Olson Sets Scoring Record For Panthers
NAPPANEE – It was a record-setting night Tuesday for NorthWood High School basketball standout Morgan Olson.
It was also a big fourth quarter comeback for the host Panthers to pick up a key win in a matchup of ranked teams.
Senior Olson became the program’s all-time leading scorer in style as host NorthWood rallied past Triton 47-42.
The Panthers are No. 9 in this week’s Class 3-A poll, while the Trojans are No. 10 in Class 1-A.
Olson, a 5-11 forward, scored 20 points in the win to pass Natalie Will as the all-time leading scorer in NorthWood girls basketball history. Olson, a Youngstown State University recruit, now has 1,294 career points.
Will, who helped NorthWood win the Class 3-A state championship in 1999 with a thrilling 72-71 win over Cathedral in the title game, finished her prep career with 1,279 points. She scored a game-high 24 points in the state championship game in 1999, including making the game winning free throw with 5.6 seconds to play.
Will, a three-sport standout athlete at NorthWood and an Indiana All-Star in basketball, went on to play basketball at Northwestern University.
NorthWood used a big time rally in the final stanza to topple the Trojans. Triton led 35-27 after three quarters before the hosts outscored them 20-7 in the final frame for the win.
Olson’s game-high 20 points led the way for coach Steve Neff’s squad.
Neff, who is in his 37th and final season as the NorthWood coach, now has 637 career wins. The Hall of Famer, who is 637-176, ranks second in victories among girls basketball coaches in state history to Donna Cheatham. Cheatham, the coach at Scottsburg High School, is 638-204 in her 39th overall season.
Jordyn Frantz had 10 points and Tif Alexander added nine for the Panthers.
NorthWood improves to 3-1 with its third straight win after a 40-31 loss to Mishawaka in the season opener.
Kylie Mason popped in 15 points and hit three treys to lead Triton, which falls to 2-2 with its second straight loss.
Taylor Hatfield had 13 points and Krystal Sellers scored 10 for coach Adam Heckaman’s Trojans.
Triton connected on six 3-pointers in the contest to just one for the Panthers, but it was not enough.
Kaylee Haines scored 13 points as the NorthWood junior varsity team improved to 4-0 with a 37-17 win.
NorthWood (3-1) plays at Penn Dec. 3. Triton (2-2) hosts Bethany Christian Dec. 2.