an 8-0 run to pull out to a 34-26 lead. However Northville responded with a great team effort and a 13-0 run themselves to take a 39-34 lead heading into the final period. The Mustang run extended to 19-0, and with 6:14 remaining in the game their lead was 45-34. Salem however did not panic and methodically cut the deficit to 4 points with 1:40 remaining. Two Northville free throws extended the lead back to 6, 55-49, with 1:02 left. Salem however responded with a 3 point play and a 3 point field goal to tie the game at 55 with 39 sec remaining, setting up Dierker’s game winning shot for the Rocks. The Mustangs’ next
game is Tuesday at Livonia Stevenson.