By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER. N.Y. — Arizona Chapple and TaKyla Vaughn finished with a double-double apiece as Newark girls’ basketball erased a first-half deficit and went on to defeat host East High, 63-60 in non-league action, Tuesday night.
Chapple’s rebound and putbacks on consecutive possessions gave Newark a lead it did not surrender with less than two minutes remaining in the contest.
“She’s young, and we’re really working hard on her putting the ball back up to the basket,” Newark head coach Diane Kirnie said of the sophomore. “The game, at times, is a little fast for her, just coming up from the JVs. She’s played a lot of basketball, and she’s starting to do some really nice things for us.”
Leading 55-53 and with the Reds looking to run clock, Chapple took a high-low pass from Vaughn before grabbing her own miss and finishing at the rim.
The win was the second in three games for Newark (9-4) and came six days after dropping a one-point decision to Palmyra-Macedon.
Currently seeded seventh in the unofficial standings for Class A, Newark has already played Pittsford Sutherland (No. 1) along with Pal-Mac (No. 4). Tuesday’s victory over East (No. 4 prior to Tuesday) represented the first for Newark over a higher-seeded team.
Arizona Chapple grabs her own miss and finishes. @NewarkAthletics 57-53. pic.twitter.com/Aur7kzPqit
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) January 24, 2024
“This is a big win for us for a number of reasons,” Kirnie said. “They’re in our classification. We’ve had some tough losses this year. Our class is so tough. Teams in our classifications, we want to play them now. We want to make a statement and show that we’re for real.”
Vaughn struggled with foul trouble in the first half before scoring 11 of her team-high 22 points in the third quarter.
The junior forward’s and-one gave Newark a 42-41 lead. She followed with bucket off a drive to close the third quarter with a 44-43 edge.
With two fouls, Vaughn spent a majority of the second quarter on the bench.
East built the largest lead either team had in the game when Gabby Brown-Sturdviant hit three 3-pointers, the third of which gave the Eagles a 33-24 lead.
Newark’s Naomi Jones scored back-to-back baskets going into the half. The junior guard’s 3-pointer made it a four-point game at 33-29.
Matching up out of their 2-3 zone in the second half, Newark scored the first eight points coming out of the locker room.
“We switched up defenses,” Kirnie said. “I thought we did a much better job. In the second half, I thought we rebounded the ball well.
“Our defense definitely tightened up. We took care of the ball better and made some shots when we needed.”
The game saw 14 lead changes and eight ties.
Karina Natale finds Arizona Chapple behind the zone. @NewarkAthletics 46-43 pic.twitter.com/s5RPk33gqI
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) January 24, 2024
“We battled to the end, but didn’t finish on top,” said East High head coach Moe Jones. “There is a lesson to be learned. As players and coaches we have to overcome the adversity of the game.
“Preparation is key, but when we don’t come out successful we review our mistakes and continue to grow as a team. We all have a role to play and when we play East basketball we are successful.”
Brown-Sturdviant finished with a game-high 26 points. Nevaeh Grisham had 21 for East (10-3), and Semaj Jackson scored 13.
Vaughn grabbed 19 rebounds in the win. Chapple had 15 points, 16 rebounds and five blocks.
Ninth-grade point guard Karina Natale scored seven points and handed out six assists.
Jones added 10 points.
Gabby Brown-Sturdviant connects for three at one end. Arizona Chapple answers at the other. @SecVGBasketball pic.twitter.com/pFFG0jlQda
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) January 24, 2024
Newark travels to play at Greece Arcadia/Olympia on Thursday. A 6:15 PM start time is scheduled.
East hosts Franklin/Northeast for a 6:30 PM tip-off on Friday.
NEWARK
Karina Natale 2 3-4 7, Janae Downing 0 0-0 0, Naomi Jones 4 1-2 10, Malia Brown 3 0-2 6, Nataleigh Buck 1 0-0 3, Khloe Paul 0 0-0 0, Arizona Chapple 7 1-2 15, TaKyla Vaughn 10 2-9 22 TOTALS 27 7-19 63
EAST HIGH
Ali’Yana Robinson 0 0-0 0, 10 2-2 26, Ayasha Cherry 0 0-2 0, Nevaeh Grisham 9 2-3 21, Semaj Jackson 5 1-3 13, Antwanette Coleman 0 0-0 0, Jiasia Norris 0 0-0 0, Yerieliz Castro 0 0-0 0 TOTALS 23 5-10 60
NEWARK 13 16 15 19 — 63
EAST HIGH 14 19 10 17 — 60
3-point goals — Newark 2 (Jones 1, Buck 1); East High 7 (Brown-Sturviant 4, Grisham 1, Jackson 2)
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