High school girls basketball: Cardinal Newman rolls past Santa Rosa 71-39

Cardinal Newman’s girls basketball team continued its extraordinary run through NBL competition Tuesday night as the visiting Cardinals defeated Santa Rosa, 71-39.

That makes Newman 13-0 in league, but that’s only part of the story. In those wins, the Cardinals’ average winning margin is 44 points. The closest an NBL opponent has come is 28 points. Rancho Cotate lost by that many on Jan. 7. When the schools met again three weeks later, the Cougars were trounced by 64.

Newman coach Monica Mertle said the key to such a successful season has been depth and unselfishness.

“We have 10 players on the team and all 10 are good players,” she said. “We can go deep on the bench and it doesn’t affect how we play.

“Also, the girls don’t care about their stats. They care about how the team does.”

Against Santa Rosa, the Cardinals had to work a little harder than usual.

The score was 47-33 going to the final quarter. However, in the final period, they outscored the Panthers, 24-6.

“We ran out of gas,” Santa Rosa coach Luis Patrick said. “Cardinal Newman can do that to an opponent.

There are a lot of things that makes Newman so good. It starts with talent and commitment. They can beat you with an inside or outside game. They have so many options, it’s difficult to defend them. Their defense is also outstanding.”

Hailey Vice-Neat led the offense with 20 points. She also had eight rebounds and five blocks. Avery Cargill added 12 while Maiya Flores had 10.

For Santa Rosa, Emily Codding scored 14 and teammate Mireya Lopez finished with 12.

Newman is 21-4 overall and finishes league play Thursday when Casa Grande comes to town.

Santa Rosa is now 15-10 and 9-4.

In other NBL games:

UKIAH 49, MARIA CARRILLO 42

At Ukiah, the Wildcats came out fast on senior night and led 20-4 after one quarter.

“We let down after that quarter but played well enough to hold on,” coach Dave Downey said.

Ukiah (14-10, 8-5) led 34-29 after three quarters. Cassidy Schutz and Adriana Franco led the Wildcats with nine apiece.

Carrillo (8-17, 2-11) got an outstanding game from Claire Howard. She scored 20 and was credited with 11 steals.

WINDSOR 57, RANCHO COTATE 44

At Windsor, Hannah May sank six 3-point shots on her way to a 26-point night.

“It was her best game of the season,” coach Jeff Paul said. “Also, without a doubt, it was the best we’ve played in a long time. We had steady scoring all game and our defense held tight.”

Camille Spackman was Rancho’s leading scorer with 13.

MONTGOMERY 39, CASA GRANDE 31

At Petaluma, the Vikings pulled away at the end to get the road victory. “The game was a little wild at times,” Montgomery coach Steve Bell said. “It was back-and-forth. I thought we did a good job on defense.”

LaDonna Saint Louis had 13 points for the Vikings while Shayla Newman scored eight to go along with 12 rebounds. Ivy Lea grabbed nine boards.

Joy Jovick was high-point scorer for the Gauchos with seven. She also had nine rebounds.

Casa lost Cassidy McKinney early in the second quarter with a leg injury. She went to the hospital, according to coach Dan Sack.

The Gauchos are 13-11 and 6-75 while the Vikings improve to 18-7 and 9-4.

In SCL action:

ANALY 48, PINER 36

At Sebastopol, the Tigers relied on defense to get the victory.

Analy alternated between man-to-man and zone and the mix forced Piner into numerous turnovers.

Sophie McFadin led Analy with 13, three more than teammate Sarah Brown. Saja Spearman-Weaver came up with eight rebounds and four blocks.

Piner’s Arie Searcy led all scorers with 16. Daijah Shepard contributed 10.

Analy is 10-1 in league and 15-10 overall. Piner goes to 11-10 and 4-7.

HEALDSBURG 54, EL MOLINO 25

At Forestville, Hailey Roux scored nine in the first quarter as the Greyhounds got out to a 19-2 lead. She finished with 11

Grace Pillinini wound up with 14 for Healdsburg.

For the Lions, Chloe Kliegl led the way with nine.

Healdsburg improves to 19-5 and 7-4 while El Molino is 4-22 and 2-9.

SONOMA VALLEY 46, PETALUMA 18

At Petaluma, Jenny Eggers tossed in 20 for the Dragons and outscored the entire Trojans team.

The score was 10-1 after one period and grew to 22-7 by halftime.

“We didn’t show up,” Petaluma coach Janelle Robello said. “It was one of our worst games of the year.”

Sonoma Valley is 16-8 and 10-1 while the Trojans fall to 8-16 and 6-5.