Newman girls basketball beats scrappy Erie-Prophetstown 38-22

The Newman Comets entered Thursday night’s Three Rivers East Athletic Conference matchup at Erie-Prophetstown averaging 60 points per game.

A scrappy group of Panthers made sure that didn’t happen.

But behind a team-wide effort, the Comets were able to grind out a 38-22 win.

Gisselle Martin led the Comets (7-2, 2-0 TRAC East) with 16 points, hitting 6 of 10 free throws in the win. Aubrey Huisman’s 12 points led E-P (4-4, 1-2).

Holding on to a 17-12 halftime lead, Martin said the team just needed to stay calm and stay together after a rough first half.

“We started just rushing things. Rushing our shots, rushing passes,” she said. “It got to the point where we just needed to stay together.”

The approach led to a bit more breathing room in the third quarter with a 15-10 advantage. Brooklyn Smith hit two 3-pointers as five different Comets scored in the frame.

Newman sealed the win in the fourth quarter as E-P did not score after the Comets led 32-22 through three quarters.

The Panthers slowed the game down to a crawl on offense, and used their height and athleticism on defense.

“Honestly, they played pretty well. I would say they used their height against us,” Martin said. “We don’t really have that much height.

“We just had to box out and try our best to get the rebounds.”

On a night in which it seemed like there was a lid on the basket at times, Newman’s defense helped make a difference. The Comets had just four turnovers while E-P had 17 giveaways. Newman was 15 of 30 at the line.

“It’s really important, because if your shots aren’t going in, the only next step is defense,” Martin said of the team’s defense. “Us just communicating on the court and staying together and talking, it really helped us toward the end of the game.”

The Comets also stayed together as a team after coach Herb Martin’s night was ended after he was issued two straight technical fouls following a Newman basket late in the third quarter.

Newman’s Elaina Allen, who had six points, said it was a tough night shooting but the team’s morale was still there.

“You’re going to have those nights, but you have to find a way to fight through it,” she said. “I think we found that in our defense.”

E-P coach Chris Brown credited Newman after the win.

“Hats off to Newman, they’re a very good team,” he said. “They’re well-coached, they shoot the ball extremely well. And they’re a bad matchup for us.

“They run the ball, they space you out, they play good defense and they’re good offensively.”

Brown said his team has been playing good defense all season.

“We’re athletic enough to be very good defensively,” he said. “I thought if we can hold them under 40 ... I think we can get it. Now offensively, we weren’t very good. So hats off to their defense.

“Defensively, our effort’s good. But I think it can be better.”

E-P also had too many fouls and turnovers, Brown said.

“I think we’ll give them a little better game next time,” he said. “I think we’ll be a little bit more prepared.”

Huisman was also saddled with four fouls for E-P. She was 9 of 12 at the free-throw line and hit a 3-pointer.

“She does a lot of good things for us,” Brown said. “Proud of Aubrey and the effort she gave. When she’s aggressive, we’re usually better.”

Martin said an ugly win like this can only help the Comets.

“It helps us understand more that we can win together in different situations if things happen,” she said.

Newman is off to a solid start and looks to be among the top teams in the conference.

“I’m very proud of where we’re at. Definitely going to keep going for wins,” Allen said. “We’re just getting started.”

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