IAC GIRLS BASKETBALL: NEWARK VALLEY STUMBLES AGAINST DIVISION-LEADING WAVERLY (14 PHOTOS) (2019-01-15)
BY TIM TAYLORTioga County Sports ReportWAVERLY - Newark Valley was never able to establish a rhythm against a stingy Waverly defense in a 58-35 loss to the IAC South Large School leaders here Tuesday.
The Cardinals also had to contend with the Wolverines' Tomasso sisters, who combined for 39 points.
Waverly took advantage of NV's turnovers and foul troubles in the first quarter, creating a 14-0 run which spanned into the second period to give the host a 19-7 cushion and a lead it would not relinquish.
"They're a very disruptive team defensively and we know that. We've played them enough to know that they're very athletic," said NV head coach Greg Schweiger. "They close out. There's nowhere to pass the ball and dribbling balls, treacherous because they're coming from behind a lot."
"We thought our pressure could cause some problems," said Waverly head coach Bob Kelly. "And that's usually where we are able to find our energy, and try to get some momentum that way and it just kind of gets our pace going, which is what we were hoping to do."
The Wolverines, who led 17-7 after a quarter, built a 29-13 lead at the half, largely on a pair of 3-pointers from Sidney Tomasso and her 7-for-8 efficiency at the free throw line. Alex Tomasso added seven points in the first 16 minutes and Wendi Hammond had five points at the break.
Alex Tomasso would jump behind the proverbial wheel coming out of there locker room and drive the team to a 49-26 advantage heading into the fourth quarter. She would can three baskets, one a trey, and go 6-for-6 at the stripe in the third period, giving her a game-high 20 points.
Sidney Tomasso drained her third trey of the evening in the fourth quarter, giving her 19 points and the Wolverines a 56-28 cushion with 6:05 remaining in the game.
"We wanted to get the ball inside, slow the game down and we were able to do that for stretches," Schweiger said. "It was just too many turnovers and too much Tomasso.
The Wolverines went 20-for-27 at the line while NV was 12-for-20. Alex Tomasso made all seven of her would shots an Sidney Tomasso went 8-for-10.
"We put them on the foul line a ton and that hurt us," Schweiger said. "My best players weren't always out there and disrupted the offensive flow too."
The Cardinals were looking to make Waverly earn everything it got in the early stages of the contest. A basket by Gracie Gardner, a pair of free throws from Mackenna Nechwedowich and a trey off Bri Beebe's fingertips gave NV a 7-5 edge with 3:17 left in the opening stanza.
"They switched defenses up on us quite a bit, but I thought our offense was pretty nice," Kelly said, "I think we're sharing the ball very well, we're seeing the open man. We were able to find some good looks versus their zone when they went zone. We found exactly what we were looking for against their 1-3-1. It was nice that they were able to see it and execute it.
"Overall, I'm happy with the team offensively. I thought we got some real nice looks."
The Waverly offense seemed to come to life when Alex Tomasso was left unguarded for an easy layup to tie the score at 7-7 with 3:08 left in the first quarter. That bucket sparked the 14-point run and 36 seconds later, Hammond put Waverly ahead to stay with a free throw.
The Cardinals never really found a rhythm, although Gracie Gardner had a solid effort with a team-high 13 points. Nechwedowich and Beebe, who missed the previous game with an ankle injury, were held to five points apiece.
"Gracie Gardner had the game we were looking for," Schweiger said.
"They use their size very well and have a good high-low game, so that was a lot of what we talked about," Kelly said. "They did a pretty good job in the second half of that, but overall I thought we did a real nice job. We executed our game plan."
Paige Lewis contributed eight points to the win, Hammond had five, Gretchen Sowle added four and Lauren Newman had two.
Liz Ferguson added five points for NV, Allie Wandell, Kendra Morris and Hannah Ferguson chipped in with two apiece, and Tressa Nechwedowich had one. Hannah Ferguson also had six rebounds, Morris added five boards and three assists, and Mackenna Nechwedowich had five boards, two blocks and two assists.
"It's a good preparation game for us moving forward toward the postseason," Schweiger added. "I told them in the locker room, basically, you've got to take something positive from it. What did we learn and how are we going to get better?"
Waverly (12-0, 7-0) hosts Whitney Point Thursday while Newark Valley (11-3, 4-3) travels to Trumansburg Friday.
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IN PHOTO 1: NV's Liz Ferguson. ... PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.
