MONROVIA — For the first time in nine years, the Lady Bulldogs of Monrovia have been crowned sectional champs after defeating Covenant Christian in the championship game Saturday night.
The Monrovia girls basketball team had the pleasure of hosting the IHSAA Class 2A Sectional 42 all last week.
The Bulldogs won the first round against Park Tudor, 45-31. On Friday night for the semi-finals, Monrovia took care of business with ease, defeating Riverside 68-10.
In the championship round against Covenant Christian in front of a packed house, Monrovia had a run late in the game in an otherwise close game to win 47-35. The Bulldogs cut the net down and had a full night of celebration.
“This is so unreal,” Monrovia senior Emery Newlin said. “I’ve never ever been able to experience something like this and especially on our home court, I’ll always remember. We did amazing tonight. I love them all so much. This has been the best opportunity for me to be a captain on this team and the only senior.”
Newlin played nearly the whole game and was the target of a lot of the aggressive defense in the end when Covenant Christian was forced to foul late in the game. Newlin finished with eight points. Freshman Zoie Walls and sophomore Grace Deaton led with 12 points each, sophomore Allie Tallent had 10, freshman Camyrn Wolfe added four and freshman Ava Sims added one.
“This was just a great opportunity and having only one senior, it’s such a huge thing,” Walls said. “We have such a huge future together at Monrovia. I think we can come back next year, too. I’m so happy to be with this group of people. They are my best friends, and I love them to death. I’m just glad we could work together to win this one. Hopefully we can get together and win regionals — all the way.”
Covenant Christian had a small 11-10 lead after the first quarter. Both teams had solid defense on both ends of the court and hit the ground running from the start.
Newlin found Tallent for a big three in the corner. Tallent had a steal and two points to go up 17-13. With less than a minute to go in the first half, Deaton hit a short wide-open jumper to go up five. Tallent and Walls worked together on a steal and Walls took it in for two points. Walls got another steal right away but missed the shot. Monrovia had a 21-14 lead at the break.
Monrovia slowed down the pace with a spread offense, only dribbling if Covenant Christian would press on defense. The Warriors had a couple stops and hit back-to-back three-pointers. Monrovia responded well with a nice offense and had a 28-20 lead after the third on four straight points from Walls.
The Warriors started to double and even triple-team Newlin at point in a full-court press. Newlin found outlets, drew fouls and dribbled her way through the crowd. Monrovia continued its patience late into the fourth quarter while the Warriors were looking to force a turnover or foul in short time. Tallent hit a couple free throws to go up eight with 1:10 to go. Deaton hit two for an 11-point game. The Warriors continued to rush shots while Monrovia had good, smart defense that carried them to the win.
“I’m so proud,” coach Daryl Gibbs said. “The only thing close to this is when I had my kids. It’s the most I’ve been impressed by somebody. They’ve grown.
“It started a little rocky, but the last few months, they’ve really started to play together. And it’s been fun to watch.”
The game was certainly a team win, but Newlin left it all on the court with literal blood, sweat and tears.
“It’s been a learning process for her,” coach Gibbs said. “When you’re as athletically talented as she is, it’s hard sometimes when maybe not everybody is up to your speed. She’s learned to kind of manage that and manage her own extrovert personality and manage it to help the younger girls grow as well.”
Sectionals was at home, but regionals won’t be too far away from home either. Monrovia (20-7) will play at Greencastle at 1 p.m. on Saturday against Parke Heritage (22-4).
“I was so excited to see this many people here,” Gibbs added. “I was hoping we could have generated some enthusiasm, and they did an awesome job.”
Road to the championship
Monrovia started its sectional journey against Park Tudor (12-10). It was a close game for the most part before the Bulldogs ran away with the score in the fourth quarter.
Wolfe had a huge game with 13 points. Newlin finished with 12 points and Walls had 10. Deaton added eight points and Tallent with two.
Monrovia had a huge semi-final game over Riverside (6-11) with a 38-point first quarter while only allowing two points. The Bulldogs had a 48-10 lead at halftime and didn’t allow another point defensively the rest of the game, even with nonstarters in the game.
Sophomore Willow Daly led with 13 points, Walls with 12 and Newlin had 10. Also scoring for Monrovia was Wolfe and freshman Caelyn Arnold each with seven, freshman Aliza Robertson with six, Sims had five, Deaton with four, and sophomore Harper Rahn and freshman Preslee Tauer each with two.
