The Tigers Greysan Beaulieu #10 makes a strong move to the hoop for 2 of her 12 points tonight. Newport improves to 9-6 with the win tonight and currently stands in 11th place in D3. Newport head to the Den on Saturday to face FM. – Chris Shaban
NEWPORT – The lady Tigers shook off a determined Mascoma squad on Tuesday with an 18-6 point explosion in the third quarter to improve to 9-6 on the year. Six different Tiger scored in those crucial eight minutes and a relentless press flustered the young Royals. Alexis Hurd, Kennedy Pysz, Lacey McNeel, Greysan Beaulieu, Alexis Quimby and Selena Coronis all found the bottom of the net in the third quarter as a 29-23 halftime deficit ended with the Tigers leading 41-35 entering the forth quarter.
“We have a great group of kids and tonight we had contributions from many players that helped in the win tonight,” said Newport head coach Ross Dole after the game.
Both teams seemed content to try and quicken the pace all night as Newport’s full court press was on display most of the night. Cold shooting prevented either team from jumping out quickly and a three point buzzer beater from Kennedy Pysz gave the Tigers a 13-10 lead after the first quarter as a total of nine fouls were called.
Mascoma’s 4-0 run at the start of the quarter gave the visitors a quick lead but five lead changes later with hoops from Hurd and McNeel plus a couple of free throws from Coronis kept Newport close until Mascoma’s Sydney Thompson drilled a buzzer beater to give the Royals their biggest lead, 29-23 at the half.
Newport came out of the locker room a different team as crisp cuts and slick ball movement allowed the Tigers to gallop to a 8-0 run while the defensive pressure from McNeel and Beaulieu gave Mascoma fits. “McNeel’s effort tonight was outstanding in what might have been her best game so far this year,” said Dole after the game.
Newport’s movement with and without the ball confused the Royals and their rotating offensive motion allowed open cuts down the lane as rebounds started to fall Newport’s way as the Tigers led 31-29 midway into the quarter. Mascoma standout Michaela Dowd broke the Newport run with two free throws to tie the game 31-31 but Quimby, Beaulieu and Coronis all responded to put the Tigers ahead 37-33. Beaulieu finished her eight point quarter with buzzer beater of her own to give Newport a big 41-35 lead entering the final eight minutes of basketball.
As the intensity and urgency for Mascoma drew, a very physical game broke out as the referees maintained order with fouls aplenty. A Dowd bucket midway into the final quarter cut the Newport lead to 47-43 but Hurd drained a deep three pointer from the corner and Anna Pysz added a hoop to give Newport a little breathing room 52-46.
Dole had his players spread the floor to ice the clock with just under two minutes remaining as Mascoma just couldn’t muster the speed to climb back into the game. A monster block by Newport’s McNeel capped off a terrific night as she timed her block perfectly on a Down jumper to seal the win for the now 9-6 Tigers.
“I thought we had a complete team win tonight as it seemed everyone contributed for a win against a good Mascoma team,” said McNeel after the game who is nursing a sore ankle.
Hurd led all scorers with a game high 17 points and was followed by Beaulieu who had 10 points. Mascoma was led by Thompson who finished with 14 points and Dowd who chipped in with 12 points.
Newport will head to Fall Mt(12-3) on Saturday.
In JV action, Gary McCalls Newport team chalked up another win 41-35 tonight. Maddie Miller poured in 15 points and had help from Erin Seagrove and Morgan Roberts who both had 6 points in the win.
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