New Heights Christian Academy’s girls basketball team earned an early lead but fell victim to a strong second half by the top-seeded Greenwood Blue Jays and lost 53-35 Saturday in the championship game of the Mercy/Warrior Classic at McAuley Catholic High School.
Jesalin Bever got the Cougars (12-9) on the board with a putback, and Ella Nelson gave New Heights a 4-1 lead with a drive through the middle of the lane.
Unfortunately for the Cougars, Nelson was tagged with her second foul of the game within the first minute of play and was forced to sit.
Greenwood tied the game at 4-4 off an Elif Benzer and-1 with 5:42 left in the opening quarter, but New Heights regained the lead at the 3:55 mark with a Bever drive through the lane. Back-to-back scores by Karly Dorris gave the second-seeded Cougars a 10-4 lead with about three minutes left, and Bever made good on a pair of free throws to give New Heights an 8-point lead with 2:25 left.
Greenwood pared the lead to 4 points with buckets from Benzer and Gia Lutomske before Dorris buried a trey to give the Cougars a 15-8 lead heading into the second quarter.
Nelson was flagged with her third foul just 25 seconds into the second quarter and was once again relegated to the bench.
The Blue Jays opened the second quarter outscoring New Heights 11-3, taking their first lead of the game at 19-18 with 3:20 left in the half off an Alyssa Newman drive to the rim.
The Blue Jays lead grew to five at 23-18 with 1:48 left. A Dorris score in the paint made it 3-20, and Greenwood closed out the first half with a 25-20 lead after a Benzer score in the paint.
Greenwood (16-4) opened the second half strong, putting together a 9-0 run that was sparked by a Benzer putback and bookended by a Harper Pinkston score down low that gave the Blue Jays a 34-20 lead.
Bever stopped the bleeding for New Heights with a free throw at the 5:09 mark, and Nelson scored with 2:50 left to make it a 34-23 game with 2:50 left in the third. That’s as close as the Cougars could get the remainder of the game.
Nelson was called for her fourth foul at the 1:05 mark of the third period and again took her place on the bench as Greenwood closed out the period with a 41-28 lead heading into the final quarter.
The Blue Jays opened the fourth period with a trey from the top of the key by Newman to take a 44-28 lead. After a Nelson score, Newman struck again for a 3-pointer from the top of the key to put the Blue Jays up 47-30 with 6:42 left.
Dorris trimmed the lead to 14 points at 47-33 at the 5:05 mark, but the Blue Jays held on for the 53-35 win.
Dorris led the Cougars with 15 points, and Bever netted 12 points.
New Heights coach John Blankenship talked about Nelson’s foul trouble and what it meant to have her on the bench for a big portion of the game.
“It had a big impact on us,” he said. “She’s our leading rebounder and gives us a little more offense with isolation in the post. We are working on it — teaching her what are good fouls and what are bad fouls. She’s so athletic and drives our offense for us, so it was very impactful when she had to sit on the bench so much in foul trouble.”
Blankenship also talked about how Greenwood was able to take control in the second half.
“We didn’t attack the basket and get to the free-throw line enough,” Blankenship said. “Offensively, we had trouble scoring today. Part of that is we didn’t shoot well, part of it was they played strong defense, so give them a lot of credit.”
McAuley girls 52, Thomas Jefferson 45
In the third-place game of the girls bracket, the McAuley Warriors rode the strength of a strong third quarter to claim a 52-45 win over the Thomas Jefferson Independent Day School Cavaliers.
The Warriors (9-13) outscored Thomas Jefferson 12-9 in the first frame, but the Cavaliers (7-12) tied the game after outpacing McAuley 11-8 in the second quarter heading into the half.
McAuley held a 39-30 lead heading into the final frame after outscoring the Cavaliers 19-10 in the third period.
The final quarter saw Thomas Jefferson outscore the Warriors 15-13, but that was not enough to overcome McAuley’s strong third period as the Warriors held on for the 52-45 win.
Vanessa Diaz led McAuley with 18 points, and Sam Conrad and Isabella Gilligan both netted 12 points.
Anna Hiebert claimed game-high honors with 21 points for Thomas Jefferson. Aubrey Freeborg tallied 13, and CAE Wood finished with nine.
All-tournament team
The 10-player all-tournament team featured seven players from local teams. New Heights placed four on the team, with Ali Stout, Dorris, Bever and Nelson being honored.
Conrad and Gilligan from McAuley and Hiebert from Thomas Jefferson rounded out the local players who made the team.
