By STEVE BARLOW
WINSTED — Northwestern High girls basketball coach Fred Williams spelled out two objectives for his team against Lewis Mills in Tuesday’s matchup of Berkshire League preseason favorites: Hold the Spartans under 10 points per quarter and limit Mills sharpshooter Sammi Chadwick to 15 points or less.
Check. Double check.
The Highlanders shut down Mills while heating up themselves in the second half to roll to a 38-24 victory.
“We met those two challenges, obviously,” Williams said. “We didn’t dazzle anybody, but we played hard.”
Emma Propfe had 11 points, seven rebounds and six steals, and her defense was one big reason Chadwick scored seven points, one game after she hit six 3-pointers in a 28-point effort against Thomaston.
“We had one person on her all the time,” Propfe explained. “We played tight on her and made sure she didn’t get the ball. If she did get the ball, we made sure she wasn’t able to get open threes.”
Northwestern (3-0) survived even after Natalie Lederman, who finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds, went to the bench with four fouls less than two minutes into the third period.
Propfe responded by converting a steal into a layup for a 20-12 lead. Skylar DiMartino’s layup off an inbounds pass gave the Highlanders their first double-digit lead, 24-14, with 3:30 to go in the period.
“Everyone really knows when Natalie comes out of the game,” DiMartino said. “We all know we have to step up even harder to push ourselves more.”
Brianna Pelchar led Mills (2-1) with eight points.