The 2A Northland Prep girls basketball team got the season rolling in the right direction following a quick weather-delayed start.
The Spartans beat 2A Central Region foe Desert Heights Prep, 41-38, behind 23 points from Heather Hayden, who came up big late.
With the Spartans clinging to a 39-38 lead late into the fourth quarter, Hayden sunk a pair of free throws to put the Spartans up for good and ice the game.
Northland Prep starts a season 1-0 for the first time since 2014-15, when it finished 4-14 in the power-points schedule.
Hayden added in a trio of 3-pointerss to go along with her team-high 23.Â
The Spartans played their opener a day late due to the Tuesday snowfall in Flagstaff forcing the Spartans to reschedule for Wednesday.
Northland Prep will get back to the Valley -- weather permitting -- Friday to take on another inter-region team, Glendale Prep (0-1), at 5:30 p.m.
Girls soccer
The 4A Coconino Panthers opened their season with a 5-3 overtime loss to Grand Canyon Region foe Lee Williams Tuesday in Kingman. The Panthers (0-1, 0-1 Grand Canyon) will take on region squad Prescott (1-0, 1-0 Grand Canyon) Thursday in Prescott at 5 p.m.
Lance Hartzler can be reached at 556-2251 or at lhartzler@azdailysun.com. Follow him on Twitter @lance_hartz.
Lance Hartzler
Sports Editor
Northern Arizona football and men's basketball beat reporter. Also covers prep and local sports around Flagstaff.
