Newport 58 Bishop Brossart 42

Final from Newport.

Maybe the poster in the predictions thread knows (somewhat) what he is talking about.

It is unfathomable that you can lose key players like Taj Harding, Donnie Miller, and Makhi McGuire and re-load over the summer to once again be competitive without taking a step back.

Pretty good showing by the Cats, and not so much by the Mustangs tonight in Newport. Down 14-3, we outscore Newport 19-10 to narrow the margin to 2 at the half. The two teams battled relatively evenly in the third staza as the Cats maintained a four point lead. Brossart cuts it to two at 38-36 when the Cats go on a 11-0 run from which we never recovered.

Mustangs 17 of 51 from the field found everything to be contested, and we connected on only 4 of 21 from beyond the arc, one of our perceived strengths this year.

Newport gets Lexington Dunbar at Paris Saturday at Paris, while the Mustangs seek redemption at Harrison County later tonight, and visit the Highlands Bluebirds on Thursday.

This game was won on the boards. The Wildcats fought for better position while the Mustangs got caught watching. Brossart needs to clean that up or it'll be a long season.

Brossart also needs to develop another scoring threat. Possibly the Verst kid.

Newport looked good. They shot the ball well, they move as a unit on defense, they deserve a better ranking then what they have been given.

Good luck to both teams the remainder of the season.

As a former player, I never seemed to shoot well in Newport's gym. Not sure why, just happened. Brossart seemed to struggle shooting. That won't be the case all year. Certainly not taking away anything from Newport. Give credit to their defense for contesting most of Brossart's looks and winning on the boards. Coach Code's teams always improve throughout the year. I would expect nothing different this year.

It is always nice to have a chance within 24 hours to improve. They will get their chance tonight against Harrison, albeit on the road yet again.