Unbeaten NC girls start, finish strong against scrappy Mount Gilead
SUNBURY ― Newark Catholic has pressed the issue more than previous years during its perfect start, and although the statistics may not show it, unheralded senior Mayci Sayre is usually right in the middle of the defensive chaos.
"We have intensity from the three up top, and Mayci is our center fielder," coach Rob Smith said Tuesday after the Green Wave's press forced 18 first-half turnovers in a 51-25 Division IV district semifinal win over Mount Gilead at Big Walnut High School. "She gets everyone in the right place. As a senior, I kind of get on her a lot, but it doesn't bother her and she just goes out and plays."
Classmate Kylie Gibson drilled five 3-pointers in a 15-point effort and junior Sophie Peloquin cashed in four more from long distance and scored 14. But defense creates offense for top-seeded NC (23-0), which collides with No. 2 seed Lancaster Fisher (22-3), a 41-31 winner against Danville, at 7 p.m. Friday at Ohio Dominican for the district title.
Gibson racked up six of her seven steals in the first half Tuesday and Peloquin had four of her five, and Sayre had a lot to do with it.
"I know my role, and it's defense, to set the tempo coming out," said the unselfish Sayre, who dished off four assists on the offensive end. "I can see everything in the center, and we're able to get steals."
Sixth seed Mount Gilead (13-12) stunned top seed Berne Union last year to reach the district finals, and the Indians had their sights set on NC this year, after bumping off the third and fourth seed. On this night, however, the Green Wave vaporized the upset hopes early on.
With Gibson and Peloquin coming up with three steals each in the first eight minutes, and Gibson canning a trio of 3s, NC went on an 18-0 run, shooting from a 7-4 edge to a 25-4 lead early in the second when Natalie Harrington hit Sayre for a layup out of the high post. Fini Kaiser scored inside twice during the surge.
"We wanted to start out fast, and we were able to frazzle them a little," Gibson said. "They came out in a (1-2-2) zone, and we love it when teams play zone. They counter our posts, but we trust each other to move the ball, and we still find open shooters."
It certainly wasn't the beginning Mount Gilead had hoped for.
"We didn't start the game with the energy we had last game," said coach Nick Vukovich. "They made a couple of shots early on, and we went into panic mode. We thought we were faster than them, and if we could get past the first three (on the press), we would be in good situations. But we weren't able to. They're a first-quarter team and like to jump on people, and we didn't handle it very well."
Despite 10 second-quarter turnovers by the Indians, NC cooled off, going just 6 of 23 over the middle two periods and being outscored 16-14 during that span. Faith White and Kendall Neal made third-quarter 3s and Mount Gilead picked up its defense, scrapping back within 36-20 heading to the fourth.
They would get no closer however, as the Green Wave finished the game on a 3-point barrage. The total grew to 10, Peloquin hitting three and Gibson and Reagan Jones adding one each down the stretch as NC closed with a 15-5 blitz.
Peloquin, who had 11 of her 14 points in the second half and handed out four assists while Kaiser chipped in with 10 points and six rebounds. The Green Wave was a so-so 20 of 53 from the floor for 38%, but the quick start and the defense were the difference. Mount Gilead finished with 21 turnovers and was just 9 of 34 from the field for 26%.
Senior Aubrey Thomas led the Indians with 10 points and 11 rebounds as they battled much-taller NC to a 25-25 stalemate on the backboards.
"We needed a game like this," Smith said. "I was a little worried, since we hadn't played a four-quarter game in like four weeks. After the way we lost last year (in the second round), we're excited to get this win."
With her big night defensively, Gibson has an NC record 337 career steals, passing assistant coach Samantha Basham who totaled 331.
The Green Wave has enjoyed this historic run that has seen the first-ever unbeaten regular season and best-ever start. But if it can get by Fisher, which it edged 56-52 earlier, a Pickerington Central regional looms that could also feature Waterford, Berlin Hiland and Portsmouth Notre Dame, which split with Fisher.
"Pressure is a privilege, and we've had a target on our back all year," Sayre said. "Right now, everyone is filling their role, which wasn't always the case earlier, so we're now ahead of the game. When we played them (Fisher) the first time, we thought we would probably see them again in the tournament. We couldn't worry about that, and now, we can focus on them."
Said Smith: "They (Fisher) are the defending district champs. It's going to be a dogfight."
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This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Unbeaten NC girls start, finish strong against scrappy Mount Gilead
