The Northland Prep Academy girls and boys basketball teams beat Madison Highland Prep Thursday at home. The girls won 43-24, and the boys won 57-24.
The girls’ game remained close for much of the first half due to a combination of dueling full-court presses, an abundance of turnovers and limited scoring from each team. Despite struggling to establish a consistent offense throughout much of the first half, 2A Conference Northland Prep (5-6, 2-3 Central Region) still managed to lead 2A Madison Highland through all four quarters, thanks in part to the furious pace of play the Spartans kept up throughout the game.
Spartans coach Josee Deloretto said her team intended to set the tempo early, and that fast-paced offense usually pays dividends.
“That was the game plan,” Deloretto said. “We didn't necessarily do it very well in the first half, but we picked it up in the second half. We definitely wanted to come out strong with a lot of energy. We usually have a better game when we do that, so we wanted to get the girls focused with high energy, but also control.”
Northland Prep, ranked 28th in the conference, found its offense in the second half and pulled away as No. 34 Madison Highland continued to struggle, scoring 12 points in the final two quarters.
It was a true team effort from Northland Prep, which got offensive contributions from nine of their 10 players. Senior Heather Hayden led the Spartans with seven points.
Hayden emphasized her team’s ability to play together and has enjoyed seeing its development over the course of the season.
“I think we really came together as a team,” Hayden said. “We had some issues [playing together] at the beginning of the season, but we’re really working together now -- which is nice to see.”
Deloretto said a postseason berth is the goal for her team, despite being far out of the bubble and owning a losing record in the region standings.
“I think our team is really coming together, and it’s so fun to watch and see them start to peak when we should be peaking,” Deloretto. “We’ve got a lot of games coming up, and we’re hoping to make the playoffs. That’s been our goal from the beginning of the season, so that’s our goal moving forward.”
Boys win second straight
The Spartans (5-5, 2-3 Central) also had a successful night, blowing out the Heat, who are now on a seven-game losing streak, by over 30 points in a game that Spartans led the entire way.
An aggressive defensive effort from Northland Prep set the tone early and was the catalyst behind the dominant win. By switching the looks of their full-court press, the Spartans kept the Heat on its heels, forcing turnovers and turning them into easy points on the other end.
Spartans coach Brent Hanson said his team’s press has been successful over the second half of the season because of the varying looks the team gives opposing offenses.
“We practice it, but we haven’t always gotten to put it into play until the second half of the season,” Hanson said. “We run a couple of different presses, a 2-2-1, a 1-2-1-1, and give [opponents] different looks throughout the game, otherwise it gets dry.”
The Spartans’ 18 steals allowed them to get out in transition and capitalize on numerous fast breaks. Hanson said defense has always been the driving force behind his team, and added that not having to set up a half court offense for much of the game was a big deal.
When the Spartans did run their half-court offense, it was equally successful. Madison Highland sat back in a 2-3 zone defense for much of the game, and Northland Prep picked it apart with ball movement and good shot selection.
Hanson said his team was more than ready for a zone look from Madison Highland’s defense.
“We did some scouting on [Madison Highland],” Hanson said. “There are a few teams in our conference that only run a 2-3 zone, so we saw them coming. We’ve been practicing our zone offense for quite a while.”
Junior Henry Troutman led the charge offensively for Northland Prep with a game-high 20 points. Troutman said it felt good to boost his team’s energy with his offense, and added that he’s “excited to see where we go from here.”
Hanson said the game was about coming together as a team, and that he’d hoped to get playing time for all of his players throughout the game.
“This game was all about building a sense of team unity,” Hanson said. “We had a couple of tough losses recently, one at home and one away, so now being able to get everyone some minutes and get almost everybody into the scorebook means the team is coming together as a unit. It was huge to get a big lead and be able to get everyone some minutes, that was the goal tonight.”
Sophomore Colton Andersen sees the win as a confidence booster for the 28th-ranked Spartans' upcoming matchup against Glendale Prep on Feb. 1.
“I think this is a good win to get us set for a couple of big games coming up against Glendale Prep,” Andersen said. “They’re a tough school, so I think a good win like this gives us a little bit of confidence going in with how we’re playing and feeling as a team. The better we’re playing as a team, especially on defense, the better chance we have to win against good teams.”
*This article was originally published in the AZ Daily Sun*
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