Novas ready to finish the job
Confidence is high headed into final
ASHWAUBENON - Finish. That might as well be Milwaukee Academy of Science’s theme.
The Novas trailed for most of their sectional final last week before winning the game in the final minute. Friday they fought off a furious rally by the state’s top-ranked team to score a victory in the WIAA Division 5 state semifinals.
Their 51-47 victory over previously undefeated Clayton sets them up for a date with Loyal (24-4) in the state championship game at 11:05 a.m. Saturday.
If the rest of the team is like junior guard Tamarra Pugh Torres, Academy of Science will take the floor with confidence.
“A lot of people doubted us and said we were going to lose to this team or that team. No, we’re going to be No. 1,” she said. “This whole week we’ve been putting in work, morning practices, late-night practices. And yes, we’re going to get this golden ball and take it with pride.”
The Novas (23-4) will be tough to beat if they bring some of the elements to the floor Saturday that they did Friday.
It started with sophomore Shemera Williams. The 5-foot-9 guard finished with 33 points, eight rebounds and six blocks and in the final minute she sank 4 of 6 free throws to help the team keep at least a two-possession lead.
And after a slow start, the team tightened up defensively, controlled the boards in the second half and sank 14 of 17 free throws.
“The morning game was definitely a factor for part of the first half, but once they got into a rhythm their defense kicked in,” MAS co-head coach Beth Gotstein said. “They were talking really well and we just got to play our game. They ran the floor, looked for those good passes and got the shots that we wanted.”
MAS never led in the first half and had its largest deficit, seven points, with 21⁄2 minutes left, but Williams closed the half with seven unanswered points to tie the game.
The Novas took control 5 minutes into the second half with a 16-2 run that gave them a 42-28 lead with 8 minutes 12 seconds to play. Williams had 11 points during the run, starting the stretch with a step-back three-pointer and ending it with a beyond-college-range three to push the lead to 14.
The other points during that run for MAS came off steals and layups by Pugh Torres.
Momentum had shifted the Novas’ way.
“Early in the game, we were taking care of the basketball. We were boxing out, and when you’re boxing out athletes of this caliber, it’s very hard to keep them off the entire game and that is where they made their run,” Clayton coach Kevin Fall said.
The Bears charged back, though.
Sophomore forward Alison Leslie scored 15 of her teamhigh 20 points in the second half. Eight of those came after the team got down by 14. Her putback with 78 seconds left cut the Academy of Science lead to 4742.
Clayton cut it to one possession. Williams closed the game with two free throws with 59.3 seconds left and hit the front end of the bonus at 4.9 and 14.4 seconds to close out the school’s first state tournament victory.
Next up is Loyal, which finished the regular season ranked ninth in the Associated Press poll, one spot ahead of MAS.
Williams plans to take the floor with the same approach she did Friday.
“They were a good team,” she said, “but we had to come and show we were the better team.”
Loyal 44, Bangor 24: Karsyn Rueth had 11 points and nine rebounds for the Greyhounds.