Concord’s Jadelyn Williams comes up with a steal in the waning moments of a 44-42 win over NorthWood Friday night. (Photos by Mike Deak)

DUNLAP – Most, if not all, of the Concord girls basketball program were very excited Friday night. None of them had felt the feeling they had achieved on their home court.

Concord upset Class 3-A No. 19 NorthWood, 44-42, in the Northern Lakes Conference girls basketball opener for both clubs. But simply for Concord, the win was a lot sweeter after knocking off NorthWood for the first time in 19 years.

Kacy Gratzol reacts after hitting a game-tying three in the fourth quarter.

“Yeah, I think this is my biggest win,” said third-year Concord coach Cassie Cepeda. “Just really proud of the girls. This group of girls, they started a journey, we all started a journey together. They’ve gotten better. We say the phrase, ‘chop wood, carry water.’ They have truly bought in and gotten better.”

Concord’s ability to make some key plays late in the game was the difference.

After Karlie Fielstra nailed a three to put Wood up 41-38, Concord got NorthWood post Maddy Payne to commit her fifth foul. Moments later, Kacy Gratzol stepped out and drained a three of her own to tie the game at 41.

Kenzie Bergman would drive the length of the court, earning a pair of free throws for the Panthers, but sank just one of two tries. After Sydney Simon hit two free throws on the other end to give Concord a one-point lead, Jadelyn Williams made the defensive stop of the night with a steal on NorthWood’s attempt into the lane, setting up a made free throw from Chandyn Redmond. Her second attempt rimmed out, but a tap away and offensive rebound by Alexa Porter kept the ball with Concord, eating up valuable time off the clock.

“They wanted it,” stated Cepeda. “It comes with resilience. They just wanted it and beat them to the spot.”

Porter finished with the hottest hand for the Minutemen with 14 points while Redmond came in with 10 points.

NorthWood spent an awful lot of energy chasing and catching Concord, and found itself in foul trouble along the way. Payne, Bergman and Trenshaw all fouled out of the game, taking away three of the team’s top four scoring options. With Kate Rulli the lone scoring threat left in the final minute, Concord wedged in on the post and made NorthWood’s hesitant guards make decisions. That came back to bite the Panthers in the end.

“When three of your starters foul out, that is tough,” said NorthWood head coach Adam Yoder, who continuously reminded the officials in the fourth quarter of the unevenness of the foul situation. “I thought they had a lot more fouls at halftime. They just quit fouling in the second half and we started fouling, I guess.”

Kenzie Bergman fires a three over Chandyn Redmond.

NorthWood, which did trail for much of the first half, would come back to take a 32-28 lead in the third quarter after making a 7-0 run to end the quarter on a Bergman three, Rulli drop step and a hustle play by Bre Wise, who got an offensive rebound and a pair of free throws just before the buzzer.

Payne would finish with 11 points before fouling out with 1:07 to go and Rulli ended with a team-high 14 points. The two combined to score 17 of NorthWood’s 20 first-half points. Fielstra had six points, five in the fourth quarter.

“I think Payne had a shot in there and didn’t make it, Rulli had a shot in there and didn’t make it,” Yoder said of his team’s opportunities in the fourth quarter. “Bergman made one of two from the line, she’s the leading free throw shooter in our program’s history. You gotta make both of them there.

“We’ve been off for 10 days, we definitely were going to be a little rusty. I told the coaches on the way over if we don’t finish at the basket and make free throws, we’re going to be in trouble. That’s a really good basketball team, look at how they have been playing.”

Concord moves to 6-2 overall, winners of six in a row, while NorthWood falls to 5-3. The Panthers will host LaVille Monday.

In the JV game, a corner three-ball from Brenin Knight sank as time expired to give NorthWood a 32-31 win over Concord. NorthWood scored 10 of the game’s last 12 points to rally for the win.

NorthWood’s Maddy Payne takes a shot over Concord’s Alexa Porter.