Wildcats’ preparation turns to benefits in 43-37 win against Cougars

Northview’s Maddie Cole, right, drives past Southview’s Kennedy Moody during the third quarter. Cole had nine points and nine rebounds for the Wildcats in the rivalry contest.

THE BLADE/ANDY MORRISON
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Northview’s Maddie Cole, right, drives past Southview’s Kennedy Moody during the third quarter. Cole had nine points and nine rebounds for the Wildcats in the rivalry contest.

All week Northview coach Brittaney Cymbolin urged her Wildcats to be the hardest working team in Sylvania in preparation for a road game against rival Southview.

On Friday night, Northview outworked the Cougars with a surge in the second and third quarters to drop the Cougars 43-37.

The Wildcats outscored Southview by 10 points in the middle two quarters in a Northern Lakes League encounter.

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Northview junior Kendall Jessing led all scorers with 18 points. The 6-foot-1 forward also pulled down eight rebounds. Jessing scored 16 of her points during the crucial second and third quarters.

“All week we've been working for this,” Jessing said. “Southview is always a big game and we worked great as a team and finished this.”

Fellow junior forward Maddie Cole (6-1) had nine points and nine rebounds.

“We've been working all week for these guys,” Cymbolin said. “I challenged the kids because I know Southview works hard. I told them, 'Tonight you have to outwork them.'”

Northview used smothering defense to force 15 turnovers in the first half to build a 22-17 lead. The Wildcats then crashed the boards in the third with 12 rebounds, including seven at the offensive end.

Southview (5-3 overall, 5-2 NLL) was led by Taryn Stanley's 11 points and eight rebounds. Emily Westphal chipped in with nine points and five rebounds.

“You have to give Northview credit,” Southview coach Tim Nottke said. “They came in to take care of business and they did. Their size effected us. We are smaller up front. Once we got in the half court set, their length affected us a lot. But as bad as we played, we only lost by six.”

The Wildcats improved to 7-2 overall and 5-2 in the NLL.

“It was a huge win for this because we have to keep chipping away at the lead,” Cymbolin said.

Cole scored seven of her nine points and had eight of her rebounds in the second half.

“Maddie Cole brings so much to the table,” Cymbolin said. “She deters people away from Jessing so that she can get hers. Those two are so hard to stop together in the post. [Jessing] has gotten so much better. She has matured. She keeps her composure a little bit better. She was amazing tonight.”

Northview’s Kendall Jessing, left, who had 18 points, rips the ball away from Southview’s Emily Westphal.

The start of the game was intense and physical with both teams applying aggressive full court presses. Southview turned it over six times and Northview seven in a first quarter that ended tied at 9.

The Cougars went on a 7-0 run over the end of the first and start of the second to take a 13-9 lead.

Jessing stepped up with nine points in a five-minute span. She drilled a 3-pointer that gave Northview a 22-15 lead with 1:15 left in the first half as the Wildcats responded with a 13-4 spurt.

Jessing opened the third quarter with another 3. She had five rebounds and seven points in the third to help Northview outscore Southview 13-8 to take a 10-point lead.

“I always go out there and play as hard as I can but in the end it's always about the team,” Jessing said. “In the second half my shots weren't falling so I knew I had to get rebounds.”

The Cougars were ice cold in the second half and missed nine of their first 11 shots in the fourth quarter before Jessica Horwitz hit two late 3s for the final margin. Northview did not allow second chance points, pulling down 11 (eight offensive) of its 33 rebounds in the fourth quarter.

Nottke said the Northview-Southview game is usually “a mad scramble.” The teams combined for 29 turnovers in the first half with Southview committing 15 miscues.

“They outhustled and outworked us and that's upsetting,” Nottke said. “Jessing provide a scoring punch for them. She had a nice game.”

Northview's Maddie Fries, who had seven points, converted two free throws with 36 seconds left after Southview pulled within seven.

Northview takes on league-leading Perrysburg on Jan. 3. The Yellow Jackets beat the Wildcats 61-53 on Nov. 26.

“We want to be contenders and this league is so tough,” Cymbolin said. “We have to keep chipping away.”