Newton tournament: Newton advances to first final since 2011

The instructions for Newton point guard Kyndal Bacon from coach Randy Jordan were simple after the first quarter in a semifinal game against Olathe Northwest.

“Rather than dribbling side to side, we told her she has to attack the pressure,” Jordan said. “When she breaks the defense down and goes toward the rim, it makes people commit to her and it opens up so many things for us. That was, I think, by far her best high school basketball game as a point guard.”

Bacon was able to turn Olathe Northwest’s pressure defense into an advantage for Newton, as the Railers followed their point guard to a 50-38 victory on Friday night to advance to the championship game of the Newton Invitational for the first time since 2011.

Newton, the No. 1-ranked team in Class 5A, improved to 12-0 and will face Bishop Miege in Saturday night’s championship at 5:30 in a rematch of an intense semifinal at last year’s tournament which Miege won 60-52.

“Last year we had a really good game with them and we just came up short in the end,” Bacon said. “Everybody has been anticipating that game and I think everyone is excited to see how we match up with them again.”

Olathe Northwest remained competitive through the first half, but Newton slowly began to pull away in the third quarter from its two-point halftime lead. The Railers led 33-27 after the third quarter, then scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter to extend their lead to 14 points.

Bacon helped generate 10 of those 14 points on either baskets on her own (six points) or on an assist (seven assists), many of those to the team’s 6-foot-3 post, Abby Schmidt.

“Kyndal is so good when she drives because she’s so fast,” said Schmidt, who scored a team-high 14 points. “If you just go to the opposite block, then she will dish it to you every time.”

“When teams play up on you really tough, your immediate reaction is to look to pass, but sometimes you have to take a breath and settle down and drive,” Bacon said. “I just tried not to get fluster and focus on what we needed to do.”

Jordan was also pleased with his team holding a potent Olathe Northwest team to under 40 points.

“That’s impressive, I don’t care who you are,” Jordan said. “Our defense has been tremendous the last two nights.”

It will have to continue to be for one more night, as Newton puts its undefeated record on the line against the 4-time defending tournament champions in Miege.

“I think the key to them is limiting live ball turnovers,” Jordan said. “If we can make it a halfcourt game, I like our chances. I’ll put our athletes up against anyone’s.”

Bishop Miege 53, Bishop Carroll 43 — Carroll came to the tournament with 10 players. Josie Allen, the team’s third-leading scorer, broke her wrist in Thursday’s game; Ashley Carrillo, the team’s second-leading scorer, tweaked her knee and missed the majority of Friday’s game; and two more starters were saddled on the bench with foul trouble.

“We battled, that’s what we did the whole game,” Carroll coach Taylor Dugan said. “We had to go through some adversity there and we were playing line-ups we haven’t played with before. So the fact that we kept battling and stayed in the game, I was proud of my girls for that.”

Even with the limited cast, Carroll (9-3) remained competitive and even trimmed Miege’s lead to 40-36 early in the fourth quarter. But the Golden Eagles couldn’t string together enough offense to keep up with Miege (9-2) and the 28 points from Hunter Bentley.

Brynn Maul led Carroll with 11 points, while Allison McFarren (eight points), Britney Ho (six), and Hannah Landwehr (five) all contributed off the bench.

“Our team is full of competitors and that’s what I can trust,” Dugan said. “I know these girls are going to work hard day-in and day-out. I thought they showed that (Friday).”

Andover Central 42, Garden City 37 — Andover Central snapped out of its funk — it had lost three of its past four games — to advance to Saturday’s fifth-place game against SM Northwest at 2:30 p.m.

“It wasn’t the prettiest basketball by any means, but I thought the stuff I was talking to the girls about, like playing as a team and playing hard defense, I thought they really focused on that and were trying to do what I asked them,” Andover Central coach Stana Jefferson said. “So that’s a step in the right direction and is very, very positive.”

Garden City rallied in the fourth quarter to come within a single point, but four straight free throws from Ryann Stearns (game-high 18 points) sealed the victory for Central.

SM Northwest 52, Kapaun 43 — A one-point deficit with four minutes remaining only grew for Kapaun, which traded missed shots for made free throws by SM Northwest as the Crusaders (6-6) lost their third straight.

“I don’t think we’re close to playing as well as we can play,” Kapaun coach Billy Graf said. “We’re averaging 20 turnovers and we’re giving up 15 offensive rebounds every game and some of that has to do with the teams we’re playing against, but at the same time we have to look in the mirror at ourselves. There are things we need to do a better job of.”

Kapaun, which had 40 of its 43 points scored by Rachel Hastings, Brenna Monty, and Anna Roulston, will play Garden City in the seventh-place game on Saturday at 1 p.m.

This story was originally published January 27, 2017 at 10:19 PM with the headline "Newton tournament: Newton advances to first final since 2011."