Junior Kenzie Bergman led NorthWood with 17 points Tuesday night. Elkhart Central rallied to top the Panthers 58-49 in overtime in Nappanee.

NAPPANEE – Elkhart Central girls basketball coach Will Coatie challenged his team at halftime Tuesday night.

His squad sure responded to his message in quite an impressive manner

The Blue Blazers erased a 10-point halftime deficit to stun NorthWood 58-49 in overtime in a non-conference matchup in the Panther Pit.

Central, which had not beaten the Panthers in at least two decades, outscored the hosts 9-0 in the extra session to earn arguably the program’s biggest win in years.

Star guard Trinitee Harris showcased her stellar skill set to lead the rally. The junior scored 12 of her game-high 20 points in the fourth quarter and overtime period to pace the winners.

Kate Rulli scored nine points for the Panthers.

Central, which improves to 3-2 with its third straight win, held NorthWood to just 15 points in the second half and overtime period en route to the huge win.

Coatie, who guided Central to its first winning season in many years last year, was understandably as pleased as punch.

“This was a total team effort and I’m just so proud of all of these girls,” said Coatie, now in his sixth season in charge of the Blue Blazers. “This is just a huge win and a very big confidence builder for our kids. We talk about trusting the process and it will pay you back and tonight it did.”

Central trailed 34-24 at halftime before amping it up on the defensive end with its small, yet quick, lineup. The Blazers gave up just four field goals in the second half and overtime in outscoring NorthWood 34-15.

“I challenged our girls at halftime to step up and guard them,” remarked Coatie. “I challenged them to take pride in their defense. We want to allow 34 points-per-game and they already had 34 at halftime tonight. Our girls did a great job responding defensively.

“I challenged Trinitee late in the game. I told her that you need to take over. You need to make sure that we are in the right defense and you need to run our offense. She did a great job responding.”

Harris, the leading scorer for the Blue Blazers last season, gave Central its first lead of the game with a 3-point play by converting a layup and ensuring free throw off a steal to make it 47-45 with 2:35 to play in regulation. The Panthers tied the game with 1:05 left on a jumper by Kenzie Bergman to make it 47-47. Harris then hit a driving hoop with 53 seconds to play to make it 49-47. NorthWood tied the contest at 49-49 on a pair of free throws by Emily Demitruk with 44.5 seconds left. Central then turned the ball over and Kate Rulli missed on a baseline jumper to force overtime.

The Blue Blazers dominated the four-minute extra frame. Junior forward Makayla Roundtree hit back-to-back layups to make it 53-49 and then Harris scored four points on a steal and layup and two charity tosses to seal the win.

NorthWood, which led 39-36 entering the final period, hurt itself in the fourth quarter by going just 6-10 from the free throw line. The Panthers finished 10-16 from the stripe on the night. Central was just 6-11 from the stripe, but hit eight treys in the win.

“You have to make free throws and take every advantage then to extend the lead,” said NorthWood coach Adam Yoder. “But credit Central. They were clutch. That’s the best word for them tonight. Trinitee was the best player on the floor and she showed that late in the game.

“I was not happy with our performance tonight. But the team in the blue had something to do with that. They amped up their pressure and kept coming at us in the second half and overtime. They guarded and played so hard. We are young and growing. I thought that we played scared and not to lose. You just have to keep playing.”

Maddy Payne looks to make a pass over a Central defender.

NorthWood, which drops to 3-2, hit three layups to open a 6-0 lead to start the night. Central did not score until Harris drained a trey 3:24 into the game. The hosts led 20-13 after the opening period as Kenzie Bergman drained three triples in the first frame. Bergman, who was held scoreless in a 36-20 win at Rochester Saturday, had 12 points at halftime as the hosts led 34-24. The Panthers hit six treys in the opening half.

“As poorly as we played in the second half, I really thought that the first half hurt us,” Yoder pointed out. “I thought that we should have been up by 20 at halftime. We missed several layups and gave up several baskets off inbounds plays.”

NorthWood beat Central by a 51-33 count last season. The much-improved Blue Blazers went 12-11 a year ago after winning a total of 16 games in Coatie’s first four seasons as the coach.

Junior Bergman led the Panthers with 17 points. Sophomore Rulli scored nine points, while Savannah Feenstra, the team’s lone senior, had seven and sophomore Maddy Payne six.  Demitruk finished with five points, junior Lexi Parisi four and sophomore Karlie Fielstra one.

Feenstra led her team with 13 rebounds and also had a team-high five assists.

Krisen Hunt also had a huge performance for the Blue Blazers. The guard, one of four seniors, canned 15 points. Senior Mady Miller had 10 key points and Roundtree came up big with eight points.

The game was a Homecoming for Lindsey Steffen. The former NorthWood standout is now the assistant coach for the Central junior varsity team. Steffen helped the Black Swish win 75 games in her four-year prep career, including a 21-4 mark in her senior season in 2009-10. She scored 828 career points and helped coach Steve Neff’s teams to Class 3-A sectional championships in both her junior and senior seasons.

Former South Bend Clay star Ariel Easton is now the Central JV head coach. Easton was a standout guard for coach Steve Scott’s Colonials from 2006-10. She, along with her twin sister Asia, helped lead Clay to a 21-5 mark her senior season in 2009-10 and is the program’s all-time leading scorer with 1,343 career points,

NorthWood won the junior varsity game 37-30. Kennedy Hochstetler and Bre Wise each scored 10 points to lead the Panthers. Michaela Whitaker had eight points and Evan Hobik seven to lead Central.

NorthWood plays at Norwell (2-0) Saturday afternoon in another non-conference game. Central hosts South Bend Clay (1-4) Friday night in a Northern Indiana Conference contest.

Emily Demitruk focuses on getting into position for a rebound.