Girls basketball: Kiara Wesseh pours in career-best 20 to power Newark into sectional final

SERENA – Kiara Wesseh hadn’t been too pleased with the way she’s started basketball games offensively throughout the season.

That was until Tuesday during the Class 1A Serena Sectional semifinals.

The junior guard scored 12 first-quarter points and made eight steals on the night to lead Newark to a 56-42 victory over Willows Academy.

Wesseh finished with a game- and career-high 20 points as the Norsemen (25-7) advanced to the sectional championship at 7 p.m. Thursday against host Serena (26-8), which defeated Hinckley-Big Rock 48-33 in Tuesday’s sectional semifinal nightcap.

“I haven’t scored very well early in many games this entire year because I’ve been more defensive-minded,” Wesseh said. “But tonight during our pre-game warmup I felt very motivated to go out, give it all I had, get to the hoop offensively and put in some baskets. It sure felt great to get off to such a good start for a change.”

Newark also received 14 points from sophomore Addison Ness and 11 points from junior Brooklyn Hatteberg as the trio combined for 80% of the Norsemen’s point total.

“[Wesseh] certainly got off to a great start for us tonight, and the 12 points she got in the first quarter really had us rolling,” Newark coach Glenn Clausel said. “The way she goes is usually the way we go, and between her, Addison and Brooklyn, the three of them carried the load offensively for us tonight.”

Willows (28-6) got a team-best 13 points and game-leading seven rebounds from senior Mia deGrasse, 10 points from senior Izzy Avila and eight points and six rebounds from junior Pia Chapello.

The Eagles actually outrebounded the Norsemen 30-17 but also turned the ball over 20 times against Newark’s full-court pressure that proved to be their undoing.

“I thought No. 4 [Wesseh] played a great game early on getting a few steals for points off the press, and we got a little rattled initially and dug ourselves a hole,” Willows coach Jodi Marver said. “Once we were able to handle the pressure after making some adjustments, we could never find a way to catch up. Give all the credit to Newark for starting off strong and finishing things out.”

Hatteberg chipped in with four points in the second quarter as Newark increased its lead to 28-15 at the half.

Then the Norsemen came out on fire in the third quarter with an 11-0 run to make the score 39-15 as Ness drained a right-baseline 3-pointer at 4:25. She’d score six points in the quarter as Newark led 44-26 entering the fourth.

“I felt like once I made that 3 from the corner I kind of believed things were going to go well for us,” Ness said. “As a sophomore I wanted to step things up for myself and my team tonight. It was a very big accomplishment for me to perform so well in a huge game.”

Ness added four more points in the fourth quarter, the last of which came after a nifty drive down the lane at 3:50 that put Newark up 52-35 before the benches emptied soon thereafter as the Norsemen cruised to the 14-point victory.

Newark will be looking for its second sectional title in program history Thursday when it faces Serena for the third time this season.

The Huskers won the two earlier meetings by close margins, 38-30 and 31-29.

“We’ve had some great teams in Newark girls basketball history to make it to a sectional championship, but somehow only one could win it,” Clausel said. “Hopefully, we can be the second to do it, and we’re looking forward to the challenge on Thursday.”