Although the Knights eventually fell to the Wildcats (16-3, 10-0), they gave them all they could handle.

Northwestern was a tall order for Eisenhower (11-5, 6-4) to handle. The Wildcats, who have 6-foot-2 University of Arizona signee Makayla Presser-Palmer, needed all of her 31 points to top Eisenhower 56-49.

The first quarter saw Palmer and Eisenhower’s Clara Steinberg, who is signed with California University of Pennsylvania, guarding one another. Both teams got off to a slow start, but Northwestern held an 11-8 lead after one quarter of play.

Presser-Palmer began to heat up for Northwestern as she scored 8 points in the second quarter as the Wildcats increased their lead to 28-17 at halftime.

Eisenhower’s Clara Steinberg attempts a shot over Northwestern’s Makayla Presser-Palmer during Region 3 girls basketball action Monday. Times Observer Photo by Steve Younger

Eisenhower came out of the locker room and immediately found its shooting touch. Senior Riley Robinault, who had a nice game at both ends of the court, scored 6 points in the third quarter and the defense of seniors Samantha Childs, Laney Belcher, Robinault and Lainey Font held the Wildcats to 12 points. Eisenhower cut its deficit to 40-35 heading into the final quarter of play.

The Knights began to chip away at the lead behind Font and Steinberg, and took a three-point lead before Presser-Palmer took over. She scored 8 points in the final quarter to lead the Wildcats win.

Eisenhower head coach DJ Steinberg was down about the loss, but had high praise for his team.

“I thought the girls played a great game tonight. It was a total team effort against the Region 3 leaders,” he said. “I thought Sam (Childs) had a great game. She really stepped up both scoring and her rebounding.”

Eisenhower got balanced scoring as four of its five starters were in double figures. Steinberg led the way with 14 points, Childs had 13, Font added 12 and Robinault chipped in 10 points.

Presser-Palmer led all scorers with 31 points to pass former Cranberry star Carrie Mason and move into third place all-time in District 10 history. She is now less than 100 points from the district record.

NORTHWESTERN (56)

Harayda 4 0 10, Pazmino 3 0 7, Gorzynski 0 0 0, Presser-Palmer 13 4 1, KEddy 1 0 2, CEddy 0 1 1, Kulyk 2 0 5, White 0 0 0. Totals 23 5 56.

EISENHOWER (49)

Font 5 1 12, Childs 4 5 13, Belcher 0 0 0, Robinault 5 0 10, Steinberg 5 3 14. Totals 19 9 49.

3-point goals–Harayda 2, Pazmino, Presser-Palmer, Kulyk, Font, Steinberg.

Northwestern 11 17 12 16 — 56

Eisenhower 8 9 18 14 –49