Amidst chaos surrounding them, a sudden calmness rushed over Newman’s huddle entering overtime of the Class AAA championship game. The Cardinals had just blown a 16-point lead to New Hampton in less than four minutes, but they were anything but panicked.
Nasir Meyer’s missed free throw with less than a second remaining in regulation – which would have given New Hampton a miraculous victory – gave Newman head coach Jackson Johnson and his team the second chance they were hoping for. But the Cardinals were also built for these moments.
“They gave us extra life,” Newman senior Reggie Grodin said. “They messed up. The message was, ‘Take it.’”
It was fitting that this moment defined Newman’s championship. The Cardinals emerged with a thrilling 107-100 overtime victory over New Hampton to claim the program’s first Class AAA title, and they clinched it facing their most difficult situation yet. But that’s how they liked it. All winter, they not only embraced adversity, they actively sought it out. And it all came to fruition as they held the trophy high on championship day.
