NAPPANEE – NorthWood girls basketball coach Adam Yoder likes how his tandem of Taitlyn Trenshaw and Mackenzie Bergman are meshing together in the backcourt.

Rochester could not have liked how the pair of sweet shooting guards played Saturday afternoon.

Trenshaw and Bergman combined for 36 points to pace the Panthers to dominating 50-27 win over the Zebras in a non-conference matchup in the Panther Pit.

Senior Trenshaw popped in a game-high 20 points, including 11 in a fine third quarter effort, and sophomore Bergman canned 16 and hit four treys in the win.

NorthWood held the rebuilding Zebras, who graduated their top three scorers from last year’s 24-2 team that lost in the regional final, to just seven field goals in the contest.

The Panthers improve to 3-1, while Rochester falls to 0-4.

NorthWood, which lost a 50-39 final to the Zebras last season, never trailed in the game. A triple by Bergman at the 6:14 mark of the opening frame gave the hosts the lead for good at 3-0. Bergman, who Yoder earlier this week called his best shooter, hit a trio of treys in the second stanza. The sophomore guard scored 11 points in the second quarter as the Panthers built a 27-13 halftime lead.

The highlight of the game for Rochester, which has struggled to score in its first four games, was a half court heave just before the halftime horn by junior Morgan Ruff that swished through the hoop.

Bergman had 14 points in the opening half to lead the way for NorthWood.

“It’s really good to see them shooting the ball so well,” said Yoder of Trenshaw and Bergman. “They are both learning to play together and forming a good relationship out there. Mackenzie is getting more open looks because of Taitlyn. If they keep shooting like this that will just open up our inside game.

“With them, it’s forget about your last shot and just keep shooting. That’s what we told Taitlyn at halftime. She came out and had a great second half for us.”

Trenshaw, who will play at IUSB next year, hit five shots in the third period as NorthWood outscored Rochester 17-6. The strong point guard was the top scorer and team MVP last season for the Black Swish.

Yoder, whose emphasis with a young team early on has been on the offensive end, saw plenty to like.

“The thing that I’m most pleased with is our growth so far from game one to now,” remarked Yoder. “It’s slow growth, but we are building and that’s good to see. I just have to be patient with our defense and that’s a new experience for me.

“I think that our offense is coming. The thing that we need to do in order to become a very good team is to be more consistent with our possessions on both offense and defense. We have to play every single possession and I think that we are learning that.”

The aggressive NorthWood defense forced Rochester, which has no seniors this season, into 24 turnovers. The Zebras entered play Saturday averaging just 38 points-per-contest.

Kennedy Musselman, a 6-1 junior, and freshman guard Maci Brown each had six points to lead Rochester. Mussleman was coming off of a 19-point, 17-rebound performance in a 49-37 loss to Culver Academies on Thursday night.

Sophomore Riley Hershberger scored six points and junior Savannah Fennstra four for NorthWood. The duo of sophomore Neely Trenshaw and freshman Madison Payne each had two points.

NorthWood won the junior varsity game 57-13. The duo of Karlie Fielstra and Lexi Parisi each had 13 points and Emily Demitruk 10 to lead the winners. Kensen McKee led Rochester with six points.

NorthWood (3-1) faces Elkhart Central at North Side Gym Wednesday night. Rochester (0-4) hosts Peru Thursday night.