LEWISBURG — When Tri-County North and Twin Valley South battle in any sport emotions run high.

Add in a Senior Night ceremony and a player who suffered a season ending injury scoring two points as the other team looked on with approval, then being subbed out to an ovation, made last week’s girls basketball game all that much more emotional.

Tri-County North celebrated seniors Nicole Lefeld, Erin Kring and Hannah Webster prior to the game.

Lefeld, who suffered a season-ending knee injury earlier in the season, got the start and South coach Brayden Waggoner had his team watch as Lefeld scored the final basket of her high school career in the opening seconds.

Moments later, North allowed South to score to even the game at 2-2.

From there a spirited battle took place with North holding on for a 48-43 win on Tuesday, Jan. 23.

North took a 14-11 lead after one quarter then extended that lead to 24-12 by halftime, as they opened the second quarter on a 10-0 run.

In the third, North pushed its lead to as many as 13 points (31-18) before South slowly began chipping away.

South got within four at 36-32 with 4:48 left and made it a one-point game with 1:45 left on a three-pointer by Kelsie Maggard.

Nani Garcia, who finished with 17 points on five 3-pointers, connected on her final trey of the game moments later to push North’s lead to 43-39 with 1:24 left.

Webster finished with 12 points and six rebounds. Jordan Pinion added nine.

For South, Jordan Ritchie led all scorers with 22 points and Brylii Day added nine.

North (9-8, 4-5 WOAC) was scheduled to play at Northridge on Tuesday, Jan. 30 and will host Mississinawa Valley on Thursday, Feb. 1.

South (0-17, 0-9) was scheduled to play at Middletown Madison on Tuesday and will play Dixie on Friday, Feb. 2 at the famous Hoosier Gym in a boys/girls’ varsity doubleheader. Tipoff for the girls’ game will be 6 p.m.

Reach Eddie Mowen Jr. at 937-683-4061 and follow on X (formerly Twitter) @emowenjr.