SANTA ROSA, Calif. – First place in the North Bay League – Oak Division was at stake in the Thursday night matchup between Cal-Hi Sports No. 22 Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa and cross-town arch-rival and host Montgomery.
Both teams were 3-0 in league play coming into the game, but Cardinal Newman (15-3, 4-0) was still a heavy favorite. Montgomery gave it their all and held their own through most of the first half before the Cardinals took charge in a convincing 79-37 victory.
Cardinal Newman only trailed once at 3-2, but after taking an 18-10 lead after one quarter Montgomery was still hanging around and only trailed 25-23 midway through the second quarter. It was at that point Cardinal Newman closed the half on an 11-4 run to take a 36-27 lead at the half, and from there Newman was off to the races in a game that went to a running clock.
The Cardinals opened the second half with a 12-4 run they extended to 25-8, and with Newman leading 61-35 at that point the outcome was pretty much academic.
"We definitely had a slow start," said Cardinal Newman head coach Monica Mertle who was fighting a bout of laryngitis. "The second half our energy was a lot better, and we were a lot more locked in defensively, and that's where we derive our energy."
"The big piece of it was our focus on the defensive end of it, and we challenged the girls defensively at half time," Mertle continues. "We challenged them to make winning plays, which isn't always scoring, and they responded."
Freshman Saundra Jordan, who is making some noise for consideration as the top freshman big not only in Northern California but in the entire state, was unstoppable in the paint and finished with 24 points and eight rebounds.
Santa Clara-committed senior Kate Schat, who is still wearing a cumbersome facemask since suffering a broken nose last month, had an off night shooting the ball, but she made up for it with six assists to go with 11 points (one three-pointer), four rebounds and two steals.
Junior Valor Queen played well and showed the ability to get the ball up the court quickly, plus she picked up her defense in the second half. She finished with nine points and four rebounds. Sophomore Macie Flores also had a good game. She hit two three-pointers and finished with eight points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals. Junior Kate Blanchard hit both of her three-point attempts and had eight points, and sophomore Avery Vinson chipped in with seven points, four rebounds and two assists.
Montgomery (11-6, 3-1) was led by junior Marvella Cortes with 11 points with one three-pointer. Masters University-committed senior Kylin DeVries was a big factor up until Montgomery closed to 25-23 in the second quarter, and she had six of the Vikings 10 quarter points. She finished with eight points, six rebounds and three assists, but the Cardinals took her out of the game in the second half and her production was limited to one assist.
Cardinal Newman is next in action at the St. Mary's MLK Classic in Stockton on Saturday when they face an 11-5 Lincoln-San Diego team that has played some tough competition.
Montgomery is off until Tuesday when they resume league play at Windsor.
