Krahl, Northview connect on 3s in win over Findlay

Sylvania Northview's Grace Krahl didn't win Friday's game with Findlay all by herself. But she definitely did put her stamp on it. Krahl hit three 3-pointers in the first quarter – including two from NBA range – and spearheaded a long-range bombardment that gave Northview the edge it needed to outlast the Trojans 56-49 in a Northern Lakes League Buckeye Division matchup. "She's one of the toughest competitors I've ever had," ninth-year Northview coach Pat Sayre said of the 5-foot-7 sophomore, who broke into the Ladykats' lineup as a freshman and ended up averaging 10 points a game on a team that went 14-10. "She's only a 15-year-old sophomore but every big game she seems to step up, and this was a huge win for us on the road beating a really good team. We've done really well against teams that are kind of middle-of-the-road. But we needed to beat a really good team and I'm glad we did it." Krahl and Allison Biggs, a 5-10 junior, did all of Northview's scoring early on as the Ladykats bolted to a 12-6 lead. Madelyn Stechschulte answered with a 3-pointer for Findlay, but Krahl nailed a trey from two steps behind the 19-9 line, then beat the buzzer with an even longer 3 that made it 18-11 at the break. "We had them scouted like that," said Findlay High coach Brian Rosendale. "We told our kids you can't step off on 12 (Krahl) one bit. The three or four times we did the first quarter, what did she do? She hit a 3-pointer. "They can shoot lights out, that's for sure." Krahl had 11 points in the first quarter and 19 at the half. She managed just a basket and a foul shot in the second half, but Biggs picked some of the slack and Sara Cannon hit a big 3-pointer in the fourth quarter and had five of her nine points in the final three minutes when Findlay made a final run. "Our seniors, they're not going to quit," Rosendale said. "We got it down to three (44-41), and I thought we had a chance on that tipped ball that went out of bounds. We missed some shots, though, and had some turnovers at the wrong time. "Sometimes things go your way and sometimes they don't." After playing catch-up from the start, Findlay almost did. Biggs' basket to open the fourth quarter gave Northview an 11-point 44-33 lead. Katelyn Stechschulte answered for Findlay, though, and Sophia Myers followed with two free throws and a jumper in the lane. Katelyn Stechschulte then came up with a steal, went coast-to-coast for a score and that 11-point deficit had dwindled to three (44-41). Krahl scored on a drive to push the lead back to five, Katelyn Stechschulte trimmed it to four with a free throw, and then Cannon came up with two of the biggest plays of the game. With Findlay's man-to-man defense dogging Krahl and Biggs, Cannon stepped up and drilled Northview's seventh 3-pointer of the game. Following a turnover, the junior forward scored on a give-and-go from Biggs and the lead was back to nine (51-42) with two minutes left. Findlay continued to push, but never got closer than five points the rest of the way. Krahl finished with 22 points and Biggs had 17 for a young Northview team that started the season with just two seniors on the roster. "Not any more," said Sayre, not going into detail but at the same time explaining why the Ladykats started two juniors, two sophomores and a freshman against Findlay. The lineup may have been young but the Ladykat's shooting touch hinted at hours spent in the gym. "We've definitely made more 3's and 2-pointers, and we've made more 3-pointers than we've attempted free throws," Sayre said. "I love shooting the 3, and I think we have a group that does a really good job of it. We've embraced it. We go with what we have and what we have is a lot of girls who can shoot the ball." Northview connected on 7-of-21 3-pointers and 20-of-46 shots overall. Findlay was 7-of-20 on 3-pointers, but 17-of-41 overall against Northview's 1-3-1 zone defense. "A year ago, we started out 2-5 so we switched to open motion (offense) and 100 percent zone (defense)," Sayre said. "It's a different kind of zone than most people see, kind of tempered to what other teams do. The goal is to be very annoying. Sometimes we give up too many corner 3s, but overall I think we do a good job of making other teams uncomfortable." Katelyn Stechschulte led Findlay with 15 points and Madelyn Stechschulte had 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds. "We came back in the second half, we made it a game," Rosendale said. "We knew it was going to be tough, though, because they can shoot the ball and then can make free throws." Friday's outcome was key in the NLL's Buckeye Division. With Anthony Wayne beating Toledo Whitmer 54-32 on Friday, everybody will be chasing the Generals (5-1, 2-0) in the standings. Whitmer, 5-2 overall, fell to 1-1 in the Buckeye Division and is tied with Northview (6-2, 1-1) and Perrysburg (4-3, 1-1). Findlay is 5-2 overall, but actually trails the other Buckeye Division teams at 1-2. Findlay continues a four-game homestand with games against Lima Senior on Dec. 23 and Lima Shawnee on Dec. 28. NORTHVIEW (6-2, 1-1 NLL-BD) Shamy 2-3 0-0 4, Biggs 7-11 2-4 17, Cannon 3-7 1-2 9, Krahl 7-17 4-6 22, Clausius 1-6 2-2 4, K, Smithers 0-0 0-0 0, Shadle 0-2 0-0 0, Spy 0-0 0-0 0, M. Smithers 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 20-46 9-14—56. FINDLAY (5-2, 1-2) Arredondo 2-7 0-0 5, McCormick 3-5 0-0 6, K. Stechschulte 6-9 1-2 15, M. Stechschulte 2-9 5-8 10, Mangas 1-1 0-0 3, Myers 1-5 2-2 4, Boes 2-4 0-0 6. TOTALS: 17-41 8-13—49. Northview &emsp;&emsp;18 &emsp;&emsp;12 &emsp;&emsp;12 &emsp;&emsp;14—56 Findlay &emsp;&emsp;11 &emsp;&emsp;10 &emsp;&emsp;12 &emsp;&emsp;16—49 3-POINT GOALS: Sylvania Northview 7-21 (Shadle 0-1, Shamy 0-1, Biggs 1-1, Cannon 2-5, Krahl 4-8, Clausius 0-5); Findlay 7-20 (Boes 2-3, Arredondo 1-4, McCormick 0-2, K. Stechschulte 2-5, M. Stechschulte 1-5, Mangas 1-1). REBOUNDS: Sylvania Northview 30 (Cannon 5, Krahl 5, Clausius 5); Findlay 27 (M. Stechschulte 7, Myers 5, Arredondo 4, McCormick 4). TURNOVERS: Sylvania Northview 10; Findlay 12. JUNIOR VARSITY: Findlay 35-24. FRESHMAN: Findlay 27-20.