By RYAN WALKER
Norwell’s win over Cathedral was smooth sailing until it got a little dicey toward the end of the fourth quarter Friday night.
The Knights (2-0) returned to The Castle for the first time since their state championship run, topping the Cathedral Fighting Irish (0-1) 53-45 in a rare matchup between the two schools.
Norwell, who graduated the majority of its players last season, did not miss a beat with its new unit. They lead the Irish by as many as 18 points in the third quarter. The Knights put together a quick 7-2 stretch to begin the second half when point guard Vanessa Rosswurm nailed a three just 12 seconds in. Macie Saalfrank and Ashley Waldman cleaned up a pair of twos to reach the 14-point threshold.
A jumper and another bucket from Saalfrank later, and the Knights firewall hit 18 points with 2:55 remaining in the quarter. The stretch peaked at 19-1 with the Irish not scoring more than one free throw for 10 straight minutes.
“I really liked the start of each quarter,” Norwell coach Eric Thornton said. “It was very good for us on both ends. We had good possessions offensively, and I think that helps us defensively as well. It’s complimentary at times when we didn’t have good possessions offensively. You could see (us) getting in transition, and then (Cathedral) fouling, and then they’re getting things rolling.”
That was until Jaeda Wilson of the Irish had something to say about it.
The junior guard scored 12 points for the Irish on her own in a row, cutting the deficit down to just 12 by the end of the third. She finished with 16 points total.
Norwell fought back to start the fourth, as Saalfrank hit a quick five points on a transition bucket and a triple, then Rosswurm added another two points off of a turnover to back up by 17 that rushed Irish coach Lisa Finn to call a timeout. But that certainly wasn’t it for Cathedral.
While the Knights went dry for the next four minutes, the Irish were swatting back. a 10-0 run was capitalized by Tianna Guy’s three-pointer that brought the lead back to 51-38. Rosswurm hit a pair of free throws to weather the storm, but Cathedral would make three more shots with one minute to play.
Guy hit the second of her three-point baskets in the fourth down the stretch, and the lead shrunk to eight with 47 seconds left. The Irish had another opportunity with an open three to trim the Knights’ lead a little more, but just hit the orange iron and Norwell dribbled the ball out to make the score final.
In the end, the Knights’ body of work in the second and third quarters prevented a potential collapse at the end. The Knights were outscored 15-11 in the final frame.
“I think that’s due to our lack of experience,” Thornton said. “I thought you saw that we get a little skittish and fighting ourselves at the end. I call it wild. That’s what I call our kids when they do that, and they get a little wild.”
Rosswurm finished the game with a team-high 16 points on 4-15 shooting and hit all seven of her free throws. Saalfrank’s 11 points were all in the second half. Ryland Graft picked up seven points with three buckets off of steals.
As a team, Norwell shot a lackluster 4-22 despite getting open looks early.
Norwell crushed the rebounding edge 47-27.
Rosswurm’s new role
Rosswurm’s duties on the state runner-up squad last season were to be an option all over the floor, clean up rebounds for points and be a pest defensively. She was terrific in the role, but now with several members of the squad graduating, Thornton needed to lean on her for more.
With a mostly inexperienced varsity team, Thornton said that around mid-June, he toyed with the idea that his veteran should give point guard a try.
Rosswurm certainly has the ball in her hands more often, bringing the ball up the floor and getting her teammates involved. In the first quarter, shooters from beyond the arc were wide-open as defenders keyed in on the talented junior.
“She’s so much stronger with the ball,” Thornton said. “She’s really played off of other kids, and we never really thought of her in that position. As the summer went on, we were just kind of experimenting with things. Well, she was very receptive to it, and she just kind of took a hold of it. I like it. I like the way it fits with the rest of our pieces.”
In her two games this season, Rosswurm is averaging 21 points per contest.
Norwell won the junior varsity game 58-16. Mia Kurtz led the way with 22 points, Eden Nash eight and Grace Freiburger seven.
ryan@news-banner.com
NORWELL 53, CATHEDRAL 45
At Norwell
CATHEDRAL (0-1): Jaeda Wilson 4-11 7-7 16, Caroline Wiggins 4-7 1-2 10, Tianna Guy 3-11 0-0 9, Precious Anuka 2-3 2-2 6, Abby Beasley 1-3 0-0 2, Maddy Watko 1-4 0-4 2, Reaghan Gilmore 0-0 0-0 0, Arynn Garrard 0-0 0-0 0, Tatum Triggs 0-3 0-2 0. TOTALS: 15-44 10-19 45.
NORWELL (1-0): Vanessa Rosswurm 4-15 7-7 16, Macie Saalfrank 5-8 0-0 11, Ryland Graft 3-10 0-0 7, Alivia Green 2-3 1-2 5, Jada Dale 1-4 2-2 5, Addison Norris 1-6 1-2 3, Ashley Waldman 1-7 1-2 3, Larkin Smith 1-3 1-2 3, Haley Williamson 0-2 0-0 0, Mekynzi Beck 0-0 0-0 0, Isabella Swineford 0-0 0-0 0.TOTALS: 18-58 13-17 53.
Cathedral 8 6 16 15 — 45
Norwell 15 12 15 11 — 53
Three-point FG: Norwell: 4-22 (Dale 1-2, Rosswurm 1-3, Saalfrank 1-4, Graft 1-4, Norris 0-3, Waldman 0-4, Smith 0-1, Williamson 0-1), Cathedral: 5-10 (Guy 3-4, Wiggins 1-2, Wilson 1-3, Beasley 0-1). Rebounds: Norwell: 47 (Green 10, Waldman 4, Saalfrank, Rosswurm 4, Dale 4, Norris 3, Swineford 2, Graft 1, Beck 1), Cathedral: 27 (Wilson 7, Beasley 3, Anuka 3, Guy 1, Watko 1, Wiggins 1). Turnovers: Norwell: 17, Cathedral: 18. Fouls: Norwell: 16, Cathedral: 18. Fouled Out: None. Technicals: None.
JV: 58-16.
Freshman: No game.
