Northville Girl's Basketball Ends Novi's Season, Advances to District Championship

game on 2/27/13

MHSAA District Semi-final @Canton HS

Score by quarter  1st  2nd  3rd  4th  OT   Final
Northville              5     8    14   10   12     49
Novi                     9     5    19    4     4      41

Scorers: Jr. Gabby Mencotti 13 pts., Jr. Heather Randall 12 pts., Sr.
Kendra Brenner 8 pts., Sr. Brittany Berehulka 7 pts., Jr. Megan Buckingham 4
pts., So. Emily Maresh 3 pts., Sr. Diane Myers 2 pts.,

After losing twice during division play to Novi by 7 and 22 points, the Northville Mustangs Girl's Basketball team had the tough task of facing the Wildcats for a third time this season in the MHSAA district semi-finals held at Canton High School.  Novi came into the game with an impressive 18-2 record.  This time Northville came out on top in overtime to end Novi's season and to advance to the District finals for the 2nd straight year.  It was a slow start for both teams as neither could get any early scoring.  However, Novi was able to hold the Mustangs to a single basket along with three foul shots to go up four after the 1st quarter.  Northville's defense kept them in the game during the 2nd quarter as they worked to get within one at the break.  The Wildcats opened the 3rd quarter scoring on their first three possessions to go up eight and look like they were poised to blow the game open.  Novi would extend the lead to eleven with three minutes to play in the 3rd quarter when Northville changed up their defense to put more pressure on the Wildcats.  The changed paid off as they were able to cut the lead to six entering the 4th quarter.  Baskets by Heather Randall and Diane Myers in the 4th along with a three pointer by Brittany Berehulka gave the Mustangs the boost they needed to rally back.  Late in the 4th, Emily Maresh sank 1 of 2 foul shots to tie the game up and force overtime.  In overtime, Northville made 10-12 free throws led by Gabby Mencotti going 5-6 down the stretch and 7-8 for the game to pull ahead.  Northville's solid team defense kept Novi from getting any good looks in the final minutes to close out a hard fought comeback.  Northville will face Canton in the District finals in a rematch of last season's District Championship.

I couldn't be much prouder of this group.  We've been telling them that we
believe they can beat Novi.  All the pressure was on them.  Novi came into this
with a great record and a lot of confidence.  Not too many people gave us a
chance after the way we played them the last time.  Our staff did a nice job of
coming up with a game plan and our girls had a good couple days of practice
leading up to this game.  Novi is probably the best defensive team we've faced
all year.  They make you work so hard on offense.  Our girls did a much better
job rebounding than the last time we faced them.  Novi came out to start the 3rd quarter and it looked like they were going to start to run away with it but credit to our kids for hanging in there and fighting back.

Northville 16-5 overall will play Canton in the MHSAA District Championship
Friday @7pm @ Canton HS.