It was Senior Night at the John Fitzgerald Gymnasium in Santa Rosa, CA, where Cardinal Newman took on NBL rivals Windsor in their Senior Night game. Newman came in 13-10 on the season and in 2nd in the NBL with a 5-3 NBL Record. Newman's only NBL losses came against Montgomery, the league leaders, who they lost to twice and to Windsor, who lost to on January 11, 61-51 in Windsor. Newman came in after a dominant 65-44 win over Maria Carrillo while Windsor came in after a close loss to their rivals from the north, Healdsburg, who beat them 54-51. The Jags came in with an 11-12 record, 3rd in the NBL with a league record of 4-3. Their league losses came against Montgomery, Healdsburg and Santa Rosa. The winner of this game would be the holder of 2nd place in the NBL.
The leader for Windsor all year had been Junior Finn Grace who averaged 18.4 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 2 APG and 2 SPG. Newman had a range of great talent across the court including Junior Guard Sam Cline, Junior Guard Gavin Vogenson, Junior Wing Leo Gonzalez and Senior Forward Lucas Mauritson. Senior Night Celebrations kicked off with Newman honoring Windsor's lone Senior, Guard Jackson Earl, and then introducing and honoring their 3 Seniors. Lucas Mauritson, Forward Jacob Jannicelli and Guard Kooper Kohut were honored for their great work at Cardinal Newman. Mauritson, Jannicelli and Kohut all did interesting and incredible Senior Service Projects, helping the environment and children who are underprivileged or disabled get access to education help and sports. Kohut hopes to attend a 4 year university to study Exercise Science and did his Service Project with the Special Olympics, helping children with disabilities stay active and build a nutritious lifestyle. Jannicelli will attend a 4 year university to study either Data Analytics or Quantitive Economics and did his Service Project at Kid Street Learning Center, helping tutor children in math and coach a basketball team. Mauritson will attend Boise State and study Business Finance, and did his Service Project on River and Beach Cleanup.
The game tipped off and Newman set the pace early with a 6-0 run, but Windsor came back with a 7-4 run to end the quarter. Through 1, Windsor only had 1 scorer and it was Finn Grace, with 7 points and 2 rebounds. Newman pulled away, though, in the second quarter, outscoring Windsor 19-9 and going to half leading 29-16 after a clutch three pointer from Cline with 2 seconds left. At half, Newman was 11 for 25 from the field, 6 for 14 from beyond the arc and 1 for 2 from the free throw line. The Cardinals had 13 rebounds (8 defensive, 5 offensive), 4 turnovers and 5 fouls. Cline and Gonzalez led the Cardinals, both with 11 points, but Gonzalez had been a perfect 4 for 4 from the field (3 for 3 from 3pt range). Cline had 3 rebounds while Gonzalez had 2. Mauritson led the Seniors with 5 points and 1 rebound with Janicelli having 3 rebounds and Kohut having a steal. Windsor ended the half 6 for 18 from the field, 2 for 9 from 3pt range and 2 for 5 from the free throw line. The Jags had 5 rebounds, 5 turnovers and 3 fouls. Finn Grace led the Jags with 10 points and 3 rebounds. The only other scorer for the Jags was Joseph Campbell, who had 6 points and 1 rebound.
Newman slowed down in the second half and focused more on defense, holding Windsor to 5 points in the 3rd quarter. Both teams had chances at second chance points, but Newman capitalized on it more. Windsor took a lot of threes, but only made 2 in the second half because Newman covered the perimeter well. Janicelli, Mauritson, Drew Krillich and Cody Guy secured the paint and held Finn Grace to only 5 points in the second half. Windsor only had 4 scorers, Campbell, Grace, Jayden Russotti and Ben Geist, and only 2 went to double digits. Kohut, Cline, Vogenson and Gonzalez played excellent defense along the perimeter causing 8 total turnovers by Windsor. Newman closed the game out and won on Senior Night, 47-32.
Newman went to 14-10 and held command over the 2nd place spot in the NBL. Windsor dropped to 11-13 and held the 3rd Place spot in the NBL. Newman finished 18 for 47 from the field, 9 for 24 from 3pt range and 2 for 6 from the free throw line. Windsor finished 10 for 36 from the field, 4 for 20 from 3pt range and 8 for 15 from the free throw line. Newman had 33 rebounds, 11 turnovers and 11 fouls while Windsor had 13 rebounds, 8 turnovers and 10 fouls. Sam Cline won YSN 365 Community First Credit Union Player of the Game, totaling 16 points (5 for 16 from the field, 4 for 10 from 3pt range), 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals. Mauritson led the Seniors with 12 points and 5 rebounds. Janicelli had 7 rebounds and Kohut had 3 rebounds and 1 steal. Leo Gonzalez had 14 points and 4 rebounds. For Windsor, Finn Grace led the Jags with 16 points, 5 rebounds and 1 steal. Campbell had 11 points and 3 rebounds, Ben Geist had 2 points and Jayden Russotti had 3 points.
Newman beat Eureka at home the following night, 60-40, and have their final game against Santa Rosa on Thursday, February 10th. Windsor has 2 away games to close out the season, the first against Healdsburg on Tuesday and the second against Montgomery on Thursday.
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