Riceville presented problems for the Northwood-Kensett girls’ basketball team last time the two teams met and Tuesday night proved no different.

The Vikings (13-6) pulled out a 42-41 victory over the Wildcats in Northwood despite trailing Riceville the majority of the game.

After a six-point Northwood-Kensett victory Jan. 12 against the Wildcats (4-15) in Riceville where the Wildcats led most of the way, Riceville nearly knocked off the Vikings once again.

Northwood-Kensett trailed 41-40 when senior Kate Hartman drew a blocking foul with 25 seconds to play and hit a pair of free throws to give the Vikings the victory. It was the first time Northwood-Kensett had a lead in the fourth quarter and the first since a two-point lead with 4:04 to play in the third quarter.

“We just looked rattled out there,” said Vikings head coach Daryl Love. “As well as we played Friday against North Butler, the No. 3 team in the state and had our chances to get that one and fell a little short, we were just about opposite of that.”

Northwood-Kensett lost by six to North Butler Friday but Tuesday’s game with Riceville bore no resemblance to that effort.

Love told his team before the game to put the game away early because he didn’t want to give the Wildcats any kind of confidence heading into the postseason where the two teams will meet in the first round of the Class 1A, Region 2 playoffs Feb. 11, but Northwood-Kensett wasn’t able to do that in a turnover-filled game.

Northwood-Kensett committed 19 turnovers, including two in the final minute when the Vikings trailed by one.

Hartman led Northwood-Kensett in the fourth quarter, scoring eight of her game-high 24 points. Six of her eight points came from the free throw line in the fourth and she scored 10 of her 24 points from the line for the game.

The Wildcats (4-15) limited Hartman’s role through the first three quarters by bracketing her with defenders. But the Vikings continued to look for Hartman in the post and it resulted in sloppy passes and quick turnovers that Riceville turned into points on the other end.

“We weren’t seeing the court very well tonight,” Love said. “We had open people, we didn’t see them. Made a lot of bad decisions when we should have pulled it out. We were trying to force it inside.”

The Wildcats despite their opportunities never grabbed more than a five-point lead at any point and suffered from poor shooting as well.

Riceville took a 20-17 lead at halftime and built it up to a five-point lead to start the fourth quarter.

Northwood-Kensett 42, Riceville 41

Riceville 10 10 17 7 — 41

Northwood-Kensett 12 5 15 10 — 42

Riceville scoring: Abby Swancutt 10, Victoria Christensen 9, Amanda Eggerichs 6, Brooke Foster 6, Jess Beran 4, Loralei Smith 4, Kelsey Reddel 2.

Northwood-Kensett scoring: Kate Hartman 24, Britney Low 11, Jami Dahlby 4, Kathy Porter 2.