SANTA ROSA, CA – They old cliché “defense wins games” has been something host and North Coast Section Open Division No. 3 seed and Prep2Prep NCS No. 3 ranked Cardinal Newman has used to good measure twice this season against Heritage-Brentwood
Last night, and in the quarterfinals of the new 6-team Open Division, the Cardinals were dominant on both ends of the court, but it was the play of the girls when they didn’t have the ball in their hands that really stood out.
UC Santa Barbara-committed Anya Choice had a game-high 18 points with six rebounds and fellow senior Christina Bacci added 11 points (three three-pointers) and five rebounds with three steals as Newman-Santa Rosa (27-2) used a lock-down defense to post a 54-31 Thursday night victory in the new NCS Open Division over Heritage in a game they led 26-13 at the half and 42-19 after three quarters.
The 31 points was the lowest output of the season for Heritage with their previous low-eater mark coming in early January in a 57-42 loss to Cardinal Newman.
“In the post season it all comes down to defense and rebounding,” remarked Newman Coach Monica Mertle. “That’s what wins games.”
Heritage only trailed 11-10 after one quarter and with Choice was on the beach with two fouls it looked like Heritage might make a game of it, but from there the vise-like defense of Newman led by junior Aysia Dural and seniors Emma Nordby and Pt. Loma Nazarene-bound Liz Chambers, completely shut down the visiting Patriots who could only muster three points in the third quarter and six in the fourth.
“I was happy with our defensive effort and felt we were well prepared and knew our scout,” Mertle said. “The girls worked incredibly hard to defend their bigs and put pressure on their ball handlers.”
Chambers is 6-2, so she was able to match-up with the Patriots’ Muse sisters, Boise State-bound 6-2 senior Abigail Muse, and 6-3 freshman Amanda Muse, but no other Newman starter is taller than 5-9, and that left the match-up duties with the bigs to 5-8 senior Emma Nordby and she was undaunted and defended the paint like a girl 4-5 inches taller. She only had six points but she had four steals for a Cardinals team that had 17 steals to five for Heritage.
Newman junior Aysia Dural showed why despite not having a flashy game is showing she is one of the top defenders in Northern California. She can impact a game without scoring and the heritage game is a perfect example. She only had four points but besides playing like a fence on the perimeter Dural was unafraid to mix it up inside with the bigs on the boards and finished with eight rebounds, five steals and three assists.
Chambers had seven points, including a three-pointer, plus a team-high 11 rebounds for a Cardinals team that had 39 rebounds to 30 for the much taller Patriots.
Heritage (21-6) got a double-double 13 points and 12 rebounds from Muse, but no other Patriots player had more than five points.
"I'm very happy that we had the opportunity to bring an Open Division game to Sonoma County and win it," Mertle said. "Tonight was special for our program, our school and our community."
Despite the loss Heritage will be placed in the CIF Northern Regional playoffs that begin on March 3 at host sites and almost assuredly will be in Division I field with a fairly high seed.
Cardinal Newman moves on to the Open Division Semifinals next Wednesday when they meet P2P NCS No. 2 and second-seeded Salesian-Richmond in a girls/boys Open double-header at Pinole Valley High.
