SOUTH WHITLEY – Something had to give.

Both Huntington North and Whitko entered Friday night’s game with an undefeated record, only one could emerge victorious while the other would be left wondering what needed to be fixed. The Lady Wildcats faced true adversity for the first time this season in what would be a 54-37 loss, leaving them with plenty to ponder.

Whitko scored the first points of the game but it was all about the Vikings from there on out. North took the lead and never looked back. Whitko had not dealt with trailing early in a game yet, and to make matters worse, Aly Reiff was having trouble getting her offensive game going. Reiff picked up three fouls in the first half and just two points. She would sit out the majority of the game in foul trouble after picking up her fourth foul in the third quarter and eventually fouling out near the end of the contest.

The Vikings came out with a great intensity that was initially matched by the ‘Cats, but as the game wore on it was the North that showed it could handle the blows and carry the momentum. The visitors led 14-9 after one, thanks to a trio of three from Madi Canady. The senior would have 11 points at the break as her team led 26-17.

Reiff picked up her fourth foul in with 5:26 left in the third quarter. With Reiff on the bench and the rest of the team struggling to create anything offensively, the Vikings expanded their lead to 14 with a 39-25 advantage heading into the fourth quarter. At that point the Wildcats were all but done. Whitko could no longer keep up with North’s intense play and the Vikings would only open the lead more in the final quarter.

“Honestly, this whole night comes down to toughness,” said Whitko head coach Brandon Bradley. “We weren’t tough at all, they (Huntington North) were very tough.”

That was really all that needed to be said. Whitko was outplayed physically and mentally on its home court and there was no hiding that fact.

“The thing about it is that this was really the first game where we haven’t led from the beginning,” Bradley continued. “I think we were up two to start and then they took the lead and led the rest of the game. So, we haven’t had to deal with overcoming a lead.”

Bradley was asked about his team’s work ethic on the court not translating to production. The Wildcats worked hard, but it didn’t seem to pay off. Bradley was prepared for that question.

“Our inefficiency is like running a four minute mile…the wrong direction,” quipped the coach. “You’re working your butt off inefficiently.

“That’s how we were playing for a half, maybe even three quarters, then it just got overwhelming. We can’t use fouls as an excuse, it’s happened before…we just have to get tougher.”

Bradley later talked about how he hopes his team will respond to this game with a solid week of practices before next Friday’s game at Warsaw. The Tigers fell 45-42 on the road at Tippecanoe Valley and will play Noblesville (Saturday) and Penn (Tuesday) before their date with the Wildcats.

Whitko falls to 5-1 on the season, Huntington North is now 4-0.

Lost in the shuffle of the loss was a milestone moment for Reiff. With her first bucket of the night the junior surpassed Rachel (Brown) Brandenburg, a  1996 graduate, on the Whitko girls hoops all-time scoring list. Reiff finished with nine points and now has 904 career points.

Brianna Cumberland led Whitko with 11 points, Jen Reiff had another six points. Hanna Yohe had three points while Haley Yohe, Ellie Snep, Emily Day and Kennedy Krull all had two points.

North was led by 20 points from Canady and 15 from Sarah Stoffel.

North won the JV contest 33-28. Snep led Whitko with 10 points.