Girls basketball: Northridge stumbles but gets feet wet in loss to Farmington
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- Northridge High players Lauren Terrando (24) and Brooklyn Mayfield (30) reach for a rebound in a girls basketball game Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025, in Layton.
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- Northrige High’s Luna Garcia-Ortega (20) drives baseline against Farmington’s Morgan Snell in a girls basketball game Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025, in Layton.
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- Northridge High’s Morgan Hale rises to shoot above Farmington’s Hallie Neuenswander in a girls basketball game Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025, in Layton.
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- Northridge High’s Kayla Stevenson (14) drives against Farmington’s Makelle Weber in a girls basketball game Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025, in Layton.
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- Northridge and Farmington players fight for a loose ball in a girls basketball game Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025, in Layton.
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- Luna Garcia-Ortega shoots a jumper in a girls basketball game against Farmington on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025, in Layton.
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- Northridge High’s Lauren Terrando, left, drives the ball against Farmington in a girls basketball game Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025, in Layton.
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- Northridge High’s Morgan Hale (12) jumps above Farmington’s Morgan Rogers in a girls basketball game Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025, in Layton.
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- Northridge High’s Kayla Stevenson, right, dribbles against pressure from Farmington’s Brooklyn Romney in a girls basketball game Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025, in Layton.
LAYTON — With only two seniors on its girls varsity basketball roster, Northridge High should expect some stumbles early on.
Step one went down Tuesday night when the Knights lost their season opener, 36-24, in a sloppy non-region game against Farmington.
“We stumbled a little bit, but when you fail, you have an opportunity to learn and grow. I’m excited for that … embrace it,” Northridge coach Chris Smith said. “We’re going to expect some mistakes to happen. We lack experience. We’re young; a lot of girls haven’t played any varsity.
“A lot of kids were nervous coming into the game. That’s normal. We have sophomores out there; two juniors who haven’t played much,” Smith said.
Two of those sophomores led Northridge on Tuesday night, as guard Kayla Stevenson scored nine points and forward Lauren Terrando added seven, while senior guard Luna Garcia-Ortega netted six.
Only four players scored points for the Knights.
“We’ve got to figure out where we’re going to get our points from. There are a lot of variables to improve on,” Smith said. “Game one is always tough … see where we stand. We’ll get a chance to watch some film. It’s one thing to tell the kids what to do, but when they see it, it makes a huge difference.”
Northridge had four quarters of single-digit scoring, with a nine-point second stanza its best showing.
“That’s not going to win a lot of games. I recognized offensively we’d have some challenges. The big thing for us is to step up our game on the defensive end and turn our defense into some easy baskets on offense,” Smith said.
Stevenson made two 3-pointers and was 3 of 4 from the free-throw line in her varsity debut.
“I was nervous at first. It’s my first time playing point guard,” Stevenson said. “I feel like I could have made more (3s), but I did pretty good.”
Terrando scored five of her points in a 24-second span of the second quarter and had a triple and a pair of traditional buckets for the game.
Her five-point spurt came during a 10-0 run where the Knights held Farmington scoreless for more than 8 minutes, beginning early in the second quarter and extending into the third period.
That turned a 17-8 deficit into a brief 18-17 lead on a basket by Garcia-Ortega at the 7:04 mark of the third quarter.
“We battled … told the girls to fight; go until the whistle blows,” Smith said. “We stepped up the intensity. The kids played with a little more confidence. The ball moved better; we shared the ball. There was better decision-making.”
The lead was short-lived as the Phoenix went on an 11-0 run, taking command 28-18 with 7:23 left in the game.
“We were tired; we don’t have a ton of kids at the moment,” Smith said. “The ball began to stick and we forgot what got us to that point. We got a little frantic. We need to continue to play our game; figure out what our identity is.”
Olive Wayland and Makelle Weber paced a balanced Farmington attack with nine points each.
So, it’s back to the drawing board for the Knights with the initial game under their belt.
“It’s going to take some time; preseason is a chance to get better all-around. We may take some bumps and bruises, but this will build character,” Smith said. “Going into region, we’ll be playing like we want to. Just give the kids an opportunity to be successful.”
