Basketball Recap: Northern Takes a Loss

After flying high against Thomas Stone last Friday, Northern came back down to earth. The Northern Patriots had to suffer through a 68-38 loss at the hands of the St. Mary's Ryken Knights. While losing is never fun, the Patriots can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Maryland basketball rankings (they are ranked 110th, while the Knights are ranked 17th).

Erin Murphy

Rebounds

01/13/25 vs St. Charles	15
01/09/25 vs Patuxent	15
01/24/25 @ La Plata	14
01/29/25 @ Westlake	13
01/22/25 @ Calvert	13
+ 10 more games

Despite the defeat, Northern saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Erin Murphy posted six points in addition to 11 boards and four steals. Murphy has become a key player for Northern: the team is 9-3 when she posts at least eight rebounds, but 1-3 otherwise.

Even though they lost, Northern smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 14 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 11 offensive rebounds in nine consecutive games.

St. Mary's Ryken's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Vilte Kacerauskaite, who went 6-for-8 on her way to 13 points along with five boards and three steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Jaela Fair, who went 6-for-8 to rack up 12 points and three steals.

Northern's loss dropped their record down to 10-6. As for St. Mary's Ryken, their win bumped their record up to 16-7.

Northern didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next match, a 46-38 victory against Chopticon on the 5th. As for St. Mary's Ryken, they have also already played their next contest, a 67-47 defeat against Bishop McNamara on the 5th.