Cardinal Newman girls upset Carondelet in 48-47 state playoff victory

CONCORD - Nothing tops winning a state championship, as the Cardinal Newman girls did last year. And yet the Cardinals continue to find new ground to break.

Friday night, in the opening round of the CIF NorCal playoffs, they claimed the school's first victory in the rugged Open Division - and they did it against Carondelet, one of the most esteemed programs in the state. It was a 48-47 cliffhanger that will be remembered as a signature win for Cardinal Newman girls basketball.

“I think I celebrated more for this than for the state championship,” Cardinals coach Monica Mertle said, sitting behind a teacher's desk in a Carondelet classroom that had been designated the Newman team room. “Our goal every year is to progress, to get better. … People see the Open as a punishment. We were excited for it.”

The Cardinals (29-3) advance to play Tuesday against Pinewood of Los Altos Hills, which held off Bishop O'Dowd in its own first-round game.

Cardinal Newman sophomore point guard Avery Cargill, her calf cramping, drove into traffic and banked home the winning shot with nine seconds remaining.

“I asked her a few times if she wanted to come out,” Mertle said of Cargill. “She said no, no, no. And I trust Avery completely.”

Carondelet (28-5) had one last chance. The Cougars inbounded with eight seconds on the clock and got into their frontcourt, where guard Brianna Simonich drove to her right and around Newman's Maiya Flores. But Cardinals center Lauren Walker, a defensive force all night, stepped up to alter the shot, and it hit the side of the rim.

Simonich wound up grabbing her own rebound after a struggle, but didn't have enough time to attempt another shot.

The lead had changed hands four times in the final 2:05.

Carondelet, the sister school of De La Salle, is a difficult place to play. The gym is small and cramped, the stands practically on top of the court. It's the type of arena that can spell disaster for a visiting team if it falls behind. Cardinal Newman did a good job of not letting that happen.

The Cardinals jumped out to a 10-1 lead while making their first four shots. And though Carondelet came back to make it a dogfight, the Cougars never led by more than two points.

Things got extremely dicey for Newman in the fourth quarter, though. Mertle's team went up 44-40 on junior Tal Webb's floater with a little over 6 minutes remaining. And then the Cardinals spiraled into a five-minute scoreless drought. During that icy spell they twice failed to get the ball inbounds from the sidelines. Star forward Hailey Vice-Neat threw one pass out of bounds, and Flores stepped on the line for another turnover.

It was agonizing.

“We were grinding,” Walker said. “It's a long game. There will be some lapses. But the fact that we kept it together and didn't come apart was big.”

Vice-Neat finally broke the goose egg with a spin and a basket inside right around the 1:10 mark, restoring Newman's lead at 46-45.

Carondelet never fully took advantage, scoring only five points in those five tense minutes. It was typical of the defense both teams played all night. Though the pace was frenetic (thanks largely to the Cougars' full-court press), the baskets never came easy.

The Carondelet press bothered the Cardinals, but never broke them. Cardinal Newman wound up with 25 turnovers, which kept the Cougars in the game despite Newman's superior shooting. But the Cardinals did not come unglued.

“There will be turnovers in that type of game,” Mertle said. “The key is not getting down when there is a turnover. It's about moving on to the next play.”

Vice-Neat, who stands 6-foot-3 but has the handles and court vision of a point guard, had an off game.

She got in a little bit of early foul trouble, scored 10 points and turned the ball over several times. That Cardinal Newman could beat Carondelet with “the Chief” off of her game bodes well for the coming rounds.

“Everyone in the game gets jitters,” Vice-Neat said. “My ball handling wasn't great. I felt the pressure a bit.”

Helping to pick up the slack was Webb. She's usually the girl who does a little bit of everything for the Cardinals, including a lot of the hustle plays that don't show up on the stat sheet. Friday, Webb led Newman with 11 points.

“Tal proceeds to amaze me every game,” Vice-Neat said. “She's so swift and confident.”

Cargill added 10 for Cardinal Newman. Carondelet's Simonich led all scorers with 16.

You can reach staff writer Phil Barber at 707-521-5263 or phil.barber@pressdemocrat.com. Follow him on Twitter: @Skinny_Post.