VERSAILLES – The Newton Lady Indians, bitten by the injury bug, dropped a first-round OHSAA DVII tournament game to the Cedarville Lady Indians.
“We have been short bench all season,” said Newton second-year coach Stefanie Landis. “It’s always next up, no matter what, it’s always next up.”
Cedarville took advantage of a quick start to earn the win, taking the opening period 17-9, while Newton was winning the final three quarters 40-38 in coming up six points short.
“We had a slow start in the first quarter, which is uncharacteristic of what we’ve seen all season for our team, and usually, the games we get off to a slow first quarter start, it is usually difficult to overcome and come back from, but it’s not for lack of effort,” Landis said. “The girls give me all they have on the court; they always have, and I am proud of their effort.”
Newton bounced back, taking period No. 2 by a single point, 10-9, led by six Felicity Harbour points. The teams went to the break, with Cedarville leading 26-19.
The Cedarville Lady Indians upped their lead to 42-33, taking the third quarter 16-14 with one final quarter to play.
The Newton Lady Indians battled back to close within a point at 45-46 with 4:16 on the fourth quarter clock before falling to Cedarville to close out a successful Newton Lady Indians season under the guidance of second-year coach Stefanie Landis.
“We had a couple of girls who had the opportunity to step up, and today, I am extremely proud of our two freshmen who came in off the bench,” Landis stated. “They are part of the reason we were able to make our comeback defensively to pull within one. We never could get over that hump.”
The Newton Lady Indians continue to improve under Coach Landis. They finished fifth in the WOAC (7-4) and brought a 12-10 overall record into the season-ending tournament.
“We try to move that needle forward every year here,” Landis said. “We have moved the needle forward and have a winning season for this Newton program for the first time in eight years. We’ve had two seasons in a row of winning records in the conference, which hasn’t been done in a long time. We won more games this year with fewer players. We lost four games to the top four teams ahead of us, so I’m proud of what they did this year despite the challenges we faced. A lot of teams have them, every team has this so it’s not a unique situation.”
Coach Landis took time after the game to talk about her two seniors, No. 30 Layla VanCulin and No. 50 Felicity Harbour.
“Felicity and Layla, we joke and call them our twin towers,” said Landis. “I have had them for two years now and the impression they’ve put on this program – they came in this year and took us a step forward. They both worked their tails off. They are the heart and soul of our team, and it’s tough when you lose that every year. These last two years, the seniors have been the heart and soul when they graduate, so you always are looking for what’s the next up, who’s going to step up next.”
“The impression that they’ve made on this program, the four years both of them have been playing sports, and they play multiple sports, it is a testament to the kind of athlete they are and their commitment to athletics and wanting to be part of that team environment,” Landis continued. “We will miss them greatly. Obviously, those are my bigs inside, but I am very thankful for what they gave me, this program, and this team in the last two years.”
Riley Hess paced Newton with 17 points, and Felicity Harbour added 13 points.
BOXSCORE:
CEDARVILLE 55, NEWTON 49
CEDARVILLE – K. Reed 21, A. Rodgers 11, B. Atkins 10, A. Shepherd 6, A. Ankeney 4, M. Ankeney 3 – TOTALS 11 11-22 6 55
NEWTON – R. Hess 17, F. Harbour 13, L. VanCulin 7, M. Denlinger 6, A. Szakal 5B. Fiely 1 – TOTALS 15 10-12 3 49
3-POINTERS
Cedarville 6 (A. Rodgers 3, A. Ankeney 1, M. Ankeney 1, B. Atkins 1)
Newton 3 (A. Szakal 1, R. Hess 1, L. VanCulin 1)
SCORE by QUARTERS
17-09-16-13 55 Cedarville
09-10-14-16 49 Newton
