Basketball Game Preview: NorthWood Panthers vs. Fairfield Falcons

NorthWood and Fairfield are an even 5-5 against one another since December of 2016, but not for long. The NorthWood Panthers will head out to challenge the Fairfield Falcons at 7:45 p.m. on Tuesday. Both are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.

NorthWood is headed into the match after thoroughly thrashing Goshen: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that NorthWood blew Goshen out of the water with a 54-20 final score. The Panthers have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won seven games by 24 points or more this season.

NorthWood can attribute much of their success to Claire Payne, who dropped a double-double on 13 points and 11 boards, and Haylee Heflin, who posted 13 points and five assists. Payne is on a roll when it comes to rebounds, as she's now pulled down nine or more in the last eight games she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Brooke Johnson, who had nine points.

They weren't the only one working in the assists department: NorthWood was working as a unit and finished the game with 13 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Goshen only posted four assists.

Meanwhile, Fairfield posted their biggest victory since December 7, 2024 on Monday. Everything went their way against Bethany Christian as Fairfield made off with a 51-30 win. Given the Falcons' advantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 85th, while the Bruins are ranked 375th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

NorthWood's victory bumped their record up to 16-5. As for Fairfield, their win bumped their record up to an identical 16-5.

NorthWood skirted past Fairfield 34-32 in their previous matchup back in February of 2024. Will NorthWood repeat their success, or does Fairfield have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.