Newman holds off spirited charge by Milledgeville in regional opener

STERLING – In a nip-and-tuck game, defense made the difference for Newman ... but it wasn’t the Comets' usual 1-3-1 half-court zone.

Instead, it took a change to man-to-man to help seal the deal in Newman’s 68-57 win over Milledgeville in Monday night’s Class 1A West Carroll Regional quarterfinal.

“I think us going [to] man and picking up the intensity was the key,” George Jungerman said. “We’ve been playing 1-3-1 all year – I think that’s our first time going man – and it really just stuck with us.”

[ Photos from Newman vs. Milledgeville boys regional basketball ]

Garret Matznick was also a big piece of the puzzle for Newman (18-14). The junior point guard scored a career-high 26 points to go with six assists, six steals and four rebounds. His ability to drive into the lane and create offense made up for the Comets’ struggles from 3-point range (7-for-32); they shot 73% (19-for-26) inside the arc.

“They couldn’t keep up with me, and then after I got by one guy, it was pretty much 5-on-4 from there,” Matznick said. “We got guys open – we didn’t hit as many shots as we could’ve today, but they’ll fall – and we really found a way to get to the hole and make our layups.”

“Garret had a great game,” Jungerman added. “When he drives, he can pass the ball so well – and when he shoots like he did tonight, it’s impossible to stop.”

Senior point guard Micah Toms-Smith keyed the Missiles (9-21); his penetration broke through the zone for the first three quarters as they rallied to take a 49-48 lead going into the fourth quarter.

Toms-Smith assisted on three straight baskets – by Konner Johnson, Spencer Nye and Bryson Wiersema – as Milledgeville tied the game 44-44 with 2:39 left in the third. Karter Livengood’s 3-pointer with 40 seconds left in the quarter gave the Missiles their first lead, and Johnson answered a basket by Jungerman to put Milledgeville up by one with eight minutes to go.

“It was really just effort and discipline,” Toms-Smith said. “We just had to stay disciplined and play hard, find the open shot and not force anything, that was really the key. As the game went on, we found the open spot, and the confidence kept growing, which I think is what led to our third-quarter surge.”

But Newman found its groove in the fourth. John Rowzee, Jungerman and Matznick all scored to put the Comets back up by five, and that was the start of a 15-3 run where the Comets controlled both ends of the court.

“We just had to play harder,” Jungerman said. “We knew it could’ve been the last game for our seniors, so we just really wanted to win.”

“We’ve struggled against the 1-3-1 all year; this is the first time we actually played well against it,” Milledgeville coach Kal Engelkens said. “We took care of the ball and made crisp passes. Micah really handled the offense, distributing to everybody. We were able to fight back and take the lead, but we just came out slow in the fourth. We weren’t ready for man-to-man, and that’s on me.

“But I’m proud of the kids that we made them get away from their best defense.”

Jungerman had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Evan Bushman added 13 points and two assists. Rowzee had eight points and six rebounds, and Cody McBride chipped in six rebounds, two assists and two steals for Newman, which advances to Wednesday’s regional semifinal against Galva in Mount Carroll.

“We found a different way to win, and that’s huge, because we have games where we don’t shoot well, and then we just play bad defense,” Matznick said. “It kind of showed a little bit there; our 1-3-1 wasn’t working, but the fourth quarter we went [to] man and it worked. We finished the game well.”

Johnson had 18 points and four rebounds, and Toms-Smith finished with 14 points, eight assists and three rebounds for the Missiles. Livengood added 11 points, four rebounds and four assists, Wiersema had nine points, eight rebounds and two steals, and Nye chipped in five points, seven rebounds and two assists.

“We just kept finding that open guy underneath – it was a great game by both of our bigs, Bryson and Konner – and then when that wasn’t there, we had open kicks in the corner with Karter and Spencer,” Toms-Smith said. “Just the whole lineup, everyone did their jobs, but sometimes you come up short.”