Karlie Fielstra of NorthWood controls the basketball while being surrounded by Wawasee players Saturday night. The host Panthers beat the Warriors 60-39 to remain unbeaten in NLC play.

NAPPANEE – The NorthWood girls basketball team spent their postgame scribbling their names on team posters for their fans Saturday night.

The Black Swish will look for a true signature win come next Saturday night though.

The Panthers took care of the business at hand by downing Wawasee 60-39 in a key Northern Lakes Conference clash in the Panther Pit.

The dominating win now leaves NorthWood, ranked No. 22 in Class 3-A, at 4-0 in league play going into a huge league showdown at Northridge next Saturday evening. The Raiders improved to 4-0 in the NLC also with a 49-33 league win at Warsaw Saturday night. Northridge, which has won the NLC title at 7-0 each of the past two years, is 17-3 overall this season.

It was a night of shining sophomores for the Panthers, who improved to 13-4 overall with their 10th win in the last 12 games.

Kenzie Bergman had a big night with 12 points, seven steals and five assists for the Panthers.

The sophomore trio of Kate Rulli, Karlie Fielstra and Maddy Payne were outstanding for the hosts.

Rulli led the way with a game-high 17 points to go with nine rebounds, also a game-high total. Fielstra and Payne each chipped in with 10 points. Fielstra was fine in the opening half with eight points, including a pair of triples, and Payne scored eight in the second half.

Junior Kenzie Bergman had a huge all-around night for the Panthers with 12 points to go with five assists and seven steals.

Senior Aubrey Kuhn led Wawasee with 13 points. Senior Hannah Marie-Lamle and junior Casey Schroeder each added nine points for the Warriors, who drop to 8-8 overall and go to 0-4 in the NLC.

NorthWood took the lead for good with an 8-0 run to close the opening period. The Panthers led 22-14 at halftime before taking control with a strong third quarter. The hosts outscored the Warriors 17-8 in the period to build a 39-22 lead. Payne and Bergman each scored six points in the pivotal frame.

NorthWood coach Adam Yoder continues to see a lot to like from his youthful team, which has just one senior.

“Tonight’s game was very important and the NLC is very important to us,” said Yoder. “We look at the NLC as seven sectional games. We prepare for every one of them just like we do for a sectional game. We treat every NLC game like it’s a championship game.

“I thought the girls were locked in and ready to go tonight. We had the best walk through earlier today that we have ever had since I’ve been head coach. They have just grown so much as a group together and as a team these last 3-4 weeks. It’s been impressive to watch.

“I thought that we executed fine in the first half, but just could not get that orange ball to go in the basket. I thought our girls in the second half just said enough of this and decided to put the hammer down. They did a great job. Thirty seven points from the three sophomores that’s pretty cool to see.”

Wawasee, which beat NorthWood 52-46 in the regular season a year ago before losing to the Panthers 40-29 in the sectional, simply did not have the offensive firepower to keep up.

Casey Schroeder had nine points for Wawasee.

“We didn’t finish and we gave them momentum with them turning our turnovers into what i call touchdowns,” said Wawasee coach Matt Carpenter. whose team had 23 turnovers in the loss. “That gave them offensive confidence and just put that much more pressure on our defense.

“Give NorthWood credit. They executed and they finished. I thought they out executed us and out toughed us and out hustled us in the first half.

“My girls play hard. We just were not with it from an execution standpoint tonight and it showed. We still have some adjustments to make by sectional time.”

Both NorthWood and Wawasee will compete in the Class 3-A Fairfield Sectional at the end of this month.

The Panthers now turn their attention to a visit from another possible sectional foe come Tuesday night. Tippecanoe Valley, which has won the last three sectional titles, will bring a 14-2 record to Nappanee. The Class 3-A No. 4 Vikings had won 11 in a row before a 53-52 home loss to Northfield Thursday night, a setback which ended Valley’s 32-game winning streak in Three Rivers Conference play.

“We’re going to be the underdog in our next three games (Valley, Northridge and Mishawaka Marian),” pointed out Yoder without hesitation. “There are no guaranteed wins at all in the six games we still have left. But all of them will get us ready for the sectional and that’s what we want.”

NorthWood, after playing at Northridge, will finish NLC play by hosting Goshen Jan. 20 and playing at Warsaw Jan. 25. The last NLC title for the Panthers came back in the 2014-15 campaign when they were 7-0 in league play.

Northridge will play at Elkhart Memorial Jan. 19 and host Plymouth Jan. 25 to conclude league action.

Schroeder led Wawasee with six steals and Kuhn had four. Marie-Lamle led her team with five rebounds.

NorthWood won the junior varsity game 31-13. Reagan Hartman scored nine points and Maddie Kuhn had eight to lead the winners. McKenzie Smith and Madison Mottern each had four points for Wawasee.

NorthWood won the freshman game 23-16. Autumn Turner led Wawasee with 10 points.

NorthWood hosts Tippecanoe Valley and Wawasee plays at Columbia City, both on Tuesday night.

Karlie Fielstra follows through on a trey as Kabrea Rostochak defends.

Hannah Marie-Lamle eyes her free throw try for the Warriors.