RICH KELLY
ASHTABULA — It was billed as a night to “Shoot for the Cure”, with pink the color of the night at Mahoney Gymnasium running the gamut from t-shirts, socks and the game-opening ball being available for either purchase or just part of the night’s entertainment.
Defeating cancer was the order for the event. While the visiting Newbury Black Knights and host SS. John and Paul Heralds did not do a lot of damage to the nets in this game, both teams put on a solid effort, with the difference being that Newbury had the key to the game.
That key came in the person of Danielle Day, who torched the Heralds from inside and outside to the tune of 28 points in leading the Knights to a tough 41-31 non-conference win.
“We try to run as balanced an offense as we can,” Newbury coach Carrie Munn said. “Danielle really stepped up big time for us tonight. This was probably her biggest game, but she just took what she saw.
“She shoots well from inside or outside, the long ones were dropping and she saw some lanes to the basket and took them. She’s pretty quick, so when she sees something, she can take it in a hurry.”
The Heralds (3-5) got their only lead of the night with 2:43 to play in the opening period when Krissy Krumins put home a layup for a 5-4 edge. But Day erased that lead in a hurry with a layup and 3-pointer, one of her four on the night, and an 8-0 run to open the second quarter set the Knights up with a double-digit lead.
The Heralds cut that lead to five points on two occasions in the third period as Kristina Gallo hit for six of her team-high 10 points, but a 5-1 run covering the game’s last two minutes sealed the fate of SJP.
Day hit on 10-of-18 shots from the floor for Newbury (4-2, 2-1 Chagrin Valley Conference Valley Division), including four threes, while dishing out four assists. Candace Lombardo snared nine rebounds to lead her team in that catergory.
Carly Penna tallied six points for second place for SJP. Ashley Fedler was a demon on the backboards with 11 rebounds and a pair of blocked shots.
But the killer to any SJP attack was its poor shooting from the foul line. The Heralds hit just three of 17 tries with the clock stopped.
“This was a very, very fun game to coach tonight,” SJP coach Nick Iarocci said. “Day is their top player and she showed why tonight. When she would get the ball, we didn’t adjust to keep her from penetrating or shooting from long range. She had it going, and when you get right down to it, you see how important free throws are in a game. We just need to make more and we’re right in the game, and we didn’t.
“I’m pleased with our group of girls, though. They work so hard, and we’ve nearly doubled our scoring average from last year. We want teams to know that when they come in here, they are going to get a tough game. The girls are buying into the system now, and even though we lost, it was just so great to play for such a great cause tonight as breast cancer awareness. We all face the possibility of coming across it sometime, so anything we can do is worth the effort to help fight that disease.”
Kelly is a freelance writer from Jefferson.
