"Together" is usually the word used by the Newton girls basketball team when it breaks a huddle.

And "together" was how it sent its seniors out on Thursday night.

Eight Cardinals recorded points and helped keep Knoxville at bay during a 51-39 Senior Night victory that ensured the team's seven seniors finished their home careers on top.

"We knew it would be a much different Knoxville team than what we saw the first time," Newton coach Brandon Sharp said. "They've been playing fairly well and I knew it would be a dogfight, so it was nice to see us play the way we did."

The crowd was fired up from the very start as Sharp trotted out a slightly different starting lineupthan usual for the game. Among the new starters were seniors Amanda Richtsmeier and Micaela Sciarrotta, the later of which scored the Cardinals’ (8-12, 3-8 Little Hawkeye Conference) first basket of the night and got the crowd on its feet. Even with the strong start, however, Newton actually trailed 12-11 after the first quarter.

“Those two seniors have been with the program all four years, so they deserve as much recognition as anybody else,” Sharp said of Richtsmeier and Sciarrotta. “I wanted to make sure to give something back to them.”

Newton made what turned out to be a decisive run at the beginning of the second when senior Michelle Marquis knocked down a 3-pointer and fellow senior Kristin Samson scored on back-to-back steals to give the Cards a 17-12 lead that they wouldn’t surrender for the rest of the game. A basket from sophomore Sarah Kalkhoff and two late free throws from senior Kaylie Rhoads put the Cards up 23-16 at halftime.