PCM girls outlast Newton in non-conference affair

MONROE — Coming into its non-conference game against Newton on Monday, the PCM girls basketball team was 1-6 in games decided by single digits this season.

And the Mustangs were losers of six in a row in those games after winning its season opener by nine points.

PCM found itself in another barn burner against the Cardinals, and this time, the Mustangs found a way to win despite shooting 36 percent from the floor and missing eight free throws.

Newton rallied from a six-point hole after three quarters to take a small lead in the fourth, but PCM finished the contest on a 13-2 run and downed the Cardinals 48-41.

“We needed one of these close ones. That was a good game,” PCM head girls basketball coach Sami Allison-Rodriguez said. “Hats off to Newton. They came to battle. We have been in so many of these kind of games and needed one to go our way.”

Both teams battled foul trouble. There were 43 fouls called in the game after the same officiating crew called 51 in the junior varsity game.

The Cardinals already were mostly without second-leading scorer Audrey Rausch because of a nagging leg injury.

But top scorer Sophia Reynolds picked up her fourth foul with 3:31 to go in the third and then fouled out with 1:13 left.

The Cardinals led 29-28 when Reynolds went to the bench in the third, but PCM scored nine straight to end the frame.

Reynolds returned to the floor in the fourth and scored 10 of her 18 points to push her squad back in front.

Newton scored the first 10 points of the fourth to go up 39-35 and Reynolds made 4-of-4 from the free-throw line and hit back-to-back shots from the floor to give the Cardinals the four-point lead.

Addison Steenhoek, who picked up her fourth foul with 3:53 to play in the fourth, hit a runner with 4:05 left and then connected on 3-of-4 from the foul line in the final 1:13 to close out the win.

Steenhoek wasn’t concerned about the Mustangs giving up the lead in the fourth. She finished with 18 points and three assists in the win.

“Games are called differently, but we just tried to play to their tendencies and play smart,” Steenhoek said. “We knew what we needed to do. We still had time on the clock and we practice those situations. (Allison-Rodriguez) knows how to keep us contained and not melt under pressure.”

After Reynolds made a pair of free throws with 3:53 left, Tori Lindsay answered with a layup, two freebies and a jumper to put PCM in front 43-41.

Reynolds then missed a layup at the other end of the floor with less than two minutes to play before fouling out 40 seconds later.

The Cardinals made only 24.5 percent of their shots and had a tough fourth frame with shots inside the lane.

“We were 3-of-14 from the floor in the fourth. Most of those were inside the lane,” Newton head girls basketball coach Eric Vander Velden said.

The only points scored after Reynolds fouled out were the five free throws Steenhoek and Lindsay combined for.

Newton also turned the ball over on back-to-back possessions late in the game and committed 19 turnovers in the loss.

“This is a good week to get back on track and this was the start we needed,” Allison-Rodriguez said.

The two teams played a competitive first half. Newton led 8-7 after one. Alex Garvis and Paige Steenhoek exchanged 3-pointers to keep the game even at 5-all.

Then Hailey Dickerson answered a jumper by Elle Davis with a trey to put the Cardinals in front after 8 minutes.

Both Cadie Horn and Lindsay had two fouls after one quarter and Madie Reed and Reynolds committed their second fouls early in the second.

Emily Wermager picked her second and third fouls two seconds apart in the frame after scoring her only four points earlier in the period.

Still, Newton had leads of 15-10 and 17-13 before PCM rallied to draw even.

“Every game is different with officiating. They call it differently,” Vander Velden said. “They called it consistently tonight. They called 43 fouls in the varsity game and 51 in the JV. We talked about it before the game. There were a few judgment calls that could have gone either way, but that stuff happens.”

Horn and Lindsay both got their third fouls early in the third and Alex Riney was whistled for her third and fourth fouls in the span of a few seconds.

When Reynolds was on the floor, Newton was competitive. She hit a pull-up jumper and converted a layup to put the Cardinals in front 26-24 and a 3-point play by Dickerson extended the advantage to 29-26.

That’s when PCM took over. The 9-0 run to end the third featured a layup by Addison Steenhoek, a 3 by Paige Steenhoek and back-to-back buckets by Sophia Steenhoek.

Newton rallied in the fourth behind Reynolds, but PCM’s late run was too much for the Cardinals to overcome.

“Reynolds is a good basketball player. She plays hard and leads them well,” Allison-Rodriguez said. “To get this win, I feel happy for our kids. Even when they did make a run, we stuck with it. I’m really proud of our kids for finding a way.”

The victory snapped PCM’s six-game losing streak. Paige Steenhoek finished with 10 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and five steals and Lindsay totaled 10 points, eight rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Sophia Steenhoek registered six points and four boards, Reed tallied seven rebounds, two assists and two blocks, Evelyn Burkett swiped two steals and Davis pulled down two rebounds.

The Mustangs (6-9) connected on 4-of-18 from 3 and hit 8-of-16 from the line. They also committed 19 turnovers.

“We knew we had to come to work this week,” Addison Steenhoek said. “We have a couple of conference games we want to get Ws in, too. This was just the start and we want to use this momentum to carry us the rest of the week.”

Reynolds led Newton (3-9) with 18 points, six rebounds and two steals, Dickerson had seven points, six rebounds and two steals and Garvis finished with seven points and seven boards.

Horn tallied four points, six rebounds and four blocks, Riney added two assists and two steals and Wermager scored four points.

The Cardinals, who have lost five in a row, were 15-of-20 from the foul line and made only 2-of-13 from 3.

“At one point we had five sophomores on the floor,” Vander Velden said. “It was challenging with all the fouls. Different people had to step into different roles. I saw some emotion in the locker room though. They care. It’s good to see positive attitudes.

“Sophia needs to stay out of foul trouble, but Riley Plowman and Alex Riney stepped up for us. We are actually playing like a team right now. We are communicating with each other on and off the floor, and we wouldn’t have done that earlier this year.”

Notes: Newton’s junior varsity team lost 43-42 to PCM earlier in the night. There were 51 fouls called in the game and the contest came down to free throws. The Cardinals hit 13-of-43 from the foul line and PCM made 6-of-31, but the Mustangs made more in the final few minutes. Tori White led Newton with 16 points, while Bella Winther put in 13. PCM was led by Rebecca DeVries’ 12 points.