NAPPANEE – With much of the early season girls basketball attention in the Northern Lakes Conference on the starts from defending champion Northridge and the resurgence of Warsaw, NorthWood has been lurking in the weeds. The Panthers made another statement that its a player in the conference race with a solid 40-24 win over Plymouth Saturday night.

The defense by NorthWood on Plymouth star Alli Andrews and the attention to detail on offense gave the Panthers the edge it needed. Andrews, who came into the game averaging 15.7 points per contest, was held scoreless by the tireless NorthWood defense. Plymouth’s second option, Halle Reichard, was held to just five points when Reichard usually scores 11 points per game.

The pressure provided, in several instances by Nicole Flickinger and Neely Trenshaw, was impressive.

“We knew from the beginning of the game we had to stop her, and if we could stop her and outrebound them, we could win the game,” Flickinger said. “My team talked to me throughout the game, told me when screens were coming and I was able to get around most of them. My team really helped me out, this was definitely a team thing.

“Alli is a very good scorer, we just made sure we didn’t let her get a lot of good looks.”

NorthWood burst into the first quarter on a 10-0 run, only for Plymouth to reset itself and eventually take a 13-12 lead with 2:32 left in the half. But from there, the Panthers finished the half on a 10-2 run and allowed just two points in the fourth quarter.

“We were due to hit some shots, really,” NorthWood head coach Adam Yoder said of his team’s response to its only deficit of the night. “We didn’t take great shots in the second quarter, but we took plenty of good ones. We just could not make anything. Plymouth is such a strong program, especially when it comes to not letting you get too far away from them.

“They just keep hanging around. They’re not getting the W’s, but that’s a gritty group.”

NorthWood’s sixth straight win was fueled by 11 first-half and 13 total points from Taitlyn Trenshaw. Kenzie Bergman provided 12 points and seven rebounds and Riley Hershberger made strides inside, going for eight points and eight rebounds, but did a lot of the dirty work on Plymouth’s interior that don’t show up in the stat book.

“She is an athlete, a state finalist in track and field in hurdles, she’s fast and strong and that’s a nice combination to have,” Yoder said of Hershberger. “Having Riley’s strength inside allowed Savannah Feenstra to roam a little bit. Savannah had 13 rebounds tonight. Both of those two have been doing a great job in the post for us.”

Plymouth (8-5, 1-2 NLC) had Jennah Nifong led the team with eight points. The Pilgrims will play again Dec. 30 against Indianapolis Brebeuf and Norwell in the Norwell Shootout.

NorthWood moves to 10-2 overall and 3-0 in the NLC, sitting in a flat-footed tie with Northridge in the conference standings. Warsaw is 1-0 with its game with Wawasee postponed down at Knightstown. The Panthers have a backyard rivalry game Tuesday at Fairfield, then will take to the Northridge Banker’s Classic tournament Dec. 29-30, where a possible final against Northridge could be a precursor for some fun in January.

“I think the Banker’s is an important tournament for us because of the pool we are in,” Yoder said. “Three really tough teams with Lake Central, Columbia City and South Bend Adams. All three teams can beat us. So, we’re going to have to be together that week. No matter what happens those two days, we need to make sure we grow from it. Whether we go 0-4, 4-0 or somewhere in between.”

NorthWood dropped its first JV game of the season, 44-34, to Plymouth in the matinee. Kate Rulli led NorthWood (11-1) with 11 points and Lexi Parisi had eight points.