Northwood boys basketball team captures fifth win in a row, defeating SVC 56-55 at North-South Challenge

Shandon Sharifi of Northwood was named player of the game Saturday night.

Northwood’s boys basketball team captured its fifth victory in a row, defeating Saddleback Valley Christian 56-55 Saturday night in the final game of the North-South Challenge at Tesoro.

Shandon Sharifi scored 16 points and made four 3-pointers for the Timberwolves and was named the team’s MVP.

Christian Blanton added 12 points for the Timberwolves (7-7).

“It was an ugly game overall but we grinded it out,” said Northwood acting coach Yousof Etemadi. “I don’t think there were too many positives except we held them to five points in the fourth quarter. We finally started to play a little defense and slowing them down and we made a couple big shots and big plays down the stretch and that kind of sealed the deal for us.”

Sharifi made some big plays in the final minutes to lift the Timberwolves, who battled back from a four-point halftime deficit against Saddleback Valley Christian (8-7).

“When he takes good shots, he shoots a high percentage,” Etemadi said. “We’re asking him to play the point right now, which is out of position for him but he’s getting better every game.”

Northwood, 2-0 in league, plays in the Tustin Classic this week. The Timberwolves face Tustin Wednesday, Dec. 26, at 10 a.m. at Tustin High.

“That’s five in a row, which is good but we’ve got a lot of work to do. Obviously our league is pretty tough and everybody is kind of beating everybody,” Etemadi said.