Foster, Hershberger lead No. 8 Marian into 3A final against Saint Joseph

MISHAWAKA —When Nevaeh Foster and No. 8 Marian get going, there are few girls basketball teams in the state of Indiana that can keep up with coach Steve Scott’s Knights.

The 5-foot-9 senior guard scored 26 of her game-high 34 points in the second and third quarters while her teammates held New Prairie to just six points during the same time frame in a 55-29 Class 3A-Sectional 19 semifinal victory Friday for tourney host Marian on its Demetrius Jackson Court.

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Winners of eight straight games, the Knights (21-5) will seek their second sectional title in four seasons when they play Saint Joseph (5-20) in Saturday’s championship game at 7 p.m. Coach Scott Francoeur’s squad, playing without three injured starters, got 24 points and five rebounds from sophomore guard Kenadie Schrock and 18 more from freshman Kayla Woods in cruising to a 62-54 victory over Clay.

Saturday’s championship will be the second meeting between the two Northern Indiana Conference rivals and second this season on the Jackson Court where on Nov. 18 the Knights prevailed 63-45.

“It was almost a 100-percent turnaround,” Scott said of his team’s effort which came three nights after the Knights survived an upset bid from Jimtown before prevailing 49-38 by outscoring the Jimmies 10-0 in the final quarter. “I think Tuesday woke our girls up. We were completely locked in during practice for two days. I think our defense took them (the Cougars) out of everything they wanted to do. When Nevaeh gets hot like that, it’s over.”

Marian 55, New Prairie 29

Foster got plenty of help from senior Aliyah Hershberger, a transfer from Concord High who scored all 13 of her points in the second half. Foster (four) and Hershberger (three) combined for seven 3-pointers by the Knights.

Marian also got yeoman’s work from 5-foot-9 sophomore forward Christa Porter, who blocked two shots and pulled down a team-high nine rebounds as Marian won the battle on the boards 33-30.

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“We wanted to wear them down with our press,” Hershberger said. “They started making turnovers and couldn’t handle us. We played much better than Tuesday night.”

With New Prairie trying, unsuccessfully, to stop Foster, Hershberger got free to do some scoring in the second half. “It’s nice playing with her (Foster),” Hershberger said.

Foster returned the admiration. “A lot of teams try to focus in on me and having that shooter (Hershberger) in the corner or on the wing helps us,” she said. “We were hungry after Tuesday. We knew they were going to play us hard.”

The Cougars had no answers, especially after an injury to junior guard Jayden Flagg (her knee locked when she ran into a Marian player) following her basket with 3:43 remaining in the third quarter ended a 13:32 string without a basket going back to her basket with 1:15 remaining in the first quarter that gave the Cougars a 10-6 lead after the first quarter. During that span, New Prairie managed just two free throws in the second quarter.

No Cougar finished in double figures. Junior Jolie Johns led the way with nine points and Flagg was limited to six.

“It came down to we were not hitting shots,” New Prairie coach Aimee Litka said. “It’s unlike us scoring 12 points in the first half (and trailing 22-12). We weren’t playing with the confidence we needed. Nevaeh is a great player. One of our keys was we had to slow her down.”

Difficult to do when Foster is making her points inside (off steals) and outside, hitting two 3-pointers each in the second and third quarters. Then Hershberger buried a pair of 3-pointers in the third quarter and Marian ran out to a 40-16 lead after three quarters.

MARIAN 55, NEW PRAIRIE 29

At Marian High School

MARIAN (55): Nevaeh Foster 34, Aliyah Herschberger 13, Shayla Alexander 2, Samantha Gruber 2, Christa Porter 0, Nadalyn Gerwels 0, Abilina Dubree 2, Madison Myers 2, Fane Sete 0, Theresa Reynolds 0, Sydney McIntee 0. TOTALS 23 2-5 55.

NEW PRAIRIE (29): Jayden Flagg 8, Morgan White 5, Eva-Skye Dodds 4, Jolie Johns 7, Maci Ernsperger 1, Jaleigh McBride 2, Kaylee Hoggard 0, Lauren Abbott 0, Jaiden Winters 0, Makayla Willoughby 2, Lilli Armato 0, Morgan Flagg 0. TOTALS 11 5-12 29.

3-point goals: Marian 7 (Foster 4, Hershberger 3), New Prairie 2 (White 1, Johns 1). Shooting: Marian 23 of 44 for 52.3 percent, New Prairie 11 of 37 for 29.7 percent. Rebounds: Marian 33 (Foster 13, Porter 9), New Prairie 30 (Johns 8). Turnovers: Marian 15, New Prairie 18. Total fouls (fouled out): Marian 12 (none), New Prairie 10 (none). Records: Marian 21-5, New Prairie 13-9. Officials: Ryan Labis, Tim Hamann, Eric Ellenberger.

Saint Joseph 62, Clay 54

In addition to the double-figure efforts of Schrock and Woods, senior Lauren Harrington contributed 12 points as Saint Joseph was able to counter the double-digit efforts of Clay’s promising sophomore frontliners Tyrece Cunningham (20 points) and Mayliya Freeman (15).

It wasn’t very pretty as the two teams battled to a 12-12 draw after the first quarter featured 18 turnovers (Clay 10, Saint Joseph 8). The two teams totaled with 48 (Clay 26, Saint Joseph 22) for the game.

“Survive and advance,” said third-year coach Francoeur, whose team was playing without senior Peyton Hull, the team’s leading scorer who had surgery on her right shoulder, junior Eliana Lang (foot surgery) and sophomore Alexa Langager (wrist tendon issues).

“We’ve had a lot of adversity this season and not had a lot of victories; I’m not critical of any (wins) we get,” Francoeur continued. “If we have one more point than our opponent after 32 minutes, we’re going to celebrate that. The effort that we got from Schrock and the others is what you saw today.”

Saint Joseph took command of the game with a 20-11 second quarter highlighted by Schrock’s 10 points and six from Harrington for a 32-23 halftime lead. Schrock then added eight more in the third quarter as Saint Joseph took a 50-42 lead into the final quarter. Cunningham scored 11 of her points in the final quarter, but the Colonials never really threatened.

“I felt our effort was there; we’re just so inexperienced with all the freshmen and sophomores we have to put on the court,” coach Warren Bynum said after his first Colonials team ended the season 7-16. “We’ve had a hard time handling presses all year, but we did manage to win seven games with our inexperience. Our upside is pretty good.”

SAINT JOSEPH 62, CLAY 54

At Marian High School   

CLAY (54): Maliya Freeman 15, Tyrece Cunningham 20, Delilah Castaneda 9, Cici Kelley 7, Rachel Hunt 3, Ariana Short 0. TOTALS 20 9-19 54.

SAINT JOSEPH (62): Kenadie Schrock 24, Kayla Woods 18, Lauren Harrington 12, Nicki Byrne 4, Greta Chadwell 2, Paige Goben 2, Morgan Sandor 0. TOTALS 29 2-8 62.

3-point goals: Clay 5 (Castaneda 3, Kelley 1, Cunningham 1), Saint Joseph 2 (Schrock 2). Shooting: Clay 20 of 48 for 41.7 percent, Saint Joseph 29 of 50 for 58 percent. Rebounds: Clay 31 (Freeman 8), Saint Joseph 31 (Schrock 5, Byrne 5, Chadwell 5). Turnovers: Clay 26, Saint Joseph 22. Total fouls (fouled out): Clay 9 (none), Saint Joseph 18 (Byrne). Records: Clay 7-16, Saint Joseph 5-20. Officials: Zachary Sliwa, Ryan Eakin, Ben Finan.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: IHSAA Class 3A girls basketball sectional at Mishawaka Marian