Newman girls claw back late in loss to Stillman Valley

The Newman girls basketball team had an uphill battle in Friday’s matchup with Stillman Valley at the Dixon Christmas Classic.

Down a starter in Brooklyn Smith and facing a larger Cardinals squad, the Comets were looking at a 15-point halftime deficit.

But they did not go down quietly.

Newman clawed its way back to get within five points, but ultimately fell 56-49 at Reagan Middle School. The Cardinals (12-1) won the pool to advance to Saturday’s tournament semifinals against Sterling at 6:30 p.m.

“This game was a tale of two halves,” Newman coach Herb Martin said. “We were not the same team in the first half as we were in the second half. In the first half, we kind of laid down. We didn’t think we could quite play with Stillman.

“But then, we kind of settled in and came out in the second half and played hard. ... I’m very proud of their effort to fight back.”

Newman was down 21-12 after the first quarter and 37-22 at halftime. The Comets (9-3) made just five field goals in the first half.

SV was blocking shots, grabbing offensive rebounds and getting easy looks inside. But Newman kept battling.

“We’re down a girl, we are smaller, but we are scrappy and we played hard and I’m proud of all of them,” Martin said. “Stillman Valley’s a good program. Those guys do a good job over there.”

Newman’s defensive effort was better in the third quarter, but the Comets still trailed 48-34 entering the fourth quarter.

Newman took advantage of SV’s misses and a Gisselle Martin bucket made it 52-47 with 3:42 left. But the Comets’ run fell short and they didn’t have an answer for Dailene Wade inside. She finished with 17 points.

SV coach Bobby Mellon said his team played really well in the first half and overcame its struggles to hold on for the win.

“Coming to a tournament, you want to face some adversity and see where you’re at as a team,” he said. “It’s a good test to see how we can overcome that.”

He said the gameplan was to take advantage of the team’s size and mismatches. Newman still made it tough in the second half.

“They felt like they were never out of it and continued to battle,” he said of Newman. “That’s a thing you want as you grow as a team throughout the season.”

Martin said playing tougher games in the regular season only helps.

“This is preparation for the postseason,” he said. “Us going up against these bigger, physical teams that are going to be up in you They’re going to rebound hard and it only makes us better.

“I think the girls finally realize that as long as we play hard, we can play with anybody.”

Up next: Newman faces Lincoln at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday in the silver bracket. The Comets beat Alleman 54-38 in their first matchup to finish second in their pool. Martin said he hopes Smith will be back before the end of the tournament after she was injured early in the Alleman game.

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Newman’s Lucy Oetting and Alleman’s Megan Hulke go after a ball Friday, Dec. 26, 2025, at the Duchesses Basketball Christmas Classic. (Alex T. Paschal)