Coach Dave Rennie continues to map out a profitable game plan for the Dayton Bulldogs of UCC-Valley Division, who have reached the Union County Girls Basketball Tournament semifinals. (Photo by JR Parachini)
Smaller Division Teams Impress
To Join RC In UCT Girls Semis
By JR Parachini
For sidelinechatter.com
To Join RC In UCT Girls Semis
By JR Parachini
For sidelinechatter.com
RAHWAY – Let’s see.
The first winner knocked off a division rival, beating that team for the second time in three tries and for the second time in a row this season. The second winner - which is the squad many Union County fans still refer to as the team that, “never beats nobody,” - captured its first county game in four years.
The third winner – from what other fans call the “lowly” Valley Division – just knocked off its third straight Mountain Division squad to reach the semifinals for what is to be believed the very first time.
The fourth winner – unlike the three before it – reached the semifinals for the third consecutive year and is now two wins away from becoming the first team to 3-peat since Elizabeth in 1997.
What we have is a very interesting Union County Girls’ Basketball Final Four, with Governor Livingston, New Providence, Dayton and Roselle Catholic the teams that advanced in that order Sunday in quarterfinal games played at Earl H. Walter Gymnasium.
36th ANNUAL FRANK J. CICARELL
GIRLS’ BASKETBALL
UNION COUNTY TOURNAMENT SEMIFINALS
THURSDAY, FEB. 24
AT RAHWAY’S EARL H. WALTER GYMNASIUM
(records thru Sunday)
3-Gov. Livingston (16-4) vs. 2-New Providence (17-4), 6 p.m.
12-Dayton (18-5) vs. 1-Roselle Catholic (20-4), 7:30 p.m.
You can be sure there will be a lot of GL and New Providence fans trying to get the attention of the referees in that neighborhood rival clash.
Roselle Catholic has won the title in 2003, 2009 and 2010 and New Providence in 1990. GL and Dayton have never won the crown.
It’s been some time for New Providence to be playing in the semifinals, while GL – like Dayton – may never have advanced this far.
Sunday’s quarterfinals scores included:
Gov. Livingston 46, Johnson 32
New Providence 55, Roselle 48
Dayton 43, Cranford 42
Roselle Catholic 37, Scotch Plains 26
You could have made the statement earlier this season that this was going to be the year that a Governor Livingston or a New Providence was going to be playing for the county championship.
If you were bold enough to predict such an outcome - based on the overall competitiveness of the county - you would have been correct.
No longer should smaller schools be looked upon with little respect as Mountain Division foes GL and New Providence - Group 2 and 1 schools respectively - were the first two teams to advance.
Then Dayton, another Group 1 school, made sure a Valley Division team got into the semifinals - for the first time in a long time or ever - by preventing Cranford from reaching the semifinals for the second straight season.
The Cougars – now 18-5 – had won six straight and were 18-2 since a 2-2 start.
In the Final Four there are two Mountain Division teams, one Valley Division squad and one Watchung Division school - Roselle Catholic.
Roselle Catholic won the Watchung Division after winning the Mountain Division. New Providence won the Mountain Division after winning the Valley Division. Dayton is favored Friday to win at St. Patrick and gain at least a share of the Valley Division crown.
In Sunday’s first game, GL- which earlier this year reeled off 12 straight wins after opening with a Mountain Division home loss to Johnson - outscored the sixth seed 18-4 in the fourth quarter after the Crusaders scored the last five points of the third quarter to make the score 28-28 heading into the final eight minutes.
Johnson also scored the last five points of the second quarter to take a 21-18 halftime lead, with seniors Kristy Pflug – 15 points – and Kate Matthews – six points – producing all of the Crusader scoring in the first 16 minutes.
Johnson led 12-4, with Pflug scoring all 12 points, and then went up 14-4 before GL got the game to 16-8 at the end of the first quarter.
GL then went on a 10-0 run in the second quarter to take its second lead at 18-16.
The higher-seeded Highlanders began the fourth quarter on a 12-0 run that proved to be the knockout. Sophomore center Erin Ferguson began the surge by making one of two free throws. Senior point guard Alyssa Polimeni made three of six from the foul line in the stretch.
GL, which improved to 16-4, went to a different defense that frustrated Johnson and limited senior quard Kristy Pflug from taking as many perimeter shots as she did in the first half. The Highlanders were also better able to contain Matthews from getting inside and scoring regularly.
“We’ve been in this spot before and knew that we had to step up our defense and take our time on offense,” said Polimeni of GL’s fourth-quarter success.
Pflug scored all 15 of her points in the first half and Matthews finished with 10 after being held to just four in the second half. Pflug was only able to get off three shots after the first quarter.
“We switched from man to a 3-2 (zone) and knew we would win with our defense, stopping them on every play,” Polimeni said.
Polimeni paced the Highlanders with 13 points, including nine free throws. She was less than perfect from the free throw line, as were her teammates, but that did not come back to haunt the Highlanders.
“I know, I would have preferred to have made more free throws, but we’re moving on and that’s all that matters,” Polimeni said.
Johnson was on its way with a strong start in the first half, but head coach Tom Chmiel saw the game shift when GL mixed things up defensively.
“When they changed to zone it hurt us,” Chmiel said. “Our goal was to get Kate Matthews the ball inside in the fourth quarter.”
A layup by Matthews was the first points Johnson scored in the final minute, cutting the deficit to 40-30 with a minute and a half left. It was too little too late, however, for the Crusaders.
“What happened was more a credit to them than anything else,” Chmiel said. “We stopped running. It was a matchup zone they threw at us. Nothing was going right for us in the fourth quarter.”
Also coming up big for the Highlanders was junior long-range shooting guard Sam Dowling, who connected on the final three of her five 3-point attempts and finished with 10 points. Dowling’s first 3-pointer gave GL its 18-16 lead with 3:01 left in the second quarter.
Her second 3-pointer, which came from the left side, put GL ahead 28-23 with a little over two minutes remaining in the second quarter. Her final 3-point basket, from the right side this time, made the score 34-28 in favor of the Highlanders and gave them their biggest lead up to that point.
In Sunday’s second game, New Providence outscored 10 th-seeded Roselle 16-10 in the second quarter to take the lead for good. Sophomore Cassandra Squeri’s second of three 3-pointers in the period gave the Pioneers the lead for good at 16-15.
Squeri, who paced all scorers with 22 points, made the biggest shot of the game late in the fourth quarter. After Roselle cut it to one at 48-47 following a conventional three-point play by Njera Hunter with 1:53 left, New Providence quickly came back down with the ball.
Squeri was open and took advantage from long-range, drilling her fourth and final 3-pointer to increase her team’s lead to 52-48.
“That was the backbreaker,” New Providence head coach Cap Pazdera said. “The momentum was shifting in their favor, but when Cassandra made that shot it proved to them that we were not going away.”
Seniors Laura Gregory and Kaitlyn Cresencia both worked hard inside to help be a part of their first UCT win. Gregory went strong to the basket all game long, scoring 19 points and grabbing her share of rebounds. Cresencia added six points and a number of boards.
Junior forward Emma Culleton did not score, but was also a force on the glass, coming down with many key rebounds.
While senior guard Bianca Partlow got her points – she led Roselle with 19 - tall junior center Nyasia Davis did not have a good game at all, held to just one point and only a handful of rebounds.
“We shut down Bianca from going to the hole and getting easy layups,” Pazdera said. “In the first half they weren’t knocking down threes, but we had to guard against that in the second half.
“Emma and Laura did a great job of boxing out and Kaitlyn does everything so well. Emma is a solid defender and rebounder. We had to own the defensive boards to win this game.”
After falling in its first UCT game as the higher seed last season for the third straight year, New Providence bounced back by producing an epic win over University on its way to winning a first-ever state championship.
The Pioneers then went 4-0 in one week earlier this year, which was the beginning of a seven-game winning streak and a big reason why they were able to gain as high as the second seed for the UCT.
Then New Providence went to Roselle Catholic for a Union County Conference-crossover game a little over a week ago and stunned the home team Lions 40-30, ending RC’s 15-game winning streak and 29-game winning streak dating back to last year against Union County opponents. It was not a nip-and-tuck, or buzzer-beater victory. The Pioneers led by double-digits for most of the game and played pretty well on defense.
Add a win over a hot Roselle team that just defeated Linden for the first time in three tries in the previous round.
Perhaps it’s time New Providence receives some respect.
“This is so sweet,” Gregory said. “This is the only thing we haven’t won. We’re playing with 500 more times confidence now.”
“I don’t know what else we have to prove?”
“In the past we looked at the county tournament as trying to gain some respect,” Pazdera said. “Then we got tired of losing in the first round.
“Today we needed to prove ourselves. We fought and played hard and deserved to be here.”
In Sunday’s third game, Dayton not only proved that it belonged in the quarterfinals, but also now the semifinals, which will be new territory for the Bulldogs.
After scoring 18 of their 20 first half points on six 3-pointers, the Bulldogs were able to drive to the basket with success in the second half and only had one 3-pointer in the final 16 minutes vs. fourth-seeded Cranford.
Two free throws by junior guard Emily MacDonnell gave Dayton its second five-point lead at 42-37 with 1:31 to go. MacDonnell also hit a big shot right before the third quarter buzzer to give the Bulldogs a 33-29 advantage heading into the final eight minutes.
Junior guard Jen Kuczynski made one of two free throws to give Dayton a 43-39 lead with 29 seconds left.
Cranford sophomore guard Jessica McCoy, who led all scorers with 20 points, made a layup to make it 43-41 with 20 seconds left. After a steal by Morgan Miller with 12 seconds left gave Cranford the ball back, Morgan was fouled by Dayton’s Anna Lies, which was her fourth foul, with 9.3 seconds left.
Miller, who finished with 17 points including 12 in the first half, made her first free throw to cut the deficit to 43-42, but missed the second, with players from both teams coming down with the rebound for a jump ball and possession remaining with Cranford with 7.3 seconds left.
Taking a pass from Jenna Goeller, Mairead McKeary got a clear shot off from the right side that hit off the rim as Dayton held on for the upset.
Lies, Dayton’s junior point guard, finished with 11 points and also produced her share of rebounds and assists. Her playmaking ability led Dayton to one of its biggest wins in some time.
“We played with a lot of heart,” said Lies, who averages 14 points, five assist and four rebounds. “We went after loose balls and played with poise when we had the lead.”
In the first half, MacDonnell and Kuczynski made two 3-pointers and Lies and Lea Ginefra one. Dayton was 6-for-8 from long-range in the first 16 minutes.
However, immediately when the second half began, Lies drove successfully through the lane and scored the first of her two second-half layups. Dayton proved right away in the third quarter that it could score away from the perimeter.
“They were pressuring our threes,” Lies said. “It wasn’t like drive or lose the game, but we took whatever the defense gave us.”
“At halftime I looked in the book and saw all threes and said that wasn’t good,” Dayton head coach Dave Rennie said. “We set screens for Anna for her to create and dish and she did a nice job with that.
“We also drew some fouls and made big free throws down the stretch.”
Dayton made eight of its 10 free throws in the second half, with Lies and MacDonnell making two big ones each in the fourth quarter.
“Our offense runs through Anna and we have two other legit scorers in Jen and Emily,” Rennie said.
Rennie, which guided Dayton to the quarterfinals for the first time during his 13 seasons at the helm of the Bulldogs, has now seen his squad go 3-0 at Rahway, with all three wins nail-biters.
First came a 55-44 overtime decision over Rahway in a Valley Division contest Feb. 7. Next was last Thursday’s come-from-behind, first round 38-35 win over fifth-seeded Oak Knoll.
The first Mountain Division team Dayton knocked out of the UCT was Union Catholic.
“We seem to like this court,” Rennie said. “We’ve had three close games here and have found ways to win all three times.”
In Sunday’s fourth game, Roselle Catholic was just looking to get back to its winning ways – period – in the nightcap. A 19-1 start that included a one-point loss to an out-of-county opponent was followed up by a first three-game losing streak in three years.
In order to prevent a four-game losing streak, the Lions had to defeat eighth-seeded Scotch Plains for a third time in three tries.
To say it took awhile for both teams to get comfortable and find their rhythms would be an understatement. The score was still 0-0 until Roselle Catholic senior forward Melissa Tobie scored on a layup after stealing the ball at midcourt with just 1:28 left in the first quarter.
Then freshman starter Katie Harper, who played well in a big spot, connected on a 3-pointer to give the Raiders a 3-2 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Roselle Catholic took the lead for good in the second quarter and managed a slim 15-12 halftime edge. Eighth-seeded Scotch Plains hung in there in the second half, despite missing too many shots.
The Raiders received a team-high nine points from Harper and eight from senior forward Aysia Peterson.
The Lions were led by a superb, game-high 17-point performance from sophomore point guard Marcia Senatus.
“We played well on defense the first two times against them and tonight it was the same thing,” Senatus said. “We rebounded well and got after 50-50 balls and that was the key.”
Senatus also led all players with three 3-pointers.
“We came out and played hard, but our shots weren’t falling right away,” Senatus said. “We knew we had to keep playing and stay with the plan.”
A three-game slide included the home loss to New Providence and road setbacks to Roselle and Montclair-Kimberley Academy.
“We played much better tonight,” Senatus said. “We believe in our system, coach pumped us up and we stuck with our plan.”
Roselle Catholic improved to 20-4, clinching a third straight 20-victory campaign. Including 22-4 and 23-3 finishes the last two seasons, the Lions are 65-11 since the start of the 2008-2009 season. Included in that stretch is a 9-0 UCT record Roselle Catholic hopes to improve upon Thursday night.
FIRST GIRLS’ BASKETBALL
UNION COUNTY TOURNAMENT
QUARTERFINAL AT RAHWAY
6-JOHNSON (13-8) 16 5 7 4 - 32
3-GOV. LIVINGSON (16-4) 8 10 10 18 - 46
JOHNSON CRUSADERS
3-Kristy Pflug 3-3-0-15
55-Kate Matthews 4-0-2-10
15-Cyndi Wilson 0-0-0-0
14-Michelle Smorol 0-0-2-2
22-Jess Schurtz 1-0-0-2
24-Lauren Saracen 0-0-0-0
11-Sarah Panetta 0-0-0-0
5-Cat Reichers 0-1-0-3
Starters: Wilson, Schurtz,
Smorol, Matthews, Pflug.
Totals: 8-4-4-32.
GOV. LIVINGSTON HIGHLANDERS
12-Kim Oseija 1-0-0-2
14-Alyssa Polimeni 2-0-9-13
31-Sam Dowling 0-3-1-10
22-Erin Ferguson 2-0-1-5
15-Mallory George 2-0-3-7
23-Debbie Kapilow 0-0-5-5
21-Rebecca Johnson 1-0-2-4
3-Bari Machado 0-0-0-0
11-Kristen Sorano 0 0-0-0-0
20-Jen Quaglia 0-0-0-0
24-Cat Quinn 0-0-0-0
Starters: Oseija, Polimeni,
George, Ferguson, Dowling.
Totals: 8-3-21-46.
SECOND GIRLS’ BASKETBALL
UNION COUNTY TOURNAMENT
QUARTERFINAL AT RAHWAY
10-ROSELLE (16-7) 9 10 11 18 - 48
2-NEW PROVIDENCE (17-4) 6 16 15 18 - 55
ROSELLE RAMS
22-Sandra Jaramillo 1-1-0-5
11-Johanna Jaramillo 2-2-4-14
13-Nyasia Davis 0-0-1-1
15-Njera Hunter 1-2-1-9
21-Bianca Partlow 7-0-5-19
32-Sabery White 0-0-0-0
Starters: S. Jaramillo, J. Jaramillo,
Davis, Hunter, Partlow.
Totals: 11-5-11-48.
NEW PROVIDENCE PIONEERS
21-Laura Gregory 8-0-3-19
15-Emma Culleton 0-0-0-0
12-Cassandra Squeri 4-4-2-22
5-Sara Lowenstein 3-0-2-8
2-Jil Balog 0-0-0-0
10-Jess Pacheco 0-0-0-0
32-Kaitlyn Cresencia 3-0-0-6
23-Lauren Cronin 0-0-0-0
20-Maxie Ibrahim 0-0-0-0
1-Alex Kohut 0-0-0-0
Starters: Cresencia, Gregory
Cullenton, Squeri, Lowenstein.
Totals: 18-4-7-55.
THIRD GIRLS’ BASKETBALL
UNION COUNTY TOURNAMENT
QUARTERFINAL AT RAHWAY
12-DAYTON (18-5) 9 11 13 10 – 43
4-CRANFORD (18-5) 11 10 8 13 - 42
DAYTON BULLDOGS
1-Ricci Rajoppi 0-0-0-0
3-Emily MacDonnell 1-3-2-13
5-Lea Ginefra 1-1-0-5
10-Jen Kuczynski 1-2-2-10
12-Allie Weber 0-0-0-0
13-Cieri Megan 0-0-0-0
14-Nikki Athan 0-0-0-0
15-Anna Lies 2-1-4-11
20-Brooke Lantier 0-0-0-0
22-Breanne Mooney 0-0-0-0
23-Heather Fritzen 1-0-1-4
2-Katie Condon 0-0-0-0
24-GIanna Izzi 0-0-0-0
Starters: MacDonnell, Kuczynski,
Lies, Fritzen, Weber.
Totals: 6-7-10-43.
CRANFORD COUGARS
3-Morgan Miller 4-2-3-17
4-Jenna Goeller 0-0-2-2
5-Jackie Monteagudo 0-0-0-0
10-Kerry Wischusen 0-0-0-0
11-Aaryn Wichelns 0-0-0-0
12-Brianna Capece 0-0-0-0
13-Mairead McKeary 0-0-0-0
15-Carly Maucione 0-0-0-0
20-Jessica McCoy 8-0-4-20
21-Danielle Jakubik 0-0-0-0
22-Kaitlin McGovern 0-0-0-0
24-Sara Gugliiucci 0-1-0-3
Starters: Miller, McCoy,
McGovern, Moeller, McKeary.
Totals: 12-3-9-42.
FOURTH GIRLS’ BASKETBALL
UNION COUNTY TOURNAMENT
QUARTERFINAL AT RAHWAY
8-SCOTCH PLAINS (14-10) 3 9 6 8 - 26
1-ROSELLE CATHOLIC (20-4) 2 13 10 12 - 37
SCOTCH PLAINS RAIDERS
12-Liz Gallo 0-0-0-0
30-Katie Harper 3-1-0-9
22-Evie Klotz 0-0-2-2
21-Rebecca Kreyer 0-0-0-0
15-Madison Maisel 0-0-0-0
10-Kelsey Meisch 0-0-0-0
13-Christine Monroy 0-0-0-0
25-Renee Oliver 1-0-0-2
24-Aysia Peterson 4-0-0-8
5-Linsey Phelan 0-0-0-0
14-Alyssa Riporti 0-0-0-0
23-Taylor Sebolao 1-0-1-3
20-Tara Sweeney 1-0-0-2
Starters: Klotz, Sebolao,
Peterson, Harper, Sweeney
Totals: 10-1-3-26.
ROSELLE CATHOLIC LIONS
22-Melissa Tobie 3-0-2-8
5-Marcia Senatus 2-3-4-17
1-Brittany Baker 3-0-1-7
23-Betina Petit 0-0-0-0
24-Danielle Franklin 0-0-0-0
3-Nivanni Grant 1-0-3-5
00-Tori Pozsonyi 0-0-0-0
Kate Tobie 0-0-0-0
Starters: Tobie, Senatus,
Baker, Grant.
Totals: 9-3-10-37.
36th ANNUAL FRANK J. CICARELL
GIRLS’ BASKETBALL
UNION COUNTY TOURNAMENT
SEEDING: 1-Roselle Catholic. 2-New Providence. 3-Gov. Livingston.
4-Cranford. (Top 4 seeds receive byes into the quarterfinals.)
5-Oak Knoll. 6-Johnson. 7-Linden. 8-Scotch Plains.
9-Summit. 10-Roselle. 11-Union. 12-Dayton.
13-Union Catholic. 14-Kent Place. 15-Rahway. 16-Hillside.
17-Westfiled. 18-Plainfield. 19-Elizabeth. 20-Benedictine.
21-St. Patrick.
PRE-PRELIMINARY ROUND
Thursday. Feb. 10
St. Patrick 59, Benedictine 42- at Benedictine
PRELIMINARY ROUND
Saturday, Feb. 12
At Roselle Catholic
Dayton 55, Union Catholic 37
Roselle 54, Rahway 24
Linden 50, Plainfield 42
At Rahway
Union 62, Kent Place 38
Johnson 53, Elizabeth 32
Scotch Plains 37, Westfield 21
Summit 68, Hillside 43
Monday, Feb. 14
At Rahway
Oak Knoll 54, St. Patrick 29
FIRST ROUND
Thursday, Feb. 17
At Roselle Catholic
Roselle 59, Linden 54
Johnson 49, Union 37
At Rahway
Scotch Plains 61, Summit 57
Dayton 38, Oak Knoll 35
QUARTERFINALS
Sunday, Feb. 20
At Rahway
Gov. Livingston 46, Johnson 32
New Providence 55, Roselle 48
Dayton 43, Cranford 42
Roselle Catholic 37, Dayton 26
SEMIFINALS
Thursday, Feb. 24
At Rahway
3-Gov. Livingston vs. 2-New Providence, 6 p.m.
12-Dayton vs. 1-Roselle Catholic, 7:30 p.m.
FINALS
Sunday, Feb. 27
At Kean University in Union
JV: 3 p.m.
Varsity: 5 p.m.
UCT CHAMPIONS
2010 - Roselle Catholic
2009 – Roselle Catholic
2008 – Westfield
2007 – Scotch Plains
2006 – Cranford
2005 – Scotch Plains
2004 – Scotch Plains
2003 – Roselle Catholic
2002 – Roselle
2001 – Union Catholic
2000 – Union
1999 – Summit
1998 – Union Catholic
1997 – Elizabeth
1996 – Elizabeth
1995 – Elizabeth
1994 – Linden
1993 – Linden
1992 – Union Catholic
1991 – Linden
1990 – New Providence
1989 – Union Catholic
1988 – Union Catholic
1987 – Union Catholic
1986 – Union Catholic
1985 – Hillside
1984 – Plainfield
1983 – Plainfield
1982 – Plainfield
1981 – Plainfield
1980 – Plainfield
1979 – Plainfield
1978 - Mother Seton
1977 – Union Catholic
1976 - ???
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