The Faribault Falcons girls basketball team had a 7 point lead with 1:50 to go in regulation Friday night.  Northfield came back and won in overtime 53-51 to give Tony Mathison is 300th career coaching victory.  Northfield got a tremendous performance by senior 6'0 Rachel Kelly down the stretch.  Kelly did not want to lose to Faribault so she made numerous steals and scored 21 points to lead the Raiders to victory.

Faribault had a lead in the first half but trailed 24-23 at the half.  The game ended in regulation tied at 47.  Free throws proved to be the difference with Northfield scoring 9 points at the charity stripe and Faribault scored 7 points.  Turnovers were also crucial when the Falcons could not protect their lead down the stretch.  Faribault had 4 turnovers in the overtime and Northfield had 3 turnovers.  Points off turnovers were 4-2 in favor of the victors.

The Falcons finished the game with 24 turnovers and Northfield had 19.  Junior 6'0 Zoe Fronk led Faribault in scoring with 14 points and owned the glass in the second half after Northfield controlled the rebounds in the first half.  Particularly on the offensive end of the floor.   Faribault's lone senior Abby Van Ryn collected 11 of her 13 points in the second half.  Sophomore 5'10 Bennett Wolff had 11 points. Freshman 5'5 Evy Vettrus finished with 10 points.

The Raiders got a monster basket by sophomore 5'9 Lizzie Berkvam to tie the game with just over 6 seconds to go.  Van Ryn brought the ball up the floor and was forced to take a difficult shot at the buzzer.  Berkvam finished with 9 points on 3 three point baskets.  Sophomore 5'10 Annika Richardson added 10 points in the Northfield win.

Northfield improved to 14-8 in the Big 9 and 15-11 overall.  Faribault is now 5-16 in the league and 5-20 overall.

The two teams could meet in the first round of the Section 1 Class 3A Tournament next Wednesday.  The game would be played in Northfield.  Seeding for the tourney is this weekend.

In other girls basketball action Friday night:

  • Red Wing 70  Winona 26
  • Rochester Mayo 67  Albert Lea 36
  • Austin 82  Rochester Century 42
  • Lakeville South 51  Burnsville 42

 

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