Girls basketball: Sterling builds lead, beats Newman in season opener

STERLING – As one would expect in a girls basketball season opener with a pair of inexperienced teams, the pace was choppy and the play a little sloppy at times Monday night when Sterling visited Newman.

But the Golden Warriors jumped out to a quick lead, then answered a late Comets charge for a 50-28 win.

Sterling junior forward Kathryn Rowzee scored the game’s first eight points, the last four on post baskets off feeds from Kaydence Weeks and Addie McCombs. After Jess Johns scored on a baseline drive and Emma Oswalt hit a free throw to bring Newman within 8-3, Weeks hit a pair of free throws to close out the scoring in the first quarter, then McCombs went coast-to-coast off a steal 10 seconds into the second.

Weeks then scored a runout layup off a feed from McCombs before answering another Johns basket with a layup off a pass from Baylee Adami for a 16-5 lead.

“I think it was really important that we started fast,” Weeks said. “We wanted to make sure we executed our plays, and then work hard on defense. Rebounding was big for us, too, and we did a good job with that tonight.”

With Sterling (1-0) leading 19-6, Kirra Gibson scored on a putback off one of those rebounds, then McCombs buried 3-pointers 44 seconds apart – both off assists from Aubri Menchaca – for a 27-8 lead in the final minute of the first half. Weeks closed out the half with a basket at the buzzer on another offensive rebound.

“I do think we did a good job of going after the ball and looking to push out and go, and that’s something that’s going to be really crucial for us,” Sterling coach Taylor Jackson said. “We were excited with what we saw tonight, and especially about the start.”

For the game, Sterling outscored Newman 12-0 in second-chance points, and outrebounded the Comets 62-37.

“I think we all have worked really hard to get to where we’re at, but we also have a lot of room to grow as a team and working together,” Weeks said. “I’m really proud of how we did tonight.”

Weeks opened the second half with another putback, then the Warriors answered a Johns drive to the basket with a jumper from Olivia Turner and a Weeks layup. Both came off assists from Gibson, with Adami starting the play that ended in Weeks’ layup with a nice pass to Gibson.

Newman (0-1) got a Johns layup off a pretty drive-and-dish play by Helen Papoccia, but Turner finished off the third quarter with another putback.

Trailing 38-14, the Comets showed no quit. Johns drove down the lane for another basket, then dished to Shannon Kelly for a 3-pointer. After Sterling buckets by Rowzee and Weeks, Adalyn Waldschmidt kicked out to Syrinidie Fowkes for another 3, then Johns scored before Papoccia found Madison Duhon for a jumper to cut the Comets’ deficit to 42-26.

“‘Finish the game as strong as you can’ has kind of been our motto, I guess you could say,” Johns said, “and giving it all you can even if you know you’re not going to come out on top. It was our first game, so we were all just working out the kinks. I think we worked them out as best we could, and we all just started playing comfortably instead of just throwing the ball around.”

The score stayed that way for nearly two minutes of game time, as neither team could get a shot to fall. A putback by Sterling’s Abby Halsne and a Johns basket off a Waldschmidt assist made it 44-28 Warriors, before McCombs scored the game’s final six points over the final 56 seconds on a jumper, two free throws and a layup off a steal.

“We knew we could get out and push, and that’s what we really tried to do,” Jackson said. “I thought our girls took a lot of those things that we’ve worked pretty hard on in practice and carried those over, especially in the first quarter. They were really disciplined in what we wanted to do, and just in being able to run the ball. We lost some of that as the game went on, but that’s a learning experience in game No. 1, and we just have to keep getting better from here.”

McCombs led Sterling with 16 points, seven steals, four rebounds, two assists and a block. Weeks finished with 15 points and five rebounds, and Rowzee added 10 points and nine rebounds while playing through foul trouble. Turner pulled down a team-high 11 boards, and Gibson added nine rebounds, two assists and three steals. Menchaca chipped in four rebounds and two assists.

Johns notched a double-double with game highs of 18 points and 13 rebounds for Newman, and she also had six steals, an assist and a block. Waldschmidt added seven rebounds and two assists.

But Newman struggled from the free-throw line, finishing 4-for-17 – all in the first half, when the Comets could’ve kept the score closer.

“We’re starting from scratch, and one of our goals for the game was we wanted to get better as the game went. We didn’t want to start out and peak at the very beginning, we wanted to make sure that we were fighting until the end,” Newman coach JD Waldschmidt said. “We go into that game with nothing to lose, and they went up 8-0 just like that. But we missed 13 free throws in the first half, so if we even shoot 50%, it’s a manageable deficit for us to overcome.

“Yes we got beat, but overall the effort is there, and the effort is something that I’ll expect. I thought tonight the girls just did outstanding with that, and if we can get that effort night in and night out, the scoreboard will take care of itself.”