E-P<\/a> (4-4, 1-2).<\/p>\nHolding on to a 17-12 halftime lead, Martin said the team just needed to stay calm and stay together after a rough first half. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe started just rushing things. Rushing our shots, rushing passes,\u201d she said. \u201cIt got to the point where we just needed to stay together.\u201d<\/p>\n
The approach led to a bit more breathing room in the third quarter with a 15-10 advantage. Brooklyn Smith hit two 3-pointers as five different Comets scored in the frame. <\/p>\n
Newman sealed the win in the fourth quarter as E-P did not score after the Comets led 32-22 through three quarters. <\/p>\n
The Panthers slowed the game down to a crawl on offense, and used their height and athleticism on defense. <\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly, they played pretty well. I would say they used their height against us,\u201d Martin said. \u201cWe don\u2019t really have that much height.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just had to box out and try our best to get the rebounds.\u201d<\/p>\n
On a night in which it seemed like there was a lid on the basket at times, Newman\u2019s defense helped make a difference. The Comets had just four turnovers while E-P had 17 giveaways. Newman was 15 of 30 at the line.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really important, because if your shots aren\u2019t going in, the only next step is defense,\u201d Martin said of the team\u2019s defense. \u201cUs just communicating on the court and staying together and talking, it really helped us toward the end of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Gisselle](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/D665EX2PJRATPK3QCPQ7ZUL2BU.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Gisselle Martin (Drake Lansman)<\/p>\n
The Comets also stayed together as a team after coach Herb Martin\u2019s night was ended after he was issued two straight technical fouls following a Newman basket late in the third quarter.<\/p>\n
Newman\u2019s Elaina Allen, who had six points, said it was a tough night shooting but the team\u2019s morale was still there. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re going to have those nights, but you have to find a way to fight through it,\u201d she said. \u201cI think we found that in our defense.\u201d<\/p>\n
E-P coach Chris Brown credited Newman after the win. <\/p>\n
\u201cHats off to Newman, they\u2019re a very good team,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re well-coached, they shoot the ball extremely well. And they\u2019re a bad matchup for us.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey run the ball, they space you out, they play good defense and they\u2019re good offensively.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brown said his team has been playing good defense all season. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re athletic enough to be very good defensively,\u201d he said. \u201cI thought if we can hold them under 40 … I think we can get it. Now offensively, we weren\u2019t very good. So hats off to their defense.<\/p>\n
\u201cDefensively, our effort\u2019s good. But I think it can be better.\u201d<\/p>\n
E-P also had too many fouls and turnovers, Brown said. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019ll give them a little better game next time,\u201d he said. \u201cI think we\u2019ll be a little bit more prepared.\u201d<\/p>\n
Huisman was also saddled with four fouls for E-P. She was 9 of 12 at the free-throw line and hit a 3-pointer. <\/p>\n
\u201cShe does a lot of good things for us,\u201d Brown said. \u201cProud of Aubrey and the effort she gave. When she\u2019s aggressive, we\u2019re usually better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin said an ugly win like this can only help the Comets. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt helps us understand more that we can win together in different situations if things happen,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Newman is off to a solid start and looks to be among the top teams in the conference. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very proud of where we\u2019re at. Definitely going to keep going for wins,\u201d Allen said. \u201cWe\u2019re just getting started.\u201d<\/p>\n
EP’s Lauren Punke passing around Newman’s Brooklyn Smith and Anna Propheter in Erie on Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025.
(Jessie Otten – Shaw Local News N)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Newman Comets entered Thursday night\u2019s Three Rivers East Athletic Conference matchup at Erie-Prophetstown averaging 60 points per…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":59026,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[136,138,137,32230],"class_list":{"0":"post-59025","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-erie","8":"tag-erie","9":"tag-erie-headlines","10":"tag-erie-news","11":"tag-illinois-high-school-girls-basketball"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59025"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59025\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}