AKRON – Neither Tippecanoe Valley head coach Chris Kindig nor NorthWood skipper Adam Yoder wanted to show all their cards Tuesday night. As the two Class 3-A Sectional 21 heavyweights battled Tuesday night, NorthWood found its wild card and tossed the ace of spades in a 61-55 win over host Valley in what became a riveting girls basketball matchup.

Valley led for the first 26 minutes and five seconds of the game, but found itself behind 46-45 when Taitlyn Trenshaw connected on a three-pointer. The two teams continued to trade blows before NorthWood made the key defensive play of the night.

With the game tied at 55, Valley looked poised to play four corners to milk the clock as it has done with late leads all season. NorthWood’s Haley Roe, however, jumped a passing lane and stole the ball. Moments later, Mikalya Fielstra converted a hoop to give NorthWood the lead, to which it would not remit.

“The second half we made a couple adjustments,” Yoder said. “Warsaw was here watching so we had to be careful. We ran a few more sets in the fourth quarter than I thought we would.”

Trenshaw, who came into the night averaging just over four points per contest, finished with 15 huge points and eight rebounds. Nine of Trenshaw’s bounty came in the fourth quarter, led by the three then two straight hoops in a 10-3 NorthWood run.

Jordyn Frantz, a University of St. Louis signee whom Valley had paid considerable attention to everywhere she went on the court, finished with 17 points and 10 boards for the Panthers.

The game looked as though Valley would run away with things early on. Taylor Trippiedi scored eight of her 10 points in the opening quarter and Valley jumped out to a 21-12 lead after the first quarter. NorthWood scored the first seven points of the second quarter, but the Vikings took a 30-23 lead into the dressing room.

Anne Secrest made her presence known throughout, dropping 17 points and 11 rebounds and having free reign around the basket all night. NorthWood had no answer for the six-foot sophomore, but got the center to pick up her fourth foul in the fourth quarter, putting the breaks on her aggressive play.

“That NorthWood team is a very good team,” stated Kindig. “They are going to be tough to beat in the sectional, but I hope we are, too. If we are going to win a game against them, I would rather it be down the road than tonight. I think we showed we can play with them.”

NorthWood kept chipping away at the scoreboard, going on a 7-0 run to open the fourth quarter, capped by Trenshaw’s three.

Meredith Brouyette added 16 points for Tippecanoe Valley and Haley Roe 10 points for NorthWood.

Both team’s entered the night knowing the game was a fantasy preview for the sectional next month, but also with a chance to tighten up for huge conference battles this Saturday. NorthWood (13-5) will entertain Northridge, with the winner poised to sit atop the Northern Lakes Conference. Valley (13-2) will host Rochester with both teams unbeaten in the Three Rivers Conference. Rochester, which lost Tuesday night to Bremen, comes into the game 4-0 in the TRC, Valley 3-0.

“The game that we need to get is Saturday night,” Kindig said. “This was a good prep for that game. I think NorthWood and Rochester have some similarities. But we can’t dwell on this.”

Added Yoder, “When Northridge has the pressure on them, they typically play well in that situation. We’re going to have our hands full Saturday. Our kids are looking forward to it.”

A seesaw junior varsity game had the host Vikings hold on for a 37-35 win. Valley had three players in double digits, led by Taneisha Brown’s 12 points and six rebounds. Abbi Miller added 11 points and five boards and Morgan Brazo chipped in 10 points and two steals. NorthWood had Andrea Tuttle finish with 11 points and three boards while teammate Bailie Lehman added 10 points and three steals.