—Submitted by Coach Todd Gudith

An ugly win is better than a pretty loss. Northville, coming off winning their Holiday Tournament, opened up KLAA Central division play hosting Salem on Friday. The Mustangs won 24-21.

The Mustangs could not find the bottom of the basket in the early going and fell behind 5-2 after the first quarter. Northville did warm up a bit in the second quarter scoring four of their nine baskets for the game to take a two point lead into the half. Salem wasn't any better in trying to score, only making six baskets, as the game turned into a defensive struggle as both teams had little breathing room. Both teams shot poorly overall on the night (Northville 26.5% which was their lowest percentage of the season, Salem 24%). Northville also committed a season-high 17 turnovers.   

Salem always plays us tough. They are a big team which provides us with some difficult match-ups. We seemed to never really get comfortable offensively and forced up a lot of shots that we could have turned into better chances. Our girls played well defensively to keep us in the game. Our division is solid from top to bottom and theres going to be nights like this so anytime you can walk out with a W is a plus.   

Northville 6-1 overall, 1-0 division travel next week to Stevenson on Tuesday and Novi Friday.