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NAPPANEE — The Northridge Raiders have been the class of the Northern Lakes Conference all season. Their perfect record was put the test Saturday night at The Pit as NorthWood looked to keep its conference title hopes alive. Despite a fantastic game in a playoff-like atmosphere, there was not enough for the Panthers to finish off the win. Northridge, which trailed for much of the game, escaped with a 36-35 win.

NorthWood came out swinging and led 8-5 after the first quarter. An 8-0 run, kick-started by threes from Kira Robinson and Savannah Feenstra, helped Black Swish build a 16-9 lead in the second quarter and lead 16-14 at the half. The Panthers would still cling to that two-point advantage after three quarters, 27-25, going into the fourth.

Facing a 31-27 deficit in the fourth with 4:02 to play, Northridge’s Brooke McKinley hit her first three of the game to make things 31-30. McKinley then would hit another three with 2:35 left to tie things 33-33. The junior guard finished the night with a team-high 12 points.

NorthWood looked to take a late lead but lost possession on a jump ball at the 1:34 mark. That turnover led to a go-ahead basket from Northridge’s Morgan Litwiller, who scored 11 points in the game, making things 35-33 with just over a minute to play.

Neely Trenshaw hit a runner for the Panthers with 26 seconds to spare to knot things up 35-35. Litwiller was fouled on the other end and went 1-2 at the line to put the Raiders up 36-35 with just 17 second left. NorthWood had its chance to take the lead but a turnover gave the ball back to Northridge with only a few seconds to spare. Though the Raiders missed their ensuing free throw, the Panthers could not get off a clean shot at the buzzer. The Raiders had survived the scare and remain in control of their own destiny in the NLC race.

Northridge finished the game 10-16 from the charity stripe. NorthWood, meanwhile, did not make a free throw, in fact, the Panthers never had the chance. NorthWood never saw the free throw line during Saturday’s contest.

“Honestly, I didn’t even realize it,” said NorthWood head coach Adam Yoder. “I’m not sure there’s a whole lot of instances where I felt we should’ve been shooting. I guess it effected the game, they made their free throws when we put them on the line, but they missed some too. It was just a great basketball, it was a lot of fun. A really, really, really good basketball team came out on top, as they should.”

The strong showing from his team was just what Yoder wanted to see. The Panthers, despite the loss, are starting to show just how good they can be at the right time of the season.

“It was a good atmosphere for us,” Yoder stated. “This kind of game just gives us that confidence, that belief and solidifies what we did last Tuesday (at Tippecanoe Valley),. If they’re not believers now then I don’t know what they need. We just beat Valley on its home floor and then we come out here and fall to a great basketball team by one.

“Nobody likes to lose. I don’t like to lose. The girls are upset. But, man, I think the rumors of our demise are greatly overstated. That’s a credit to our kids and our seniors.”

NorthWood was led offensively by Feenstra’s 11 points.

NorthWood (13-7, 3-2) hosts South Bend Washington on Tuesday. Northridge is now 21-1 overall and 5-0 in the NLC with games against Memorial at home and at Plymouth. If the Raiders defeat Memorial, they will clinch the NLC title.