GIDDY UP: Mustangs prove they’re contenders with big win at Salem
Northville’s Carly Pelon drives to the basket during Tuesday’s 53-28 victory over Salem.
For the first 19 minutes Tuesday night, the Northville-at-Salem girls basketball game had all the makings of a last-minute nail-biter.
After Salem freshman Lainey Claramunt banked in a basket while getting fouled with 5:20 left in the third quarter, the Rocks trailed just 20-19.
From then on, though, the Mustangs finished the game in full stride.
Sparked by a steal-and-layup by Sara Bambenek at the 3:48 mark of the third, Northville extended its lead to 26-21.
Finish with a flourish
Northville never lost is momentum over the final 11-plus minutes, winning 53-28 to improve to 3-1 in the KLAA West and 5-5 overall. Salem is now 1-3 and 5-4, respectively.
The Mustangs will take their back-to-back wins (they edged Howell, 48-47, on Friday) to Canton this Friday.
(To check out video highlights from Tuesday’s game, click here.)
Sophomore Sophia Fraas led the Mustangs with 19 points, hitting two three-point shots and knocking down 7 of 10 free-throw attempts.
Sophomore Peyton Sivier also shined for the winners, netting 12 points, while Carly Pelon, Bambenek and Sophia Knapp contributed 6 points each.
Lainey, Lailah lead Rocks
Salem was led by freshman Lainey Claramunt (10 points) and Lailah Howard (9 points).
The Rocks led 17-14 at the half.
The Surging Mustangs sealed the win by outscoring their hosts 26-6 in the third quarter.
“We started trapping in the half-court, which we hadn’t been doing in the first half,” Northville Head Coach Shaun Dicken said. “It changed the game, for sure.
Change of pace
“We started the game playing a little too fast. We played more under control in the second half.”
The Mustangs started to hit their stride late last year when they made a strong bid to win their Division 1 District tournament before losing to Canton in the championship game.
They haven’t slowed down at all this season.
“We’re young now, but we were really young last year with two freshmen starters,” Dicken said. “Our freshmen starters last year — Peyton (Sivier) and Sophia (Fraas) — have really come along. They lead us and calm us down when we need it. We struggled to finish games last year. We’ve finished stronger this season.”
Extra work pays off
Dicken said Fraas’s significant production is the reflection of the work she puts in on non-game days.
“Sophia is a flat-out basketball-aholic,” he said. “She’s in the gym all the time taking extra shots. When she puts her mind to it, opposing defenders can’t stay in front of her.”
Northville’s first-half schedule has been difficult, to say the least, with non-conference games against state-ranked Midland (one-point loss), Clarkston (two-point loss) and Farmington Hills Mercy (three-point victory).
“Our schedule was tough early on and the girls were getting a little frustrated that we weren’t getting a lot of W’s,” Dicken said. “The tough early games are starting to pay dividends now, though.”
Ed Wright can be reached at 734-664-4657 or edwright@socialhousenews.com.
