Northville Boys Basketball Wins Hard-Fought Game Against Stevenson

—Submitted by Bob Lasley

Tuesday night the Northville High boys basketball team rebounded from their Friday night loss with a hard-fought 41-36 home win over Livonia Stevenson. The Mustangs again had trouble scoring as they led only 10-9 at the end of the first quarter. However, they came out with tremendous energy from the outset as evidenced by their tough defense, and the fact that they grabbed 11 rebounds in the quarter.

Their active defense continued into the second period, which forced the Spartans into numerous turnovers, and the Mustangs warmed up offensively by hitting 5 of 8 field goal attempts to forge a 21-15 lead. Juniors Andrew Meacham and Andrew Stevens scored 6 points apiece for the Mustangs in the first half.

Northville maintained the lead in the third quarter and led by 7 with just under 4 minutes to go before settling for a 29-25 lead at the end of the period. The Spartans continued their solid play in the final period and pushed their lead to 36-27 with just over 3 minutes remaining in the game. However, the Mustangs did not react well to Stevenson’s increased defensive pressure, which led to several turnovers that allowed the Spartans to cut their deficit to 37-33 with just under 50 seconds remaining. Joe Hewlett responded with a big basket on the Mustangs’ next possession to increase the lead to 6, before the Spartans’ Josh Campbell hit a three-pointer with 15.9 seconds left to cut the lead to 3 points. Two free throws by Meacham salted the game away for the Mustangs.

For the Mustangs, Andrew Meacham and Andrew Stevens scored 15 and 12 points, respectively, and Stewart Henzi grabbed 11 rebounds. Josh Campbell led the Spartans with 19 points. With the win, Northville evened their overall record to 4-4 and their conference record to 1-1. The Mustangs’ next game is a big one – at Novi Friday, Jan. 11.