After a string of nine wins, the NorthWood Panthers's good fortune finally ran out on Friday. They took a 54-44 hit to the loss column at the hands of Merrillville. NorthWood was given a dose of their own medicine in this game as Merrillville apparently hadn't forgotten their defeat the last time these teams played back in December of 2022.
Several Panthers players turned in solid performances, despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Claire Payne, who dropped a double-double on ten points and ten rebounds. Payne has been hot recently, having posted eight or more rebounds the last seven times she's played. Another player making a difference was Haylee Heflin, who scored eight points along with six rebounds.
Even though they lost, NorthWood were working as a unit and finished the game with 11 assists. This was only their first loss (out of five games) when they've passed the ball that well.
Merrillville's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Kylie Wells led the charge by scoring 21 points along with five rebounds. The game was Wells' 12th in a row with at least ten points. Malika Jenkins was another key contributor, scoring 13 points along with five assists and five steals.
NorthWood's defeat ended a seven-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 12-3. As for Merrillville, they have been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 7-6 record this season.
NorthWood and Rushville will round out the year against one another at 4:00 p.m. on Friday at. Rushville has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last three games. As for Merrillville, they will square off against South Bend St. Joseph at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. Hopefully South Bend St. Joseph focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 18 on Friday.
