It can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but Northridge had no problem doing just that on Saturday. They pulled ahead with a 51-50 photo finish over the Valparaiso Vikings. For the Raiders, this counts as revenge for the 47-46 victory the Vikings walked away with the last time they faced one another back in February of 2024.
Leading Northridge to victory were Lily Scholl and Alli Ambers. Scholl dropped a double-double with 19 points and 14 boards, while Ambers shot 60% from the field on her way to 18 points. That makes it three consecutive games in which Scholl has scored at least a third of the Raiders' points.
Valparaiso lost despite a true team effort on offense. The best among them was Lillian Barnes, who almost dropped a double-double with 23 points and nine rebounds. She has been hot for a while, having also posted two or more steals the last 14 times she's played. Another player making a difference was Delilah Kincaid, who went 9-for-16 en route to 19 points in addition to seven boards and five steals.
Raiders
| 02/14/26 vs Valparaiso | 51-50 |
| 02/07/26 vs Warsaw | 63-60 |
| 02/06/26 vs Concord | 71-41 |
| 01/29/26 vs Plymouth | 70-29 |
The win (which was Northridge's fourth in a row) raised their record to 20-7. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 63.8 points over those games. As for Valparaiso, the defeat snapped their winning streak at 12 games and leaves them with a 23-3 record.
Looking ahead, Northridge will face off against McCutcheon at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. That matchup will pit two of the most dominant guards against one another: Scholl and Lillie Graves. Valparaiso does not have any more games scheduled as of now.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
