Cardinal Newman girls run down Casa Grande

The Casa Grande High school girls basketball team concluded the North Bay League season in the middle of the railroad tracks that is the Cardinal Newman gym, and were run over by Newman’s runaway locomotive, 73-22.|

The Casa Grande High School girls basketball team concluded the North Bay League season in the middle of the railroad tracks that is the Cardinal Newman gym, and were run over by Newman’s runaway locomotive, 73-22, last week.

Blessed with size, speed and shooting ability, Cardinal Newman steamed unmolested to the NBL championship, finishing with a 14-0 league record and a 22-4 overall mark.

Casa Grande ended the NBL season at 6-8, but at 13-12 overall is still eligible for the North Coast Section playoffs. As Casa coach Dan Sack pointed out, with the exception of three blowouts, two at the hands of Cardinal Newman and one against Montgomery, the Gauchos have been competitive in all their league games.

That was not the case Thursday night when the Cardinals had too much of everything for the Gauchos. Not that Cardinal Newman needed any help, but Casa went into the game without the services of senior leader Cassidy McKinney, out with an ankle injury. Sack said she should be able to go in the NCS playoffs. In addition, sophomore point guard Samantha Schaefer’s playing time was limited by a shoulder injury.

Cardinal Newman demonstrated its dominance from the beginning. Joy Jovick dripped in a free throw for Casa in the game’s first minute to make it a 2-1 game following a Newman bucket by Hailey Vice-Neat, but the game’s next 11 points belonged to the Cardinals.

Casa finally got a field goal six minutes into the game on a short shot by Mia Cain, but the Cardinals just kept scoring. If it wasn’t 6-5 center Lauren Walker towering inside, it was Ava Alvarez or Tai Web popping 3-pointers.

By the end of the first quarter, Cardinal Newman led, 25-3, and, although Casa picked up its scoring a bit in the second half, things never got a lot better for the Gauchos.

Casa Grande had a few bright spots.

Jovick did her best to carry the Casa offense, driving into a forest of redwood-sized Cardinal Newman defenders and battling gamely on the backboards. She finished with 14 of her team’s 22 points.

Sack also had praise for the spark and effort supplied by sophomore forward Jashan Gill and senior guard Destiny Williams. “They really battled,” the coach said. “They put up a fight.

“Overall, I was disappointed with our approach. Against a team like Cardinal Newman, you have to treat every pass and every shot like it is a battle. I don’t think we did that tonight.”

The coach did, however, praise the Casa season. “It was a great season,” he said. “We over achieved in almost every game. We were competitive in almost every game.”

Cardinal Newman’s scoring came from all directions, including off the bench. Freshman guard Avery Cargill led the way with 17 points, while Walker added 14 from the paint in limited playing time.

It was Senior Night for the Cardinals and, on a scary note for the rest of the NBL, there was no one to be honored. There is not a single senior on the Newman roster.

Casa Grande did have some joy, though, rallying in the fourth quarter to win the junior varsity game, 51-43.

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