Hillsdale upsets Northwestern
By JOSH MCWILLIAMS
Dix Communications
WOOSTER " Can you say March Madness?
Well, it came early this year at the Divsion III Triway Sectional as Hillsdale shocked the world by upsetting No. 3-seeded Northwestern 62-58 in The Pit on Wednesday night.
The Falcons may have played the second game of the double tandem (Chippewa fell in double-overtime to Manchester), but refused to take the back seat to anyone when they hit the court. In the end, Hillsdale notched its first-ever win against the Huskies under second-year coach Jason Snow.
The Falcons (9-12) hadn't beaten Northwestern (14-7) since Jan. 19, 2006, a 57-51 outcome. The Huskies had topped Hillsdale handily twice this season, once by a 58-31 score (Dec. 23) and the second time 64-28 at Hillsdale.
The Falcons, who won a tournament game for just the second time in the last five years, now will play Manchester 4 p.m. Saturday back at Triway.
"This is a huge win for our program," said Snow. "It is great for the girls. I mean no one gave us a shot and they just believed in themselves. Even at the end, they just buckled it down more and played even harder. It was really quite a game."
That it was for the Falcons, as they overcome the strong efforts of standout Kara Koch down the stretch to notch the tourney win. Koch, who didn't start due to an ankle injury, first entered into the game at the 5:41 mark in the fourth quarter and quickly made her presence felt with a bucket to pull her squad to within one at 41-40.
"I know a couple girls were like, "Coach, here she comes,' " said Snow. "I just told them, "Don't worry about it. Just help out backside and continue to play our game.' "
Hillsdale followed that game plan as it maintained its lead until Koch put a pulse into Northwestern. The standout converted an old-fashion three-point play and then recorded a steal on the inbounds for another quick bucket and tied up the game with 28 seconds left in regulation. Koch finished the game with 11 points and four rebounds.
"I told the girls at that point in the game, that we had a 28-second game," said Huskies coach Sid Cline. "We had the momentum, but my hats off to (Falcons). They just wanted it more than us."
Erin Ebert scored for Hillsdale for a 60-58 lead, and added a foul shot for a three-point lead, then Brooke Morr iced it by splitting a pair with 11 seconds to play.
Ebert finished with a game-high 26 points, while Morr added nine and Brittany Funk chipped in a baker's dozen points and 10 rebounds.
For Northwestern, Kristen Warner led the way with 16 points, while Kirstin Smith chipped in 10.
The Huskies' defeat marked the end of solid careers for six seniors.
Koch, Warner, Kim Bowman (eight points), Chelsea Swartzentruber, Smith and Paige Hagans all played in their final high school basketball game.
HILLSDALE: Whitney Dropsey 2-1-5, Erin Ebert 9-8-26, Brooke Morr 3-3-9, Brittany Funk 5-3-13, Lyndsay Witmer 2-3-7, Jennifer Moore 0-2-2. TEAM 21-20-62.
NORTHWESTERN: Kristen Warner 7-2-16, Kim Bowman 2-4-8, Paige Hagans 1-0-2, Hosanna Creasap 3-0-8, Kara Koch 4-3-11, Kirstin Smith 4-2-10, Chelsea Swartzentruber 1-0-3. TEAM 22-11-58.
Hillsdale7141130"62
Northwestern1019920"58
3-point field goals: Northwestern 3 (Creasap 2, Swartzentruber).