Newton to face
Bishop Carroll
Thursday
By Mark Schnabel
Newton Kansan
After a pair of narrow wins in sub-state play, the Newton High School girls’ basketball team is back in Class 5A state play, set to face Bishop Carroll at 4:45 p.m. at the Topeka Expocentre.
Newton enters play 17-5, reaching state with a 60-59 overtime win over Emporia.
Newton is at state for the first time since 2007.
“There are things that we have to get better at, but overall, we’re playing pretty good basketball,” Newton coach Randy Jordan said. “When you’re scoring 60 points, you’re doing something right. We’ve had to make some changes offensively and defensive as we’ve gone along this season, mainly adapting to where Kate (Lehman)’s at with her game. She’s really come along this year and improved. That’s opened up a wide variety of things we can do offensively. We’ve been able to change defenses with her at the baseline.”
Lehman leads the Railers with 15.8 points per game, 10.6 rebounds a game and 5.5 blocks a game. She had 34 points, 34 rebounds and 18 blocked shots in her two sub-state games.
Avery Vogts averages 10.2 points and 4.8 rebounds a game. Laci McCartney averages 7.6 points, 3.4 assists and 3.0 rebounds a game. Senior Arin McMullen scored 20 points for the Railers in sub-state play.
“The thing about this team, there’s not just one superstar player,” Jordan said. “They all have their roles and know their roles. They love their roles.”
Bishop Carroll enters the game as the fourth seed with a 20-2 record. Carroll and Newton last met two years ago with the Eagles winning 55-37 in the semifinals of the Newton Invitational. They last met in state play in 2006, with the Railers winning 45-44 in the state semifinals. The Railers would go on to win the state title.
Carroll is led by Nicole Walden at 11.55 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.09 assists a game. Julie Sooter averaged 9.5 points, 4.55 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. Kathleen Duling averages 8.95 points, 2.0 rebounds and 3.23 assists per game. Cathy Brugman averages 8.81 points, 4.48 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game.
Carroll is averaging 62.6 points a game, and giving up just 33.5. The Golden Eagles also average 25.4 rebounds while giving up just 12.4. Both Carroll losses came against Wichita Heights, the Wichita City League champion.
“They’re very methodical on offense,” Jordan said. “I watched them on video last night. They are very good on dribble-drive. They like to dribble-weave, dribble-drive, until they can turn the corner and get a layup or get hand checked. I think the key with Bishop Carroll is don’t play into their hand, don’t play into their strengths. Make them uncomfortable. We’re going to try and do some things to put pressure on them. They want you as their opponent to take low percentage shots. They are going to give you the three. Against Andover (a 50-44 sub-state final win), they let girls stand there wide open for three or four seconds at a time, saying basically, ‘Go ahead and shoot it.’ ”
Jordan said Newton will have to take high-quality shots against Carroll and try to get the Eagles out of a match-up zone.
If Newton gets by Carroll, the Railers will play either top-seeded Andover Central (22-0) or Shawnee Heights (9-12). Central is led by NCAA Division I signee Tiffany Bias, averaging 20.5 points a game. Jordan said the Jaguars lost guard Camille Gee to an injury in sub-state. Newton saw Andover Central at the Newton Invitational, but the two teams didn’t meet.
While Shawnee Heights has a losing record, the Thunderbirds are on a five-game winning streak and come out of the Centennial League, which features several ranked Class 5A and 6A teams.
“At the Expocentre, the rim gets a lot smaller,” Jordan said. “With Bias, you have to keep in front of her as much as you can. Her teammates know when she’s ready to step back and shoot it. They are good at crashing the offensive boards. They have a good idea when Bias is going to shoot it. You have to rebound against them if you want to keep them from scoring. She can take control of a game at any time. She contributes a lot.
“Shawnee Heights has all their girls healthy and are playing very well. They were the dark horse coming into sub-state. You can’t underestimate them. They are certainly a good team.”
On the other side of the bracket is St. Thomas Aquinas (21-1), Topeka Seaman (16-6), McPherson (20-2) and Bishop Miege (16-6). Newton played McPherson twice this season, dropping both games (42-31 and 54-45). Newton lost to Bishop Miege 51-40 in the semifinals of the Newton Invitational. Miege is the defending state champion.
In the first McPherson loss, the Bullpups jumped to a 15-8 first quarter lead, keeping the Railers at arm’s length the rest of the game. McPherson made a 23-8 third-quarter run in the second meeting, with McPherson pulling away midway in the third quarter. Against Miege, the game was tied after three quarters. Newton led with 6:16 remaining, but gave up a 22-9 run.
“Aquinas is deep,” Jordan said. “They play very good defense. They have size. McPherson, we know them. Miege has size and can shoot the ball. They run their offense so they can break you down and get a good shot. We were disappointed with the second McPherson loss. We had the wrong girl taking the ball out on a play, we gave up the ball and they took advantage.”
Jordan said the Railers are entering state play healthy. The Railers have had a few players miss games early in the season due to illness, but haven’t had many injuries this year.
“It’s a matter of survival to play three games in a row like that,” Jordan said. “Coaches who have been successful at the state tournament have always told me three things have to happen — you have to be healthy, you have to be playing your best basketball and you have to be lucky.”
