SANTA ROSA, CA – A continued share of first place in the North Bay League was at stake, and in what was expected to be a close, hard fought game like the first meeting between Montgomery and Cardinal Newman was nothing of the sort.
After winning by six points at home three weeks ago, the rematch between Prep2Prep North Coast Section No. 25 Montgomery and No. 18 Newman on Tuesday night ended in a sweep and a 53-32 rout by the visiting Vikings that sent a packed house of Newman fans home a bit unhappy.
The first half pretty much says it all. Montgomery 6-3 senior wing Evan Poulson 14, Cardinal Newman 13, and in total it was a 31-13 Vikings lead after two quarters.
Poulson, who every local analyst agrees is the leading candidate for NBL Player of the Year, ended up with a monster double-double 18 points and 16 rebounds with four assists. Harvey Rouleau, a 6-1 senior wing, was just as difficult for Newman to corral on both ends as well. He finished with 13 points, six rebounds and four blocked shots.
Neither team could make a shot early on and Montgomery finally broke the ice with 2:40 gone in the first quarter. By the time Newman scored with 3:25 left in the period it was an 8-2 deficit and the Vikings led 12-4 at the end of the quarter.
The futility of missing seven three-pointers in the first quarter and not making an outside shot continued for Newman as they trailed 31-13 at the half.
Montgomery extended its lead to 41-21 in the third quarter but Newman came to life and cut it to 41-30 early in the fourth, but they ran out of steam and the Vikings went on a 12-0 run before the Cardinals scored the game’s final basket.
“It was huge,” responded Poulson on how big was it to come into Newman’s gym and post such an impressive win. “I know they had a notch on us in the NCS rankings but we got it done.”
Things are a bit in the who-beat who syndrome after Tuesday’s action but it will pretty much shake out in this week and next week’s remaining league games.
Montgomery (18-4, 10-1 NBL) has a 48-39 loss on the road to a Windsor team that has a 45-42 home loss to Newman. Windsor (18-5, 10-1) kept pace with Montgomery after a Tuesday night 55-34 victory over Maria Carrillo. The two square off on Thursday and if Montgomery wins they would be a game up on both Windsor and Newman.
“We played really well, a complete game,” Montgomery third-year Coach Zac Tiedeman said. “But it’s just one win. We have three games left and have to stay focused.”
For Newman (19-4, 9-2) it was the end of a six-game winning streak since the 59-53 loss at Montgomery, and although they are not mathematically eliminated from the NBL regular season title it will be tough with only three games to go. They get Carrillo on Thursday and then Windsor at home next Tuesday. Brad Morato led the way against Montgomery with 12 points.
