Cougars make it five straight with unselfish play
Girls' varsity basketball team beats Hillside, 57-33.
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It’s been nearly a month since the debacle in Berkley Heights. That was the night the Cranford girls suffered a demoralizing 29-21 loss.
Now, some four weeks later, the Cougars have avenged that loss to the Highlanders as well as an earlier setback to Oak Knoll, knocked off a good River Dell team and have won nine of 10 games. On Tuesday evening in Cranford, the Cougars made it five wins in a row with a 57-33 cruise past Hillside, a team much better than its 2-17 mark might suggest.
“They’re really very good,” said Cranford coach Jackie Dyer, whose team improved to 17-4. “For a rebuilding team in a rebuilding season, they do pretty well. They’re very aggressive.”
It wasn’t quite as easy as that lopsided score might indicate, thanks primarily to poor rebounding by the Cougars in the first half. But Cranford finally started asserting itself on the glass in the second half and also used their fast break offense to perfection in pulling away midway through the third period.
“I wasn’t happy at all (with the rebounding),” Dyer said. “I don’t know why, we just came out a little bit lax, but we pulled it together in the second half. We haven’t been scoring too well from outside, so getting quick transition shots is big for us.”
Those fast breaks as well as crisp passing in the half-court offense resulted in 22 assists out of 25 field goals. Morgan Miller turned in another stellar performance with six assists to go along with 14 points, four rebounds, three steals and three blocked shots. Freshman Carly Maucione continued to demonstrate how much she’ll be counted on over the next several years by coming off the bench to knock down all five of her field goal attempts on her way to 10 points.
Jess McCoy added 13 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Hillside led just one time in the contest on a three-pointer a little more than a minute in. But Cranford made seven of its first nine shots, including back-to-back buckets by Jenna Goeller and a three-pointer by Miller that put the Cougars up 13-5. Another three-pointer by Miller midway through the second period and a free throw by McCoy had Cranford up by 10, but thanks to a slew of offensive rebounds by Shanique Owens, Hillside crept to within four points in the final minute.
Maucione came off the bench and immediately scored on a spin move in the lane, and McCoy scored inside at the buzzer to open up a 25-17 lead at halftime. Cranford’s offense continued to click in the third period, thanks to fast-break buckets, but Owens scored three straight times off offensive rebounds and the Comet were still within eight points at the 4:21 mark.
Mairead McKeary launched a 12-0 Cranford run when she took a pass from McCoy and completed a fast break, followed by two buckets inside by McCoy, a 14-footer by Miller and two more lay-ups by McKeary, who finished with nine points. Hillside got it down to 16 with 5:47 left, but Maucione knocked down two consecutive 12-footers on the baseline.
“Carly has a great shot,” said Dyer, who played Maucione sparingly in the first half. “She’s getting more minutes, but we figure when it isn’t broken, don’t try to fix it. When it’s going well, we don’t want to disrupt that.”
Kaitlyn McGovern scored seven points, grabbed four rebounds, handed out four assists and made three steals.
“Kaitlyn has been a lot more aggressive the past five or six games,” Dyer said.
Goeller had four points, but also dished out six assists and had two of Cranford’s 12 steals. After getting outrebounded 22-8 in the first half, Cranford won the battle of the boards in the second half but still finished with a 31-21 deficit. But thanks to forcing 23 turnovers, they launched seven more shots than the Comets, making 25 of 47.
It was Cranford’s second victory over Hillside in 12 days. Miller’s 13 points led the Cougars to a 55-44 victory on Feb. 3. The following day, Cranford overcame another sluggish start against Gov. Livingston to rally for a 37-29 victory behind 10 points by McGovern, nine points, three steals and seven rebounds by McCoy, and seven points, five steals and four blocks by Miller.
On Feb. 8, the defense limited Elizabeth to four first-half points in a 33-16 victory, with McCoy scoring eight, while McKeary, Maucione and McGovern chipped in six apiece.
Finally, last Saturday, Miller scored 13 points and Cranford rallied from a five-point halftime deficit to beat 15-4 River Dell 37-34.
“We’ve rebounded well (from the Gov. Livingston loss),” Dyer said. “We learn from our losses. We talk about what we didn’t do well in those games and we make adjustments and work on those things in practice. They are learning.”
Cranford travels to Scotch Plains on Friday for a 7 p.m. tip. The Cougars open Union County Tournament play on Saturday.
Now, some four weeks later, the Cougars have avenged that loss to the Highlanders as well as an earlier setback to Oak Knoll, knocked off a good River Dell team and have won nine of 10 games. On Tuesday evening in Cranford, the Cougars made it five wins in a row with a 57-33 cruise past Hillside, a team much better than its 2-17 mark might suggest.
“They’re really very good,” said Cranford coach Jackie Dyer, whose team improved to 17-4. “For a rebuilding team in a rebuilding season, they do pretty well. They’re very aggressive.”
It wasn’t quite as easy as that lopsided score might indicate, thanks primarily to poor rebounding by the Cougars in the first half. But Cranford finally started asserting itself on the glass in the second half and also used their fast break offense to perfection in pulling away midway through the third period.
“I wasn’t happy at all (with the rebounding),” Dyer said. “I don’t know why, we just came out a little bit lax, but we pulled it together in the second half. We haven’t been scoring too well from outside, so getting quick transition shots is big for us.”
Those fast breaks as well as crisp passing in the half-court offense resulted in 22 assists out of 25 field goals. Morgan Miller turned in another stellar performance with six assists to go along with 14 points, four rebounds, three steals and three blocked shots. Freshman Carly Maucione continued to demonstrate how much she’ll be counted on over the next several years by coming off the bench to knock down all five of her field goal attempts on her way to 10 points.
Jess McCoy added 13 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Hillside led just one time in the contest on a three-pointer a little more than a minute in. But Cranford made seven of its first nine shots, including back-to-back buckets by Jenna Goeller and a three-pointer by Miller that put the Cougars up 13-5. Another three-pointer by Miller midway through the second period and a free throw by McCoy had Cranford up by 10, but thanks to a slew of offensive rebounds by Shanique Owens, Hillside crept to within four points in the final minute.
Maucione came off the bench and immediately scored on a spin move in the lane, and McCoy scored inside at the buzzer to open up a 25-17 lead at halftime. Cranford’s offense continued to click in the third period, thanks to fast-break buckets, but Owens scored three straight times off offensive rebounds and the Comet were still within eight points at the 4:21 mark.
Mairead McKeary launched a 12-0 Cranford run when she took a pass from McCoy and completed a fast break, followed by two buckets inside by McCoy, a 14-footer by Miller and two more lay-ups by McKeary, who finished with nine points. Hillside got it down to 16 with 5:47 left, but Maucione knocked down two consecutive 12-footers on the baseline.
“Carly has a great shot,” said Dyer, who played Maucione sparingly in the first half. “She’s getting more minutes, but we figure when it isn’t broken, don’t try to fix it. When it’s going well, we don’t want to disrupt that.”
Kaitlyn McGovern scored seven points, grabbed four rebounds, handed out four assists and made three steals.
“Kaitlyn has been a lot more aggressive the past five or six games,” Dyer said.
Goeller had four points, but also dished out six assists and had two of Cranford’s 12 steals. After getting outrebounded 22-8 in the first half, Cranford won the battle of the boards in the second half but still finished with a 31-21 deficit. But thanks to forcing 23 turnovers, they launched seven more shots than the Comets, making 25 of 47.
It was Cranford’s second victory over Hillside in 12 days. Miller’s 13 points led the Cougars to a 55-44 victory on Feb. 3. The following day, Cranford overcame another sluggish start against Gov. Livingston to rally for a 37-29 victory behind 10 points by McGovern, nine points, three steals and seven rebounds by McCoy, and seven points, five steals and four blocks by Miller.
On Feb. 8, the defense limited Elizabeth to four first-half points in a 33-16 victory, with McCoy scoring eight, while McKeary, Maucione and McGovern chipped in six apiece.
Finally, last Saturday, Miller scored 13 points and Cranford rallied from a five-point halftime deficit to beat 15-4 River Dell 37-34.
“We’ve rebounded well (from the Gov. Livingston loss),” Dyer said. “We learn from our losses. We talk about what we didn’t do well in those games and we make adjustments and work on those things in practice. They are learning.”
Cranford travels to Scotch Plains on Friday for a 7 p.m. tip. The Cougars open Union County Tournament play on Saturday.
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