Northville Girls Basketball Beats Salem

—Submitted by Coach Todd Gudith

Northville returned to action Friday night, traveling to Salem to start up the second round of division play. The Mustangs, coming off a loss last Friday to South Lyon East, were tied with Salem for second in the KLAA Central Division at 3-2. The Rocks, which had won 4 out of their last 6 games including a 35-31 win on Tuesday in a non-league game against a very good 9-1 Brighton team, looked to pose a challenge for Northville. The smaller but speedy Northville defense was up to the challenge facing a tall Rocks team that boasted several players at six feet.

After the first basket scored by Salem, Northville got on the offensive with two 3-point baskets by Kendra Brenner to boast Northville to an early 11-5 lead that they would never let slip. Just before halftime, Northville's Gabby Mencotti scored a backdoor layup with three seconds left to put the Mustangs up nine.  Northville's lock down defense continued in the second half as they held the Rocks to just two baskets and 6-23 FG for the game. 

The win puts Northville in sole possession of second place in the division.  We held Salem to six baskets the first time we played them but they did a good job of shutting us down and making it a close game when we played them three weeks ago. Tonight we were able to get some better looks and knocked down some shots. Kendra shot the ball really well. Like all good shooters, she needs to make a couple early to build that confidence, and usually when she hits a couple it's going to be a good night.

Our defense was outstanding. It's not easy to hold a team under 20. Our guards (Gabby Mencotti, Megan Buckingham, Brittany Berehulka, Kendra Brenner, Diane Myers) all put a lot of pressure on them in the back court and made them work on the offensive side of the ball. I thought we did a pretty good job overall rebounding the ball which has been a struggle of ours at times this season. 

Most importantly, it was good to see us bounce back after getting upset by South Lyon East last Friday. Having to wait a week to play after that was hard because it just sits on your mind, but our girls bounced back.  We know that if we play together and with energy we can compete with any team in the area.   Northville 9-3 overall, 4-2 division, hosts Livonia Stevenson Tuesday and Novi Friday.