December 23, 1999
Gibson sets record as New Riegel beats Calvert
By Ed Fox
Sports Writer
FINDLAY -- Fueled by a record-setting effort by senior Jenny Gibson, the New Riegel girls grabbed third place in the Liberty-Benton Holiday Tournament with a 63-40 win over Calvert Wednesday night.
Gibson established a new school record for 3-pointers in a game with six as she paced the Blue Jackets with 18 points.
"I knew it was just going to be a matter of time until she got the record by herself," said New Riegel coach Steve Lucius. "She had shared the record at five with Kim Steyer and Stephanie Reinbolt."
Gibson, who had four 3-pointers to account for all 12 of her points in Tuesday's 46-39 loss to eventual tournament champion Liberty-Benton, broke the game open against Calvert with a quartet of treys in the third quarter when the Blue Jackets built on a 27-21 halftime lead with a 19-11 scoring advantage.
"The girls really did a nice job finding the player (Gibson) with the hot hand and she knocked the shots down," said Lucius. "She spotted up well, they got her the ball and she squared up and shot it. They (Calvert) even went to a box-and-one and she still nailed one. She's definitely a zone buster."
Gibson was joined in double figures for the Blue Jackets (6-3) by senior Sabrina Reinhart with 16 points and junior Leanne Wertz with 11. Sophomore Kari Reinhart just missed doubles with eight.
It was Sabrina Reinhart carrying the Blue Jackets in the first half with 12 of her 16 points.
"That was a quiet 12 points for her in the first half," said Lucius. "I would've never guessed that she had that many. She just really works hard underneath and before you know it she's in double figures."
It was deja vu for Calvert which dropped to 3-5 on the season. The Senecas, who lost to New Riegel last Thursday, spotted the Blue Jackets a 7-0 lead in the opening three minutes of the game.
Again the Senecas were plagued by the turnover with six coming in that opening spurt by New Riegel and they finished with 27 for the game after having 32 in a 68-34 loss to Van Buren Tuesday.
"We had to roll the dice and the gamble didn't pay off for us," said Calvert coach Jim Kuhn. "What are you going to give up? Do you sacrifice a layup, I think not. So we packed it in and they got the hot hand from the outside. I don't think she's going to shoot like that every night. She (Gibson) had six 3-pointers and that just broke our back."
Gibson was 6-of-8 from 3-point range and the Blue Jackets were 9-of-22 en route to a 24-of-71 shooting performance. Calvert was 16-of-60 from the floor and just 1-of-7 from 3-point range.
Junior Kristen Kastner led the Senecas with 11 points and had a double-double with 16 rebounds while Sabrina Seitz chipped in with nine points and Laura Kuhn added seven points and 12 rebounds.
"I think Kastner is coming into her own now," said Kuhn. "We're really working with her and her confidence is up. She is fundamentally more strong and is making some good decisions. She is going to make our offense more effective and not one dimensional.
"I thought we showed more patience against their pressure than we did last week but we still panicked at times. They (New Riegel) are going to put as much pressure on the backcourt as they can and I thought we did a better job of handling it."
After jumping out early the Blue Jackets took a 16-10 lead at the quarter break and each team scored 11 points in the second period with New Riegel having a 27-21 lead at intermission. The Senecas were as close as three on two different occasions, at 20-17 and 22-19.
Calvert also closed within three (29-26) following a rebound bucket by Laura Kuhn with just under six minutes left in the third quarter.
Shortly thereafter the Blue Jackets began to bomb away and Gibson hit a trio of treys within a 90-second span to push the New Riegel lead to 46-28 and the Senecas never recovered.
In addition to her 16 points, Sabrina Reinhart had 16 rebounds as the Blue Jackets had a 45-43 edge on the boards and they committed 20 turnovers to 27 for Calvert.