Cardinals win OT thriller against Perry

No Fear.

With her team down by one point with less than a minute remaining in overtime, junior Jerrica McGuire drove right down the lane and scored. It put Newton High’s Cardinals up 76-75 with 29 seconds on the clock.

McGuire pulled a defensive rebound then was fouled. She sank both attempts to push the Cardinal lead to 78-75 over visiting Perry.

But Perry had senior Molly Lutmer, who had already hit five 3-pointers in the game. Lutmer did score but it was just a basket with eight seconds left.

Newton junior Chassidy Henwood, who it the tying free throw with 14.8 seconds in regulation, walked to the free-throw line again. She sank her first attempt but the second one was off.

Newton led 79-77 with 2.4 seconds left. A long 3-pointer was off the mark.

The Cardinals claimed their first win of the season.

Henwood finished with 23 points for Newton. Lutmer fired in 38 points. Both totals were career-highs for the players.

“I usually am nervous but I knew it was down to this and I stepped up there and hit that one,” Henwood said. “I just wanted to do all I could to help the team win.”

Henwood did whatever it took. The guard had a double-double with 16 rebounds to go with her point total. She dished out five assists and made three steals.

“This was about team and all team. There was no I out there for us tonight,” Newton head coach Eric Vander Velden said after the players gave him his first career win.

“Chassidy was everywhere for us. Brooklyn Cupples did a great job defensively on the Lutmer girl. Lutmer was going to get her shots but we limited her in the fourth quarter and overtime.”

Lutmer had 25 points going into the fourth quarter. She increased her total to 34 by the end of regulation. She only had four points in the extra period — two free throws and that final basket for Perry.

Newton used a 13-6 run in the final three minutes of the first quarter to claim a 19-12 lead. Sophomore Aurora Nehring triggered the run with a basket to get an 8-6 lead.

Henwood had a steal and layup followed by a basket by Nehring. Nehring fired in 12 points in the game, had four rebounds and three blocked shots.

Newton had four players score in double figures. McGuire and senior Mackenzie Baker came off the bench to toss in 11 points each.

Perry had nine 3-pointers in the game — five by Lutmer. Hannah Peterson hit a trey to make it 14-10 which was answered by a 3-poiner from freshman Audrey Rausch. Baker got her second basket of the night.

The Cardinals stayed in front until Lutmer drained a 3-pointer with 3:19 left in the second quarter to tie the game at 25-25.

Perry was able to move out to a 31-28 halftime lead. No lead was comfortable for either team.

Newton was able to rally for a 38-38 tie by the 4:30 mark of the third quarter. A putback by Baker make it 40-40 then she scored a go-ahead basket.

Lutmer took control with 10 points in the final three minutes. Perry was up 50-44 heading into the fourth period.

Back came the Cardinals as they outscored Perry 27-21 in the final eight minutes of regulation. Cupples hit a big 3-pointer followed by a steal which led to a basket by junior Victoria Reynolds.

Newton was down 53-51. Henwood had three straight buckets to keep the game tied — 57-57 with 4:40 remaining.

A trey by Lydia Olejniczak gave Perry a 64-61 advantage. She nailed another one two minutes later to push Perry’s lead to 69-65.

Henwood drained a trey with 1:54 left to pull the Cardinals to within one again. Perry missed on a one-and-one situation at the line.

Nehring scored and was fouled but missed the free throw to ti at 71-70.

Newton came up with a loose ball which led to Henwood driving to the basket. She was fouled and hit one of two attempts with 14.8 seconds left.

Henwood tied the ball up and the possession arrow wasin Newton’s favor. The Cardinals had an opportunity to win in regulation but couldn’t get the shot to fall.

Nehring put the Cardinals in front 73-71 with 2:53 left in the 4-minute overtime period. Henwood hit a free throw and the Cardinals led by three.

A basket by Olejniczak and two free throws by Lutmer got Perry the lead,75-74, with 46.3 seconds left.

Then came the drive down the lane by McGurie. The Cardinals put the finishing touches on the victory.

“Again the girls gave us great effort tonight. They kept working and it paid off at the end,” Vander Velden said.

McGuire had nine rebounds and two steals. Cupples ended up with nine points and Reynolds had six.

Senior Liv Whitten scored four points and Rausch had three points.

Jayna Kenney ended up with 18 points for Perry. Olejniczak had 14 points.

Newton also won the junior varsity game Tuesday, 33-18. The Cardinals led 11-0 after the first quarter and 18-6 at halftime.

Emma Rogers led Newton with 11 points. Madi Altemeier added six points.

Trenity Conley and Alyssa Shannon had four points apiece. Kealey Manning and Jazlynn Copper had three points each. Rausch had two points.

Newton (1-1) hosts Chariton at 6:15 p.m. on Dec. 3.

“I like where we are at going into Thanksgiving break,” Vander Velden said. “We’ll get ready for Chariton on Monday.”

Contact Jocelyn Sheets at
641-792-3121 ext. 6535
or jsheets@newtondailynews.com