Newton-Conover girls hand Bandys first loss, tie for CVAC 2A lead

As a senior, Newton-Conover High center Kadesha Gibbs is certainly well in tune with the mood of every girls’ basketball battle the Red Devils have against rival Bandys.

“It’s the last time we’re playing them here, so you go big or you go home,” said Gibbs. “I guess I go big.”

Gibbs scored 19 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and had six steals on Tuesday night to lead Newton-Conover’s 81-61 win over the previously unbeaten Trojans.

Beating Bandys at Newton-Conover for the seventh time in the last eight games in Lemon Gym, the Red Devils (16-3, 8-1) kept the Catawba Valley Athletic 2A title race going.

Bandys (17-1, 8-1) and Newton-Conover share the league lead. Had the Trojans won, their lead over every other team in the conference would have been two games with five to go.

The Red Devils made sure that didn’t happen by keeping the Trojans out of sync and with two pesky guards – senior Shynese Whitener and freshman guard Taylor Petty -- each adding 20 points each and sophomore forward Lanecia Williams providing 11.

Bandys guard Madi Story led all scorers with 23 points, Brittany Moss added 12 and senior guard Jesse Story, sidelined since Dec. 15 with back problems, came off the bench to score eight points.

But the Trojans scored on consecutive possessions after defensive stops only three times – once after the Red Devils shot to a 13-3 lead in the opening 4 ½ minutes, back-to-back with nearly four minutes left in the half and on Madi Story’s four free throws that bridged the end of the third quarter and start of the fourth.

“We just struggled,” said Bandys head coach Beth Queen, whose 220 career wins include four in 12 tries at Newton-Conover. “We just were not hitting on all cylinders.

“They (the Red Devils) did a great job getting Taylor Sigmon into foul trouble and that made a difference.”

Sigmon had two early fouls and went to the bench and she eventually picked up her fourth with 6:20 to play.

By then, the Red Devils were up 45-35 and their defense kept Bandys without points for 4:36 and the Trojans went 6:43 between field goals.

After Chelsey Queen hit her second straight 3-pointer with 5:49 to play in the third quarter, the Trojans didn’t hit a field goal until Moss scored from the right wing to pull Bandys within 59-49 with 7:02 to play.

Newton-Conover, mixing drives with its inside game, went on a 10-4 run to make it 69-55 with 3:23 to play and later scored seven unanswered points to turn it into a blowout victory.

Bandys beat the Red Devils 56-48 at Bandys on Dec. 15.

“This game, we were more ready to play,” Gibbs said. “We never let anybody beat us on our home court.

“We just kept up the defensive intensity. We expected them to have some runs. … but they didn’t.”

First-year Newton-Conover head coach Ike Williams said he wasn’t surprised Gibbs came up big as the Red Devils improved to 69-11 over the last two-plus seasons.

“It’s a big game,” Williams said. “Players play and wanna be in big games.

“Kadesha is special. She’s a tremendous leader. … She drives us, she’s kind of our engine.”

NEWTON-CONOVER 49, BANDYS 40

The Red Devils (11-8, 6-3) erased a three-point halftime deficit to beat the Trojans (1-17, 0-9), handing Bandys its 23^rd straight conference loss.

Josh Ramseur scored 12 points and Joshuwell McCombs and Kevin Cline each added nine points.

Colton Medlin of Bandys had a game-high 17 points, seven of them in the final eight minutes.

Ramseur had eight of his points in the first quarter, twice hitting 3-pointers.

Bandys outscored Newton-Conover 11-4 in the second quarter to lead 20-17.