Newark Clinches 1st in Close Win

Coming off of a disappointing game against Sandwich, Newark was looking to redeem themselves and clinch the Sandwich Thanksgiving Tournament title in their next matchup against a very strong Yorkville team, but the Foxes wouldn't go down easy. Yorkville went up early in the game and the Norsemen had to fight just to keep a 4 point deficit at the end of the quarter. Newark would come back in the second though outscoring the Foxes but still trailing by 1 going into the locker room. John Avery had three fouls going into the second half so he knew he would need to be careful to stay in the game. After a quick foul in the third however, he would have to stay on the bench to keep from getting his fifth. The team was able to fight hard on the defensive end but continued their poor shooting on offense and were only able to leave the quarter with the game tied at 37. Newark was able to find their rhythm just in time as the fourth quarter came around. John Avery was also able to stay in the game with four fouls and help out on the floor. Yorkville had to rely on fouling late in the game to try to stay alive. The team was able to hit their free-throws and go up by as much as 8 and finish the game up 51-46, clinching the 1st place title for the Norsemen. The leading scorer in the game was Kyle Anderson with 17. Newark also recorded 12 steals in the game including 4 from Avery. Brett Anderson, Kyle Anderson, and John Avery were also selected to the All-Tournament team on Saturday. Streator's Cravatta was crowned MVP.
- Written by Gregory Hughes
Source: Wix.com