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BERWICK &#8212; Fueled by tears that tortured them for a whole year, the Northwest Rangers made a firm vow.Not this year.And not if Brenna Babcock can help it.Babcock scored 22 points &#8212; exactly half of Northwest&#8217;s total &#8212; and the Rangers forced 15 turnovers in the first half to rebound from getting bounced in last year&#8217;s District 2 Class 2A semifinals. This time they beat Mountain View, 46-36, in Friday&#8217;s semis to reach what is believed to be the team&#8217;s first girls basketball district title game since the school joined District 2 in 1985.&#8220;It means so much,&#8221; said Babcock, a junior and three-year Northwest starter. &#8220;We&#8217;ve been working so hard for this.&#8220;It was devastating last year when we lost, because we expected to win.&#8221;New year, new result.The Rangers were in the exact same situation a year ago &#8212; holding the bracket&#8217;s top seed and coming off a first-round bye into the semifinals &#8212; when they were upended by eventual district champ Old Forge, 49-44.With one demon driven away, the Rangers will get a chance to banish another. They&#8217;ll meet Old Forge again at 4 p.m. next Friday in the District 2 Class 2A title game, after Old Forge pulled away at the end from Wyoming Seminary, 58-48 in another District 2 semifinal game.&#8220;They&#8217;re really excited to play next Friday,&#8221; Northwest coach Scott Miner, who guided the team from 1992 through 1995 before returning this season, said of his Rangers. &#8220;It&#8217;s another step for them from where they were last year.&#8221;Almost immediately, Babcock stepped up.She scored seven points in the opening quarter and helped trigger an 11-point run that carried the Rangers to a 15-6 lead after a quarter.Babcock hit seven more points in the second quarter as Northwest doubled Mountain View&#8217;s output by halftime, 28-14. And Babcock&#8217;s layup to open the second half gave her 16 points, meaning she out-scored the Eagles by herself at that point.&#8220;I just try to do whatever I can do to win,&#8221; said Babcock, Northwest&#8217;s leading scorer. &#8220;If that means scoring a lot, that&#8217;s what I&#8217;ll do. But I also try to pass to my teammates.&#8221;Northwest couldn&#8217;t pass up an opportunity to press, and it worked well against the significantly-taller Eagles.Northwest forced eight turnovers in the first quarter, seven more in the second and created 21 turnover for the game &#8212; including four steals by Regan Harrison.&#8220;We talked all week about extending our pressure into the full court,&#8221; Miner said, &#8220;so they couldn&#8217;t get comfortable in the half court.&#8221;Mountain View seemed to settle in during the second half, as a pair of 3-pointers from Erika Freely cut Northwest&#8217;s lead to 10 points in the third quarter and five points by Sydney Newhart made it a nine-point game with 3:09 to play.But Babcock put together a big finish with six more points in the final quarter, including a blocked shot on an Eagles breakaway that she turned into a layup at the other end for a 12-point lead with 94 seconds on the clock.&#8220;Pretty much, everyone wanted this game,&#8221; Babcock said. &#8220;We tried to keep ball pressure on them the entire game and tried to press them constantly.&#8220;We kept them on their toes.&#8221;District 2 Class 2A SemifinalsNorthwest 46, Mountain View 36MOUNTAIN VIEW (36) &#8212; Erika Freely 3 3-4 12, Sydney Newhart 3 0-0 7, Makenzie Bell 2 2-2 6, Samantha Jones 2 0-2 4, Lucy Adams 1 2-3 4, Regan Cameron 0 0-0 0, Devon Burney 1 0-0 2, Holly O&#8217;Brien 0 1-2 1. Totals 12 8-13 36.NORTHWEST (46) &#8212; Jordan Harrison 3 0-0 6, Trista Babcock 0 3-4 3, Brenna Babcock 7 7-14 22, Regan Harrison 5 0-1 10, Danielle Bowman 1 0-0 2, Tess Edwards 1 1-2 3, Kendra Saxton 0 0-0 0, Maddie Mclendon 0 0-0 0, Halie Taylor 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 11-21 46.Mountain View`6`8`10`12 &#8212; 36Northwest`15`13`10`8 &#8212; 46Three-point goals &#8212; MV 4 (Freely 3, Newhart); NW 1 (B. Babcock).<style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Paul Sokoloskipsokoloski@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Paul Sokoloski at 570-991-6392 or on Twitter @TLPaulSokoloski</shirttailMeta></div>

D2 basketball: Babcock’s 22 points send Northwest into first girls title game