NL pushes Norwayne in loss

NEW LONDON — There were no illusions. Facing one of the top programs in Division V, the New London girls basketball team had yet another challenging task on Saturday when it hosted Creston Norwayne in a non-league game. The No. 3-ranked Bobcats played for the state championship a year ago. They brought back three starters and six of the top eight players from that team for this season and again look the part. But it was missed free throws (6) and a long scoring drought (5:14) in the second half that were the most detrimental to New London in the 42-31 loss. "The biggest thing I learned is it showed we can match a physical team's toughness," New London head coach Eric Mitchell said. "Everyone knows how good the WCAL (Wayne County Athletic League) is, and Norwayne was a state finalist for a reason with a lot of those players back, and it shows. "But physicality is something I pride this team on," he added. "The biggest thing is we can play with a lot of teams if we take care of the basketball, and defensively I thought we played well today. To hold them to 42 says a lot about what we're doing and where we're trying to go." Trailing 26-15 at halftime, Gracie Thomas opened the second half scoring for New London. But then the Wildcats (11-3) — ranked No. 19 in the Div. VI MaxPreps rankings — didn't score for the next five-plus minutes of the third quarter. Meanwhile, the Bobcats (11-1) scored six points, the last of which came on a critical steal and score after New London had just called a timeout to set up a play. That pushed the lead to 32-17 with 2:03 left in the third. Valery Henry stopped the scoring drought for NL with two points under the basket 16 seconds later. But the Bobcats got two more free throws to end the quarter with a 34-19 lead. NL trailed 36-21 with 6:31 left but didn't let Norwayne turn the game into a rout. Henry, Mitchell, and Olivia Yetter put together six straight points as Norwayne turned it over and missed shots. But Norwayne again asserted itself by getting inside and to the free-throw line. The Bobcats pushed the lead back to 42-27 with 1:24 left, and NL closed the game with baskets from Henry and Yetter in the final minute. Norwayne came into the game coming off its first loss of the season, a 51-43 loss on Jan. 8 vs. Div. VI No. 16 Waynedale (11-3). "It was a great game for us to play a team like New London," Norwayne head coach Jake Shoup said. "We talked after our loss; we were obviously disappointed, but we don't want to be peaking or playing our best basketball in January. "We knew New London would be a physical team that prepares us for a physical style of play, and we weren't very tough against Waynedale. Battling through physicality and contact, whether we're getting calls or not, it's important we maintain that physical toughness, but also mental toughness as well." Once we settled down, we played well, and I thought we weathered the storm, especially in the second half when it could have gotten away from us a couple of times. The Bobcats showed their scoring balance early with four different players finding the basket for their first eight points. However, the Wildcats were able to trade baskets with the visitors throughout the first quarter. After falling behind 6-0, New London got back-to-back baskets from Pailee Wilson and Raeann Mitchell. Down 8-4, Yetter swished a 3 to make it an 8-7 deficit at the 1:46 mark, then after an empty possession by the Bobcats, Gracie Thomas was able to score at the rim to give New London a 9-8 lead with 1:02 left in the quarter. Courtney Cline gave Norwayne the lead back with 21.5 seconds left, which gave the Bobcats a 10-9 lead after one quarter. Norwayne then scored the first two baskets of the second quarter from Allie Demmasimo and 6-foot-1 post Anna Froelich to grab a 14-9 lead in under a minute. A basket from Yetter kept NL down 16-12 with 5:43 left in the half. But then Norwayne scored 10 of the next 12 points as NL missed some free throw chances and turned the ball over three times. Wilson got a friendly bounce in the paint, and Raeann Mitchell split two free throws with 6.7 seconds left to put the halftime deficit at 26-15. Nrwayne was 6-of-13 shooting in the second quarter compared to a 2-of-8 effort by NL, which also missed four free throws in the eight minutes. "Their transition game and the way they run with their size really hurt us," Mitchell said. "Because size-wise they matched up with us really well. Early on, that made that difference when they made that early lead in transition." New London has three losses to Div. VI No. 2 Margaretta (12-1), No. 21 Colonel Crawford (11-2), and the Bobcats. The Wildcats have also beaten Div. III No. 22 Norwalk (8-4), Div. VI No. 20 Bucyrus Wynford (11-3) and Mapleton (11-2). Norwayne also entered Saturday's game averaging 57.8 points per game, but the 'Cats limited it to just three field goals in the second half. The Bobcats outscored NL 11-2 at the foul line in the 11-point win. "We want to play these teams," Eric Mitchell said. "It prepares our girls for our No. 1 goal to win another Firelands Conference title, and these games are preparing us for the battles against Mapleton and whoever else is in the way of our goal, and these girls know that." Yetter had nine points, while Henry had seven points and five rebounds for New London. Raeann Mitchell also had seven points, while Thomas grabbed nine rebounds. New London is at Div. IV Perkins (4-8) on Tuesday. "The girls are disappointed because they wanted to win today," Mitchell said. "Nobody was giving us a chance, and I get it. It's no disrespect to us or our players. Norwayne is coming off a state runner-up with aspirations of getting back. "But we were up for the challenge. I was happy. I won't ever accept a loss, but if you have to, I can't be more pleased with our effort." NORWAYNE (11-1) Madicyn Rupp 0-1—1; Ava Maibach 2-2—6; Annie Henico 1-0—3; Allie Demassimo 5-4—16; Courtney Cline 4-1—9; Hannah Froelich 2-3—7. TOTALS 14-11—42. NEW LONDON (11-3) Raeann Mitchell 3-1—7; Valery Henry 3-1—7; Olivia Yetter 4-0—9; Pailee Wilson 2-0—4; Gracie Thomas 2-0—4. TOTALS 14-2—31. Norwayne 10 16 8 8 — 42 N. London 9 6 4 17 — 31 3-point FGs: (NOR) Demassimo 2, Henico; (NL) Yetter.