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Springfield girls pull away from Newton Falls
NEW MIDDLETOWN
The advent of the snow-blower has many advantages over the time-consuming and back-breaking snow-shoveling method.
So, too, with the benefit of basketball’s 3-point goal over the traditional two-pointer.
The immediate gain of Baylee Felger’s 3-pointer in the first quarter of Saturday’s game against Newton Falls was apparent on the scoreboard as Springfield used the boost to jump ahead toward a 51-29 win.
“It changed the momentum and, after that, we felt that we could win,” Callie Ford said of her teammate’s goal that snapped a 9-9 tie and put Springfield (8-2) on a fast track.
“I had the shot and I definitely wanted to take it, rather than drive,” Felger said. “It was a good feeling.”
The senior guard/forward said it was the best game Springfield has played this season.
“I felt like our team put four quarters together and it was awesome,” she said.
Ford scored all of her team-high 15 points in the second half, Springfield outscored Newton Falls (8-3), 32-18.
“My shot was off; my legs weren’t in it, but then they came back,” Ford, a junior point guard, said.
Jillian Tabaka added 10 points for Springfield, while Tabaka, Ford and Felger each had six rebounds of their team’s 29. Ford also had five steals in the game in which the teams combined for 44 turnovers. Gabby Kline’s 10 points paced Falls.
Springfield’s last game was a win over Poland eight days ago, while Newton Falls had a 10-day layoff between losses to Southeast and Maplewood before another seven–day break before Saturday’s game.
Springfield coach James Schuler stresses getting off to a fast start.
“In the first quarter, we preach playing aggressive and making sure our defense is strong,” he said. “It [Felger’s 3-pointer] was a big shot because we were going back and forth. Her outside shots are dangerous and, when she starts hitting those, it gives you a little momentum.”
Newton Falls’ 1-2-2 press early in the third quarter gave Springfield problems and it translated into a brief spurt for the visitors, but not enough to put a dent in the home team’s lead.
“Sometimes, we’ve got to watch ourselves and not get caught moving a little too fast,” Schuler said. “When we slow down, we take care of the ball. When we settled down, we weren’t giving up as many points and we re-established our control and balance.”
Schuler agreed Saturday’s game was Springfield’s best, so far.
“We’ve been stressing that we want to play four quarters our way: defensively, offensively, taking care of the basketball,” Schuler said. “This was, defensively, the best game we’ve played for four quarters. We were focused and did a good job of rebounding and not giving them second and third chances. Plus, we kept them off the free throw line for the most part in the second half.”
Springfield was 9 of 10 at the line, while Newton Falls hit five of 11.
“The kids are putting forth an effort, but it’s just not clicking yet,” said Newton Falls coach Mark Baker. “They did a nice job [defensively] of getting into some passing lanes and mixing things up as far as when they’d trap and when they wouldn’t trap. So that affected our offensive execution. A lot of times they kept us guessing as to what we needed to do. We were basically zigging when they were zagging. It was one of those games when it wouldn’t go right.”