Wildcats girls pull away with strong second half
Execution is the name of the game for the Newark girls basketball team, which host Reynoldsburg found out the hard way Tuesday night.
Newark, which starts four guards in an open-court offense, relies on crisp passing and ball movement to create open shots. When the Wildcats are on — and they usually are — it’s almost poetic watching them break down opponents.
“They was a discerning difference in the posture of the Reynoldsburg girls as the game went along, and that’s a testament to the way we
wore them down physically and mentally,” Newark coach J.R. Shumate after his team crushed the Raiders 53-30 in a nonleague game between unbeaten teams regarded among the area’s elite.
Morgan Sharps and Gabby Stare scored 16 points each as the Wildcats recovered from a slow start.
Pounding the offensive boards, Reynoldsburg (6-1) jumped ahead 6-0 before cold-shooting Newark hit its first basket more than three minutes in. The Raiders still led 13-10 at quarter’s end and seemed positioned to keep the game tight.
“We fall in love with the dribble and one-and-one stuff sometimes and that gets under my skin because we have so many that can make plays,” Shumate said. “Sometimes, it just takes a while for us to function offensively. We’re much better when we’re not giving up put-backs and shots inside because long rebounds and stops allow us to get down the floor into our flow quicker.”
Sharps hit three three-point shots in the second quarter to awaken Newark (5-0), which went unbeaten en route to the Division I state semifinals last season.
“We just had to take our time and slow things down to get in our motion offense and do what we do,” said Sharps, a junior Miami University commit. “It all works hand in hand. When we box out, backside rebound and defend better, it feeds on what we do. Coach got on us at halftime; we showed the kind of team we can be in the second half.”
Added Shumate, “When Morgan catches it in rhythm, she almost never misses.”
Once Newark expanded its 27-22 halftime lead to double digits, it was no contest.
“Our defense in the second half allowed us to make a lot of easy baskets and took a little bit of fight out of (the Raiders),” said Stare, who added five rebounds and four assists to her seasonhigh scoring night. “That’s a great win for us over a really good team, but we’ve got a lot more to improve on. That was far from a perfect game.”
Reynoldsburg, which was eliminated by Newark in a regional semifinal last March, managed only one basket from the middle of the third quarter on.
“When you get behind Newark, they spread it out and they’re practically unbeatable,” Raiders coach Jack Purtell said. “They create a lot of hard matchups with their length and athleticism, and almost all of them can shoot.” Quinton Johnson scored all of his 15 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, helping Briggs (2-0, 1-0) beat West (0-3, 0-1) in a back-and-forth City League South Division game. Xavier Jennings scored 17 of his game-high 24 points in a 20-5 first quarter for Briggs. West countered with an 18-0 second period to take command. Briggs had the final surge as Jennings scored eight points in overtime. Tre’ohn Watkins scored 22 of his game-high 26 points in the middle quarters and host South (3-0, 1-0) went on to beat Walnut Ridge (0-4, 0-1) in City South play. The Bulldogs went 17 of 21 from the free-throw line. Von Cameron Davis had 21 points and Roshawn Reaves 18 for the Scots. Faizon Tucker scored 12 of his game-high 23 points in the second quarter and Josh Corbin scored 13 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter to help Gahanna (3-1) for a nonleague win over Whitehall (2-1). Corbin hit three threepointers in the final period. Elijah Thomas added 20 points for the Lions.
Cade Dent scored 16 points and Ready (4-0) held on for a nonleague win at Central Crossing (2-2). Chanc Dawson and Brady Stewart added 14 points each for the Silver Knights. Mike Woods led Central Crossing with 20 points.
Four players scored between nine and 12 points for host Big Walnut (3-1), which downed Hamilton Township (2-2) in a nonleague game. Jordan Koebel had 12 points to pace the Eagles, who took control with an 18-9 second quarter.