Rhoads, Cardinals slip past Panthers, 37-35
Comments (...)KNOXVILLE — If the Newton girls basketball team keeps up its recent trend of winning games at the last second, the nickname “Cardiac Cardinals” will likely be in order.
Junior Kaylie Rhoads hit a game-winning jumper with 26.7 seconds on the clock, capping a late fourth-quarter rally to give the Cards a 37-35 victory and a season sweep of Knoxville in the process.
“I made a comment to the girls that when it came down to it, I didn’t care how we did it as long as we were one point better than them,” Newton coach Brandon Sharp said. “I’m extremely proud of the effort and perseverance we had tonight. We’re still learning how to win games, and it’s definitely a process, but we’re on our way and we’ll be better from this.”
The Cardinals (5-13, 4-7 Little Hawkeye Conference) trailed by as many five points in the fourth after holding leads throughout the first half and the third quarter. After Newton held the ball for about 35 seconds to burn some time off the clock, Rhoads, who had six of the team’s eight points in the final frame, pulled up from just inside the 3-point line and found nothing but net.
“I was planning on driving, but it wasn’t open,” Rhoads said. “Then I was looking to pass off, but my girl sagged off of me, so I just saw the hoop and shot. I just put it in, didn’t even think about it.”
After an illegal screen by Knoxville on its ensuing possession, the Panthers got one more look at a potential game winner, which senior Hannah Rosencranz left just short as it clanged off the front of the rim and set off the second Cardinal road victory celebration in as many games.
“I just wanted time to run down. Even if it went into overtime, I really felt that we had some momentum we could carry into it,” Sharp said. “But we’ve had some girls lately that have knocked down some big shots, so we wanted to play into that too. I wanted something closer to the basket, but I can’t fault (Rhoads) for having the confidence to shoot it.”
Things weren’t looking good out of the gate, as Newton trailed 9-5 after the first quarter. Junior Michelle Marquis got the night started with a three, but the Cards went cold until a later basket from junior Anna Latcham.
Things quickly changed in the second, however, when Newton outscored an incresingly-cold Knoxville 12-2 and carried a 17-11 lead into halftime.
“We were very undisciplined on the offensive end in the first quarter,” Sharp said. “We settled for shots a lot, but in the second quarter we got the shots we were looking for.”
That lead would slowly slip away in the third when Rosencranz caught fire shooting from the outside. A Knoxville rally was slowed by members of Newton’s “Bomb Squad” midway through, but a three-point play by Meredith Cunningham in the closing seconds left Newton’s lead sitting at just one point.
“This one feels good because it was a total team effort,” Rhoads said. “It felt good when we would be up and then get down, just getting that comeback.”
Knoxville then fired off a 7-0 to start the fourth quarter before Rhoads ended that with a steal and a coast-to-coast layup before adding another two from an offensive rebound and assist from sophomore Michaela Bleeker. After a few minutes of staunch defense, Newton tied it back up on a daring full-court inbounds pass that junior Kristin Samson found for a wide-open layup that caused the Cardinal fans to explode.
The stage was then set for Rhoads’ shot after Newton held the ball starting with around one minute left and Knoxville stayed cold from its most recent slump. In addition to being Newton’s fifth win in five games, the game also showed the Cards’ new ability to pull games out in the clutch, which was something that was missing earlier this season.
“Before, we didn’t really know how to win and when it came to the end we would panic,” Rhoads said. “Now we know how to take care of the ball and we’ve played more together, so we all know what the others are thinking.”
The Cards will get a non-conference tuneup on Tuesday when they host Nevada before ending their regular season with a home doubleheader against Grinnell.
Newton 37, Knoxville 35
Score by quarter
N — 5 12 12 8 — 37
K — 9 2 17 7 — 35
Individual scorers
N – Rhoads 11, Samson 11, Marquis 7, Bleeker 4, Latcham 2, Mount 2
K – Rosencranz 12, Meredith Cunningham 10, Hawkshead 5, Carter 4, Katie Cunningham 4
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