Northville Rallies, Defeats Plymouth in KLAA Tournament

Submitted by S. Patrone

Northville, second seed in the KLAA Central Division, played the Plymouth Wildcats, third seed in the KLAA South, on Friday for the second time in four days as the first round of the Kensington Lakes Activities Association tournament began.

The Mustangs had beaten Plymouth, 49-42, on Tuesday.

The Mustangs didn’t need any overtime this time as Northville rallied in the second half to secure a 37-34 victory.

Both teams started the game with a poised offense trying to find open looks or driving lanes. Junior Stewart Henzi hit the Mustangs' first points on a post power move from a Brett MacDonald pass.

Henzi followed that energy on defense as he blocked a Wildcats shot
attempt 20 feet out of bounds. Both teams exchanged a few turnovers and the Mustangs' big man, Andrew Meacham, came into the game and tipped an offensive board into the hoop. The Mustangs trailed the Wildcats by two points at the quarter’s end, 6-8.

Again, the Mustangs looked to their inside post moves and offensive boards to generate points as the Mustangs' outside shooting was lacking. Northville’s seven turnovers in the first half were a big key to Plymouth’s scoring opportunities but it was Henzi and Meacham that kept the Mustangs in the game.

Meacham showed his defensive presence with a huge, block stuff and
Henzi crashed the offensive boards for another one-handed tip basket. Northville outscored Plymouth in the second quarter, 8-7, and only trailed by one point at halftime, 14-15.

The Mustangs came out halftime with some renewed energy and went on a 7-0 scoring run. Henzi grabbed another offensive board and putback for two points, followed by Brett MacDonald’s three points from beyond the arc. Northville went into a tight 2-3 zone on defense and only allowed Plymouth six points in the third quarter as the Mustangs racked up 17.

Jeff Gertley and Andrew Meacham intercepted back-to-back Plymouth passes and converted them into scores. With only seconds left in the third quarter, Meacham grabbed an offensive rebound from MacDonald’s 3-point attempt and scored. The Mustangs took the lead 31-21 and would not look back.

The Mustangs needed to step up their defensive effort in the fourth quarter as Plymouth started hitting its outside shots. Plymouth outscored Northville, 6-13. Meacham had two huge blocked shots while MacDonald stuffed another. Jeff Hewlett took a Plymouth offensive charge and later sealed the Mustang win as he drained both bonus free throws with 1.5 seconds left as the Mustangs
won, 37-34.

The Mustangs were led by Andrew Meacham who poured in thirteen points, six rebounds, three blocked shots & three steals, followed by MacDonald with seven points, three rebounds, and one blocked shot. Stewart Henzi drained six points on five rebounds and one blocked shot effort. Jeff Hewlett gained all his points from the free throw line with 5-of-7 while Gertley and Poterala rounded out the Mustang scoring with four and two points, respectively.

The Mustangs will travel to the South No. 1 Seed Westland John Glenn for the Kensington tournament semifinals at 7 p.m. Tuesday.