Chargers come out strong, shock Cards in OT
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| Newton basketball players (from left) Collin Reynolds, Brian Rose and Tyler Wood chase after the ball against Chariton’s Shawn Kearney in the third quarter of the Cardinals’ 62-61 overtime loss to the Chargers Monday night. (Shane Lucas/Daily News) |
After Newton senior Brian Rose drilled a deep 3-pointer at the buzzer to send the game into overtime Monday night, there was an overwhelming feeling in the gym that there was no way the Newton boys basketball team could lose.
That feeling wasn’t mutual for Chariton, however.
Despite blowing a double-digit lead earlier in the game, the Chargers overcame Rose’s late-game heroics and an overtime deficit to stun the Cardinals (8-8, 4-7 Little Hawkeye Conference) with a 62-61 loss.
“When you don’t come ready to play, that’s what happens,” Newton coach Nick Wilkins said. “It doesn’t matter what their record is, and they didn’t drive all the way up here just to roll over. I feel like this is the first time in a long time where the other team just wanted it more than us.”
The first half was just a blur of Charger red as Chariton came out of the gate running. Newton held tough behind five early points from Rose and kept pace throughout the quarter, but a late three-point play by Alex Wright swung some momentum towards the Chargers going into the second, where the game took a turn.
It was in the second that four different Chargers hit three-pointers and Newton suddenly couldn’t buy a basket. Besides an early three from Rose and a basket down low by junior Collin Reynolds, they Cards were held scoreless until two late free throws by Shamus Baltisberger sent the game to halftime with Newton trailing by nine.
“They dribbled wherever they wanted to. Sometimes it was like we weren’t even guarding them, and that’s how they got so many open shots,” Wilkins said. “When you let teams get a piece of the paint, they’re getting into the heart of the defense. And when you give high school players open shots, they’re going to make more than they miss.”
Chariton senior Shawn Kearney opened the second half with a trey, but an old-fashioned three-point play by Baltisberger on the other end sparked a 9-2 run that got the Cards back within five. That’s when freshman Tyler Wood stepped in and hit back-to-back threes to cap a 19-point quarter by Newton and stick the score at 40-39 in favor of the Chargers.
Although it was the highest-scoring quarter of the game by either team, Wilkins largely gave credit to the defense making big stops on the other end and producing those points.
“I think it started with Andrew (Clements) playing defense up front. He picked up his energy and I think that led to other guys picking up theirs,” Wilkins said. “Offensively we were OK, but it all starts with our defense.”
Turnovers began to piling up for Newton in the fourth, allowing Chariton a little bit of breathing room down the stretch. The Chargers were in control until around the 40-second mark when Baltisberger and Rose connected on an alley-oop layup and Baltisberger converted the play despite taking a hard foul.
The basket rejuvenated the Newton crowd and after Baltisberger hit the ensuing layup, and then a floater the next time down the court, the Cards were putting some major pressure on Chariton down just one point.
“We’ve run that play a few times this year, but really have only been executing it as of late,” Wilkins said. “We haven’t really run it that well, but that worked out really well.”
Chariton took care of business from the free-throw line by 4-for-5 in the final minute. That one miss came into play, however, when Rose sent the game into overtime with a beyond-NBA-range three at the buzzer. Although the play was actually designed for Wood, it broke down and forced Rose to heave up the desperation shot that fell in pure, barely even touching the rim.
“It wasn’t exactly what we drew up, obviously,” Wilkins said. “We were planning on using Rose as a decoy because we knew they would be all over him, so it didn’t work out they way we wanted, but the shot still fell.”’
All was going to plan in overtime when a steal and coast-to-coast layup by Clements put the Cards up by three. But turnovers again reared their ugly head and Chariton was able to close out the game with the eventual game-winning bucket from Kearney. Newton had a look near the buzzer again, but the shot didn’t find the bottom of the net this time around.
“We had plenty of chances to close it out in overtime, and down the stretch in the fourth as well,” Wilkins said. “We’ve shot well from the free-throw line all year, but it was just one of those nights where the ball just doesn’t bounce your way.”
Newton will have to forget this loss quickly and focus on its Little Hawkeye Conference finale when Grinnell comes to town on Friday. Although three home non-conference games remain on the schedule after that, a revenge win over the Tigers could be just what the Cards need to get on track for the postseason.
“We should have motivation and come out wanting to win for every game,” Wilkins said. “But Friday is Senior Night and we can make some things happen to end the conference season, but we have to play better than we did tonight, that’s for sure.”
Chariton 62, Newton 61 (OT)
Score by quarter
C — 14 15 11 16 6 — 62
N — 13 7 19 17 5 — 61
Individual scorers
C — Kearney 14, Laing 12, Wright 10, Folkerts 6, Pierschbacher 6, Cunningham 5, Burlin 4, Curnette 3, Mosbach 3
N — Baltisberger 20, Rose 17, Nilles 9, Wood 6, Reynolds 5, Clements 4
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