SK PIONEER SPORTS: Neers Battle Breds to Nice W

All A Classic Runner-up New Cath made a trip out to the Joe tonight. Even though New Cath lost to Walton Verona last Sunday in the All A Finals, they turned around and absolutely blasted the Bearcats on Wednesday by 29. You would think that based on SK’s lack of success against WV this year that the Neers might have a long night ahead of them against the Breds. SK has struggled this year early in games when they have dug into big holes early in their contests. Tonight was different as SK sent a message early on when they jumped out to a 10-2 lead. The Breds would come battling back as sophomore Nicole Kiernan scored 12 first quarter points and helped the Breds lead by a bucket at 16-14. The early game mo that the Neers had was slipping.

SK did a better job of challenging Kiernan in the second quarter as she only knocked down a couple of shots and finally missed a couple shots as well. Both teams played with a lot of intensity. The question that came to mind at the onset of intermission was whether or not SK would be able to maintain the momentum that they recaptured late in the second that allowed them to lead at the break by a score of 26-22.

Whenever coaches and Stowers and Dawn face each other, the one staple you can expect is defense. The third quarter was a good example of these coaches’ focus. New Cath came out and pressed SK. The pressure did get to SK somewhat but Abby Owings was able to get to the rim and pulled off a couple of circus shots that were quite impressive; especially her high floater over an extended Kiernan. SK’s defense adjustment was to clearly not let Kiernan beat them. Coach Stowers rotated defenders on Kiernan and it seemed to wear down the sophomore. She wasn’t allowed to get off anything easy as SK doubled up on her with help and challenged each offensive attempt. There were a couple of times that she appeared to get hacked without getting the call which seemed to frustrate her. The Neers hold the Breds to single digits for the second quarter in a row at 9 and extend the lead to 38-31.

Both teams came out in the 4th and took turns tagging each other. Fouls were hard and loose balls turned into scrums. Several girls looked like they were ready to drop but they fought through their fatigue. New Cath got the lead down to 3 points with just over two minutes to go and you kind of started getting the feeling that the upset might not be. SK’s Abby Owings did a good job of getting the ball up the floor down the stretch and ended up going to the line for a pair of bonus throw opps. The sophomore knocked down 4 foul shots in the last 1:30. New Cath was making shots but SK never caved. SK would outscore New Cath 15-14 in the quarter meaning that the Neers outscored the Breds in the last 3 quarters. A big difference in the game occurred at the line. SK shot a very impressive 12 for 13 while New Cath connected on just 7 for 13 throws.

Both teams played hard but it was a good night for the SK win. This was clearly their best game during 2012 and hopefully a game where they can capitalize on the momentum. The JV team also pulled of a one point win to extend their record to an impressive 16-2.

SK has three games next week; Monday at Campbell, Tuesday at home versus Williamstown and Thursday at home against Cooper.

Newport Central Catholic…16…6…9…14---45
Simon Kenton…14…12…12…15---53

Newport Central Catholic (16-6) -- Huber 8, Ware 4, Munch 6, Kirman 22, Schalk 2, Kohls 3.
Simon Kenton (14-9) -- Owings 15, Stephenson 14, Cook 10, Cox 8, Bosse 6.

Stephenson gets fouled.