Northfield Boys Basketball Hangs on for Victory Over Faribault

The Northfield Raiders boys basketball team turned away a stubborn Faribault Falcons squad today in Northfield 77-72.  The Raiders had a 15 point lead at the half built largely off Falcons turnovers.

Faribault senior John Palmer scored 38 points, 26 in the second half, finishing with 7 three point baskets.  Northfield had a balanced attack led by sophomore Soren Richardson with 17, senior Karsten Clay 16 and junior Kip Schetnan had 14 points.

The Falcons led much of the first half before the Raiders following a Faribault time out slapped on a full court press and turned 7 turnovers into 9 points for a 40-25 halftime lead.

With just over 8 minutes to go Faribault whittled a double digit lead to single digits only to see Northfield punch it back to double digits with about 4 minutes left.

The Falcons would not fold.  Senior Alex Gardner netted a three from the corner with just over 28 seconds to go to make it a 5 point game after senior Alex Sullivan stole an inbounds pass and threw the ball to Gardner.

Northfield hit clutch free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.  The charity stripe proved to be the deciding factor with the Raiders hitting 21 free throws and the Falcons 7.

Northfield was coming off a 63-60 upset win over state ranked Austin.  With the win the Raiders have a 4-1 record.  Faribault fell to 0-5.

The Falcons had 10 three point baskets in the second half, finishing the game with 15 from beyond the arc.  Northfield was held to 8 total field goals in the second half and no three point baskets after connecting on 4 three pointers in the first half.

In addition to Palmer's offensive explosion Gardner had 12 points, junior post Devin Lockerby finished with 10 points.  The three were named our Malecha's Auto Body Crunch Time Faribault Players of the Game.

The Cashwise Foods and Pharmacy of Owatonna delivery of the game was a sweet wrap around pass by Schetnan for a big basket by Clay to help Northfield hold on to their lead late in the game.

The Raiders are at Mankato West Tuesday and in Winona Friday while Faribault is at Owatonna Monday and at Rochester Century Friday next week.