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With 14 wins in 15 games, Northwest girls hoops team is proving to be contender

 

By Mike Moore

Staff Writer

 

Jackson – There’s no let up, nothing to celebrate just yet. But there has to be some appreciation, some recognition for a job well done.

 

So far, anyway.

 

Some 15 games into the 2015-16 season, the Northwest girls basketball teams has been on the wrong side of the scoreboard once, and that was by a single point.

 

So, as he spoke of his 14-1 team on Wednesday afternoon, coach Ryan Carroll pointed out how much better things can still be, but how much fun it’s been to this point.

 

“It’s funny, because I sent a message out to the team (Wednesday) just to say how proud of them I really am of what we’ve been able to achieve so far,” Carroll said. “It’s something we try to take a minute to talk about after every game. You have to. We’ve put together a pretty good run right now.”

 

Pretty good and pretty dominant.

 

The Mounties started the season on a six-game win streak before falling 53-52 at Marshall (14-1) on Jan. 15.

 

Since then, eight-consecutive wins, and none of them close.

 

Take out the Marshall game, and Northwest has won its 14 contests by an average score of 60-32.

 

The offense can score in bunches, while the defense is swarming and annoying to play against.

 

“We’ve made a commitment on offense to move the ball and play unselfishly,” Carroll said. “Our girls are having fun with that and embracing it. We’ll have possessions with 10 or 11 passes and get an easy layup. We’re just playing well together. We’re shooting the ball well too.”

 

On the defensive end, Carroll said his team has set a goal to hold opponents to 33 points, or less, each time out.

 

The Mounties have done that eight different times this winter.

 

“We’ve done a real nice job of limiting dribble penetration and keeping the ball out of the middle,” he said. “We’ve kept teams away from the middle, and we’re rebounding at a great rate right now, which we weren’t doing at the start of the season.”

 

With five games remaining before the 2016 district tournament launches, Carroll said there’s still plenty to work on.

 

The Mounties travel to Coldwater (7-6) Friday night, host Charlotte (3-12) next Tuesday before entertaining Marshall Feb. 19 in a game that will likely pick the I-8 champion.

 

“We have to stay focused in the games we have coming up,” Carroll said, carefully not looking past anyone. “Against Marshall, it has to be our best product we put out there all season. I think it’s great timing to play a team like that near the end of the season. … This is a group that understands it can still be better. We challenge them, and they challenge themselves every single day. We feel we haven’t peaked yet. We feel, if we stay focused, we still have a lot of great things in front of us.”

 

Mike Moore is a play-by-play commentator and Sports Writer for JTV Sports. You can reach him at mjm12@albion.edu. He’s also the author of ‘Love, Defined; A Dedication to the Love, Sacrifice, and Magic of Motherhood.’

Love, Defined is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Tate Publishing or by contacting Mike directly.

 

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