MARCH MAGIC: Northville topples South Lyon in district opener
Northville freshman Peyton Sivier dribbles past South Lyon’s Sarah Nelson.
It’s amazing what tenacious “D”, clutch 3’s and the support of your teammates can do to turn around a dire situation.
After enduring a 15-0 blitz from 18-win South Lyon during the second quarter of Monday’s Division 1 district opener at Salem — and trailing 18-10 at the half — Northville’s backs-to-the-wall girls basketball team showed what it was made of, holding the Lions to two fourth-quarter points to earn a 37-32 victory.
Now 7-17, the Mustangs were probably considered massive underdogs by casual fans based on both teams’ records heading into their post-season debut, but not by the composed, get-after-it players wearing the black and orange.
“The energy in our locker room before the game was amazing,” said senior Caroline Meloche, who didn’t score, but covered South Lyon ace Isabella Nooe like a glove throughout Monday’s game. “Even though they had more wins than us, nobody on our team thought this was going to be our last game of the season. We went in expecting to win.”
Unfazed by tall task
Northville Heach Coach Shaun Dicken echoed Meloche’s sentiments.
“We knew coming in we could compete with them,” Dicken said. “Any time a team wins 18 games, it’s obviously very good. Our defense in the fourth quarter was amazing and now it’s on to play South Lyon East, so we’ll see what happens.”
The Mustangs displayed their potential during their Feb. 20 game against KLAA West Division champion Howell when they secured a three-point lead with two minutes to play before ultimately dropping a 45-43 decision.
They picked up momentum and confidence, too, in their 63-14 victory over Livonia Franklin in a regular season-capping KLAA cross-over match-up.
After connecting on just two field goal attempts in the opening 16 minutes, Northville rode a series of net-finding three-point bombs in the fourth quarter to close out the Lions.
Freshman Peyton Sivier finished with a team-high 21 points — her second 21-point effort in the past three games — which included one triple, an and-one driving layup and four pressure-packed free throws.
Link’s shot pivotal
Senior Miranda Link buried what was perhaps the most-impactful shot of the night for the winners when, with Northville trailing 32-30 with under three minutes to play, she drained a no-doubt corner three to give her team the lead for good.
“Our shots weren’t falling in the first half, but we told the girls to just keep shooting with confidence because they’re going to start dropping,” Dicken said.
“And Caroline’s defense was fantastic. Defense is her M.O. We put her on the other team’s best scorer and she answers the challenge every time.”
Sivier gave a ton of credit to her teammates on the bench for the Mustangs’ late heroics.
“They were so loud and supportive throughout the game, so they had a lot to do with our comeback,” the freshman noted. “I really wanted to win this game for our seniors because they deserve it.”
Crazy finish
The game’s final two minutes were frenetic, to say the least, as players from both teams hit the floor multiple times for loose balls.
The Lions’ lone basket in the fourth quarter came on a driving layup from Nooe with 3:40 left to give South Lyon a 32-28 advantage. Nooe finished with 13 points while sophomore Sarah Nelson added 10.
Link was solid at the both ends of the court for Northville, grabbing several key rebounds and chipping in with nine points.
Wednesday’s Northville-South Lyon East district semifinal is set for 7 p.m. at Salem.
And if anything was learned from Monday’s result, it’s this: Don’t count the Mustangs out against the 17-win Cougars.
Ed Wright can be reached at 734-664-4657 or edwright@socialhousenews.com.
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