MIDDLEBURY – Rebounding and playing defense are all about effort and toughness.

The Warsaw girls basketball team exhibited plenty of both Saturday night to collect a huge Northern Lakes Conference road win.

On a night where points were about as scarce as a warm summer breeze, the Tigers hit the boards and locked down defensively to outlast Northridge 37-35 in overtime in a key league matchup.

Warsaw, which improves to 9-7 overall and 2-1 in the NLC, out rebounded the Raiders 32-21. The Tigers also held the Raiders to 12 points below their season average even with an extra four-minute session thrown in.

The nip-and-tuck, physical affair was not decided until a turn around shot by Kelly Miller of the Raiders bounced off the rim just before the final horn sounded.

The Tigers had inched ahead 37-35 after Madi Graham hit the second of two free throws with 7.7 seconds to play. Pam Miller put Warsaw up for good by making one of two free throws with 39.2 ticks left on the clock to make it 36-35. Taylor Miller then missed on a drive to the basket for Northridge and Erin Clemons corralled a huge rebound for the Tigers.

Graham led the way for Warsaw with a game-high 13 points. The hard-nosed sophomore point guard hit four treys.

“One thing that we thought we might struggle with this year was rebounding,” admitted Warsaw coach michelle Harter. “But the girls have done a great job focusing on that and it was a big key for us tonight.

“We wanted to key on Miller (Taylor Miller) and for the most part we contested her shots. And we wanted to take away their dribble penetration. I thought our girls battled. They did a good job withstanding the runs Northridge made in the second half.

“What I really liked tonight too was how the girls picked each other up. That’s something we’ve talked about and they really did that tonight. They did some of the little things that good teams do.

“Where we want the ball is in Madi’s hands. She just has a confidence in her game. She plays tough. You could tell she was upset when she came to the bench when they called timeout about missing that first free throw. But she forgot about it and went out there and hit the second one for us.”

Warsaw led 12-7 after the opening period and 20-15 at half-time. The Raiders took their first lead on a trey by Baleigh Carithers that made it 23-20 with 4:32 to play in the third stanza.

The fourth quarter was back-and-forth. The final points of regulation play came with 2:13 to play as Taylor Miller hit 1-2 free throws to tie the contest at 30-30. The Tigers had the best chance to win in regulation, but Vicki Harris missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 3.3 seconds to play.

The Tigers scored the first five points of overtime as Graham drained a triple and Harris responded clutch to hit two free throws to make it 35-30 with 2:21 left. The Raiders scored the next five points, tying the game at 35-35 with 1:03 to play on a steal and layup by Ellie Lengacher.

Dayton Groninger had seven points and Miller six and 10 big rebounds. Clemens had four points and six rebounds and Harris four points.

The Tigers were without Page Desenberg Saturday night. The sophomore was on crutches after having knee surgery on Friday. Harter said she is hopeful that Desenberg can

Junior Carithers netted 11 points and Taylor Miller, the lone senior for the Raiders, 10 to pace coach Doug Miller’s team.

Northridge, which drops to 13-4 overall and 2-1 in the NLC, has lost the last four regular-season meetings versus Warsaw. The Tigers won 30-28 at home last year before the Raiders rallied to stun Warsaw 42-41 in the sectional at Northridge.

NorthWood is now the lone unbeaten in NLC play. The Panthers are 3-0 after a win at Wawasee Saturday night. Warsaw, Northridge, Goshen and Elkhart Memorial are all 2-1. Memorial beat Plymouth Saturday afternoon in Elkhart and Goshen won at Concord Saturday. Plymouth is 1-2, while Concord and Wawasee are each 0-3.

Northridge won the junior varsity game 36-32. Kelsey Miller led the winners with 16 points. Maryann Marandet led Warsaw with 10 points.

Warsaw plays at Elkhart Memorial Wednesday in another NLC game. Northridge travels to DeKalb on Tuesday night.