Maddy Payne heads down the lane Tuesday night. Payne scored 20 points for NorthWood in a 48-45 loss at Mishawaka Marian.
MISHAWAKA – Maddy Payne put the hurt on Mishawaka Marian with her play on the inside Tuesday night.
But it was a defensive play by Anija Payne of the Knights that proved to be even more painful to the Panthers in the end.
Marian’s Payne blocked a 3-point try by NorthWood’s Savannah Feenstra in the final seconds to preserve a tough 48-45 win for the host Knights in the non-conference contest.
NorthWood, which trailed by 11 points with just over three minutes to play, put up a valiant rally only to see it fall just short.
Payne paced the Panthers with 20 points as the smooth sophomore was stellar inside. The six-foot forward was tough inside versus the smaller Knights’ frontline.
Feenstra, the lone senior or the Panthers, finished with 15 points for NorthWood with 10 of those coming in the final period to spark the comeback. Feenstra, who will play at Bethel College next season, hit a pair of free throws with 10.5 seconds to play to pull the Panthers within 47-45.
Senior star Meghan Urbanski led Class 3-A No. 18 ranked Marian with 20 points. Urbanski, who recently became the program’s all-time leading scorer, hit 1-2 free throws with 8.6 seconds remaining to give her team a 48-45 lead.
NorthWood drops to 13-7 with its third straight loss. The Knights improve to 15-3 to set a program mark for single-season wins.
Savannah Feenstra scored 15 points for the Panthers.
The Panthers, whose only lead of the night came at 6-4 early on, simply could not recover despite a strong fourth quarter. NorthWood trailed 44-33 before a three-point play by Payne sparked a 10-2 run, which Feenstra capped with a trey to make it 46-43. Mikya Roby then hit 1-2 free throws for the Knights to make it 47-43.
NorthWood has hit a rough stretch versus a slew of good teams of late. The Panthers are 4-5 in their last nine games and have lost their last three to Tippecanoe Valley, Northridge and Marian, who are a combined 50-9 on the season. All three teams are also ranked in the top 20 in the ICGSA hoops polls, Northridge in Class 4-A and Valley and Marian in Class 3-A.
“We’re okay,” said NorthWood coach Adam Yoder. “We’re playing better teams now. I think that early in games lately that maybe we have been worried about the final result. But once we settle in and start competing we are fine. We still have three tough games left before the sectional and those will test our character.”
NorthWood trailed 12-8 after the opening prefer and fell behind 27-13 late in the second stanza. Marian led 29-19 at halftime and the Panthers deficit would have been much better except for several key rebound baskets by Payne. The Knights led 37-29 at the end of the third period.
“I thought that our energy level was better and we talked more in that fourth quarter,” Yoder noted. “It was pretty quiet for the first three quarters and we paid the price getting down 10. It’s hard to come back from that versus a good team like Marian.
“I thought that what hurt us tonight was our inability to make shots. I thought that we had a lot of open shots and could not knock them down.
Kenzie Bergman directs the offense.
“Maddy just comes to play four quarters for us every night. She shows up to play every night for us. I have nothing but great things to say about her.”
Payne, who is also a volleyball standout at NorthWood, also finished with 11 rebounds to notch a double-double.
The Panthers, who stayed close by hitting 15-21 from the free throw line, were hurt by slow starts in every quarter. NorthWood went over three minutes before its first field goal of the game and more than four minutes before its initial hoop of the final frame.
Feenstra finished 12-14 from the free throw line, including 7-8 in the final quarter. She also had three steals.
Sophomore Kate Rulli had seven points for the Panthers. Kenzie Bergman added three points. Karlie Fielstra led her team with three assists.
Junior Makayla Weaver had 10 points for the Knights.
Marian, which does not have a junior varsity team this season, is coached by Steve Scott. Scott, who spent the past six years as the girls coach at Elkhart Memorial, is the fourth coach in the past four years for the Knights.
Marian, whose losses are to Fairfield, Penn and South Bend St. Joseph, has won eight of its last nine games.
NorthWood hosts Goshen in a conference game Saturday night. The Panthers then finish the regular season by hosting Oregon-Davis Jan. 23 and playing at Warsaw on Jan. 25.
Marian will host Edwardsburg on Saturday afternoon.
Maddy Payne works inside versus a pair of Marian defenders.
Neely Trenshaw of the Panthers.