Newburgh’s girls’ basketball team came back after the Christmas break and immediately had to play fast and aggressive. It worked in their favor offensively at home against Valley Central, Monday, Jan. 4. 

But defensively, they had a tough time keeping up to Monroe-Woodbury during a loss on the road Wednesday, Jan. 6.

At Monroe, both teams kept it a five-point game, trading leads. But the Lady Crusaders were fast and passed the ball well to avoid turnovers. Instead they forced turnovers.

Kaitlyn Doyle, who led Monroe-Woodbury with 13 points, went 6/6 from the foul line in the fourth to beat the Lady Goldbacks. Tara Bryant led the Lady Goldbacks with 16 points.

“They are a very disciplined team. They don’t make mistakes. They make you make the mistakes for them,” said Newburgh Coach Arturo Santana. “Hey, we have to play them again.”

The Valley Central girls tried to stay close in last Monday’s game.

But the Lady Goldbacks would not allow a close game at the end, scoring 11 points in the last minute and a half to win 65-53 at home.

“We picked it up. I’ll take any win we can get,” said Santana. ”Our speed is our key. With our speed, we pick up our defense, and defense is the key.”

Newburgh led 16-8 after the first quarter, and Leanna Feerick’s three-pointer brought Valley Central within a point, down 18-17, with 5:27 left in the second quarter. Newburgh would enter the half leading 28-22 and up 49-38 at the end of the third quarter.

But in the fourth quarter, the Lady Vikings held the Lady Goldbacks scoreless throughout the first half of the fourth quarter.

Alyssa Leahy, who had 11 points in the game, took a pass and ran for the basket, making the lay-up, and bringing the Lady Vikings within three, down 50-47, with 3:07 left in the fourth quarter. Less than two minutes later, Kayla Fisher hit an inside shot, and Lady Vikings were still close, down 54-51 with 1:20 left in the fourth.

From there, Newburgh’s Christina Clyburn hit a field goal, and she and Bryant both went 2/2 from the foul line in the last minute to stop the Lady Vikings.

“They made their foul shots at the end when we were putting them on the line,” said Tim Faulkner, Valley Central coach. “I give my girls a lot of credit. We didn’t quit.

We fought. I was very happy with the way we played.”

Santana was also impressed with how his opponents played.

“They just didn’t give up. They are a tough scrappy team,” he said.

But in the end, Valley Central’s surge was undone by Newburgh’s ability to score about 10 points in the last minute of the game – and hold the Lady Vikings to just two points.

Clyburn led Newburgh with 18 points as the Lady Goldbacks improved to 4-2. Feerick also had 11 points for Valley Central, which dropped to 2-6.

By Bond Brungard
sports@tcnewspapers.com