Castle overcomes turnovers to beat Memorial
NEWBURGH – Tis the season for giving, and Castle seemed to be in the giving mood Saturday night.
The Knights gift-wrapped two dozen presents in the form of turnovers, giving Memorial every opportunity to pull off the victory. But, it was the Tigers who ended up leaving with coal.
Despite the challenges on offense, Castle pulled away late in the fourth quarter to beat 3A No. 8 Memorial 52-43 and remain near the top of the SIAC standings.
Chloe Mills had 12 points, six rebounds and five assists, Julia Pate netted 12 points, and Jessica Nunge added nine points, five rebounds and four assists to lead the Knights (7-1, 3-1 SIAC).
However, Castle coach Barb Dayton knows there is plenty of work to be done.
“We are really struggling on offense right now,” said Dayton. “We are beating ourselves. In practice, we’re working on trying to become more patient and take care of the ball.”
The biggest bright spot for the Knights to place their stockings upon with pride was rebounding. Castle out-muscled Memorial 39-20 on the boards and limited the Tigers to 31 percent shooting.
Memorial went 4-for-19 from behind the arc and didn't get many second-chance points.
“It’s always difficult to rebound when they were shooting the ball from that far out,” said Dayton. “That rebound is often a long rebound. For the most part, I thought we did a good job of blocking out across the board. It’s always kind of a fight for it when it’s a long shot.”
The Knights caught the turnover bug early, giving it up nine times in the first quarter. Memorial, led by 11 first half points from Caroline Newland, took the lead early in the second, but Castle managed to grab it back and lead 26-20 by halftime.
The Tigers battled back to tie it 31-31 on a bucket by Olivia Phipps. However, the Knights answered with a 7-2 run, taking a 38-33 lead on a three by Mills late in the third.
“We talked at halftime about moving the ball around offensively,” said Dayton. “We changed the lineup coming out in the second half and got going a little bit. We had some good passes and nice, easy shots to help us take the lead.”
Memorial did get to within three points on two different occasions in the final quarter. However, four free throws from Pate and bucket by Nunge pushed Castle's lead out to 48-39 with under three minutes left. Memorial never got closer than six the rest of the game.
“We slowed it down a lot and started passing the ball instead of just trying to drive it every time,” said Pate. “We need to practice hard and come out with better intensity to start games.”
Newland paced the Tigers (2-2, 0-2 SIAC) with 17 points, five rebounds and four steals, while Allie Murphy had eight points and six rebounds. Memorial travels to Bosse Thursday.
Jalaya Dowell had five points and eight rebounds, while Kaylie Stowe added five points, five rebounds and three assists for Castle, who has won five straight. The Knights travel to Henderson County (Ky.) Tuesday.