Newark Foundation Games a test for Wildcats, defending LCL champions
NEWARK ― Tuesday's Newark Lions Club Foundation Games featured plenty of the familiar in Jimmy Allen Gymnasium, but also a breath of fresh air.
Steele Meister picked up where he left off last year for the Wildcats' Division I district champs, while Carter Mallernee and Northridge showed they will again be hard to handle as they defend their Licking County League-Cardinal Division title. And Heath's girls showed the same scrappiness that carried them to the LCL-Cardinal girls' crown.
New on display, however, was a Newark girls team that will feature an entirely different starting lineup, and the youthful but talented Wildcats did not disappoint.
Meister popped in 22 points for Newark and Mallernee cashed in 20 for Northridge as the Wildcats pushed aside the Vikings 61-45 in the second game of the annual exhibition doubleheader.
The opener saw Emma Quackenbush, a 5-foot-10 freshman point guard, display her considerable talents with 14 points and six assists as Newark ran past Heath 63-39.
"Emma does a good job pushing it up for the floor, looking up for what's available and finishing at the rim," coach Jack Eifert said of Quackenbush, one of two Wildcats freshman starters along with Calli Geller. "We have pretty good size, but we also have speed and depth, and can put the pressure on. We're deeper and can go position by position, and we can run with teams, play fast and play the tempo we want."
That was evident from the start, as Newark's full-court man-to-man pressure led to a 16-5 lead with five different Wildcats scoring. Quackenbush had four second-quarter assists, including to juniors Cadi Gordon and Addi Hall for 3-pointers while also nailing one herself as Newark extended its advantage to 36-19 at the break.
The Wildcats led 49-26 through three before Heath finished the game on a 7-0 run, a pair of baskets by hustling junior Peyton Del Cecato sandwiched around a 3 from senior Hannah Cash. Del Cecato led the Bulldogs with 14 points, senior stalwart Caroline Robertson added 13 and Cash had a trio of treys for nine.
"Peyton has really improved, and she and Caroline will be our catalysts," coach Katy Barry said. "We've had a good preseason, and coming in we expected a physical battle. It was a good test to see where we are and what we need to improve on. We may have been a little intimidated at first, but we continued to fight, did not give up and did not back down."
Hall, who came off the bench, added 11 for well-balanced Newark, which saw nine players crack the scorebook. Geller tallied all eight of hers in the first half and junior Megan Herriott also scored eight.
"We saw the younger players in middle school, and we've been waiting for them to get here," Eifert said. "We have high expectations. We'll look at the great moments and not-so-great moments and know what we're capable of. We can go with different starting lineups depending on matchups and who plays well in practice."
The Newark boys also had some youngsters step up in the injury absence of returning starters Ethan Stare and Austin Rose, who are expected to return soon. But four-year southpaw starter Meister was reliable as ever, as he took the floor with juniors Braylon Morris and Kalen Winbush and sophomores Ty Gilbert and Jake Quackenbush. Gilbert played extensively as a freshman and has taken over at point guard.
"Steele was good, really efficient," coach Jeff Quackenbush said. "Ty has had a good fall so far, and he has some really big shoes to fill for Burk/" (Grant Burkholder is now at Mount Vernon Nazarene).
Meister scored on a drive and hit a 3 and Jake Quackenbush also hit from long range as the Wildcats jumped ahead 11-0. But the veteran Vikings chopped it to 11-6 by end of the first quarter. Then Mallernee took over with 8 second-quarter points as Northridge trailed just 20-16 midway through the second.
But Newark always stayed a step ahead, freshman Kolton Peterson draining a 3 and Meister a fadeaway as the Wildcats took a 25-18 halftime lead. Mallernee's 3 kept the Vikings within 31-27 midway through the third, but Newark, going with a younger lineup, responded with 3s by sophomore Bodi Smith and Peterson, and Meister's coast-to-coast reverse layup pushed the margin back out to 39-29. Morris had 7 fourth-quarter points.
"With Stare and Rose not available, our younger guys got some experience, which was good," coach Quackenbush said. "We struggled with our rebounds, which we're going to do all season, but we got to a lot of 50-50 balls. Northridge is going to be good. They have size and Mallernee is a good player."
Ethan Payne (6-5) scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half for the Vikings, who also started 6-8 Alex Quinlan and whose smallest starter was 6-1.
"At the half, we talked about that, using our size, and Ethan went out and did that," coach Bill Mallernee said. "We're probably not going to see defense like that all year, so it was good for us. We scrimmaged them this summer, it was a nice battle, and we decided to play them again. Our kids love it, so it was easy for me to love it.
"We have a couple of spots to replace from last year, which is something to work for, and I was pleased with our effort."
The Vikings hit 50% from the field but just 2 of 13 on 3s. They went 10 of 11 at the line.
Meister also had six rebounds and three assists for Newark, which shot a blistering 19 of 32 from the floor for 59%, including 8 of 15 on 3s, and a near perfect 15 of 16 foul shots. Morris and Peterson added 10 points apiece, Gilbert had 8 and Winbush chipped in with five rebounds and four assists.
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This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Newark Foundation Games a test for Wildcats, defending LCL champions
