GAME PHOTOS: http://smu.gs/1CJ6Pf6
As the Black Knights took the court for their home opener last week, there were lots of questions. Two starters hadn’t played last year. Underclassmen would be asked to fill major roles on a 12-girl roster. The team’s tallest player stands 5 feet 8 inches.
How does Newbury overcome?
After the team’s 43-32 win over Cardinal, they can answer all questions with one word: toughness.
“Newbury is a scrappy team. They always come in here and they have a way of getting under our skin,” said Cardinal coach Luke Kruse.
“Defensively I was really impressed,” said Newbury coach Carla Richardson after the game. “That was something we worked on since Day One. With the height difficulties, I thought our boxing out and rebounding was great.”
It took a team effort for Newbury to keep Cardinal off the boards.
Starters Haley Adams and Kathryn Dhayer, along with super sub Emily Kruse, posed significant challenges to the undersized Black Knights.
Dhayer blocked the first three Newbury shots, finishing with eight blocks in the game. She’s had this success every time she’s played; of this game-high number, she said, “I see a shot, go up and try for it.”
But junior Cary Morin, the tallest of Black Knights, got to the basketball amongst the trees.
“Cary grew up a lot in the last two weeks,” Richardson said. “Last year she would have been sitting on the bench in foul trouble.”
Morin agreed.
“I get really angry, and I felt like I held that back tonight,” she said. “I felt like I was posting up really well, and even our guards can post up, too.”
Morin and senior Nicole Iden have the potential to be the first two in Newbury’s Big 3. Iden finished with a game-high 15; Morin added 12.
Iden said of the relationship: “Me and Cary are intense players, so sometimes we clash. But when we work together it’s really good because we feed off each other. It brings our game to a whole new level.”
“They compliment each other very well,” their coach said. “That’s what I keep explaining to the other girls.”
Iden took advantage of Cardinal’s foul trouble, distributing the basketball and scoring big baskets. Her scoring was balanced between both halves.
“For the first game, it was a lot better than I expected,” Iden said of her team’s performance. “I’m just really pumped. I think that’s my first 1-0 start in my high school career.”
Newbury’s Crystal Modic and Keona Marker both hit big 3-pointers in the second half. Ashley Wakeley, who scored six points, was impressive after taking last year off. And sophomore PG Hannah Lewandoski handled the Huskies’ pressure very well.
“I was a bit nervous,” Lewandoski said of the start. “But I think we were ready mentally today, which was good for us.”
Richardson sees opportunities for the rest of the team when opponents focus on Iden and Morin.
“I tell them all, if they are the focus, you’ll get opportunities,” the coach said.
It was a disappointing loss for Cardinal. Despite a surge in the third quarter, the team seemed to lack energy when Newbury would answer. Despite pulling the score to 23-21 in the second half, the team shot just 33 percent from the free throw line and missed lots of layups.
“We need to make our shots,” Dhayer said. “We talked about how we need to play hard, hustle back.”
Senior Jess Koches and Haley Adams wound up on the bench most of the first half in foul trouble. “But ultimately we don’t have time to feel sorry for ourselves,” said Kruse. “These girls have a rivalry going back to rec league, and it’s still going strong.”
He added: “We shot ourselves in the foot. We missed a lot of layups, a lot of free throws, and we made a lot of turnovers. If you do two of those three things you won’t win, and we did all three.”
Senior guard Cheyenne Polverine’s defense sparked the Huskies’ first half.
She said after the game the team talked about its mistakes.
“We didn’t make all the open shots we should have,” she said. “There are little things we need to improve on.”
The Huskies’ scoring was balanced. Senior Lexy Fenslon led the way with eight points; Emily Kruse added seven; Adams had six; and Koches had five.
Cardinal was gunning for Newbury based on history from a year ago. Newbury left the Chagrin Valley Conference for the Northeast Athletic Conference, so this is the only time this year that the two teams will play, giving the Black Knights a year’s worth of bragging rights.
GAME PHOTOS: http://smu.gs/1CJ6Pf6