Miller Girls Basketball Ousted From Playoffs
Cranford defense stifles the girls in the second round on Thursday.
The Millburn girls basketball team saw its playoff run come to an end on Thursday night in Cranford. The Cougar defense swarmed the Millers from start to finish and Millburn’s offense had no answers for the Cranford girls, who rolled to a 64-34 victory in the second round of the North II Group 3 state sectional playoffs.
It was pretty clear early on that Cranford’s defense would control the game when they held the Millers without a field goal for the first 10:03 minutes. A three-pointer from Jenny Smith with 5:57 left in the second quarter was the Miller girls’ first basket of the game and made the score 27-7 in favor of the Cougars.
“We work on defense in almost 90 percent of our practice, that’s what we concentrate on,” said Cranford head coach Jackie Dyer. “That’s what we kind of pride ourselves in so this is one of the best defensive games we’ve had in a long time.”
After falling behind by 22 points, the Millers went on a second quarter run, sinking six of their next nine shots to end the quarter down by 15. But just when the Millers had crept back into the game, Cranford’s defense stepped up a notch in the second half. And Millburn could not keep up.
The Millers knocked down two of their first three shots of the third quarter behind a pair of lay-ups from Smith and Taylor Perretti. But from there they made just 16.6 percent of their shots from the floor to close out the game and turned the ball over nine times during that stretch.
“We’re too much of a stand still, depend on Jenny Smith to hit the three,” said Millburn head coach Bill Drennan. “They’re not stupid, they know who the scorer is, they were in her face. We did not get out of all of our kids what we usually do.”
Millburn scored a total of nine second half points, including three in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, Cranford’s offense produced 24 second half points and ran very efficiently throughout the game. Cranford also drilled seven three-pointers to help them run away with this it.
“Give them the credit. They shot the heck out of it, they ran some good stuff and overall size killed us,” Drennan said. “They just shot the heck out of it, no matter what we did. We went under the screens, over the screens, and they just kept sticking them.”
Morgan Miller, Jenna Goeller and Jessica McCoy all scored in double figures for the Cougars. Miller led the way with 18 points, McCoy scored 14 and Goeller added 11. Jenny Smith led Millburn with 15 points, 12 of which came in the second quarter.
“[Miller] is our oldest person per se on the floor, she’s the only junior,” Dyer said. “She just sets the tone. She’s very experienced and she’s a big time leader on the floor for us.”
The Millers had been a typically strong defensive team heading into the game but seemed to give up too much size and speed to the Cougars, who turned the ball over just eight times in the game compared to 20 turnovers for Millburn.
“Everyone stepped up to the plate, everyone came to play today,” Dyer said. “They did everything that we prepared to do. So I was overall pleased with everyone.”
“If we’re not running with the ball, if we’re not getting down there, our key is to beat the zone down or at least get down there and get something coming from the baseline up,” Drennan said. “We never got that. We never got any fast breaks. We walked it up.”
Another possible factor in the game for Millburn was the absence of freshman starter Courtney Brosnan, who was away in Dallas for a soccer tournament.
“Brosnan is not here and it kills us,” Drennan said. “She’s a soccer player before a basketball player.”
Millburn ends its season with a 20-6 record and as Super Essex Conference Colonial Division champs for a second year in a row, after posting a 16-0 divisional record. They will be moving up to the Liberty Division next season.
“This was a pretty good team,” Drennan said of the Millers. “I don’t care what league you’re in, to win 20 games, go 16-0 in your conference, beat everybody twice is pretty good. And they beat some good teams.”
The defending section champion Cranford Cougars, who improved to 21-5, are moving on to the semifinals on Saturday, where they’ll face top seeded Chatham.
“I feel pretty good. We were the third seed last year when we won the whole thing,” Dyer said. “We talked to the girls and said that this is our title that we need to hold on to unless we give it to someone else. So it’s all in their control.”
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It was pretty clear early on that Cranford’s defense would control the game when they held the Millers without a field goal for the first 10:03 minutes. A three-pointer from Jenny Smith with 5:57 left in the second quarter was the Miller girls’ first basket of the game and made the score 27-7 in favor of the Cougars.
“We work on defense in almost 90 percent of our practice, that’s what we concentrate on,” said Cranford head coach Jackie Dyer. “That’s what we kind of pride ourselves in so this is one of the best defensive games we’ve had in a long time.”
After falling behind by 22 points, the Millers went on a second quarter run, sinking six of their next nine shots to end the quarter down by 15. But just when the Millers had crept back into the game, Cranford’s defense stepped up a notch in the second half. And Millburn could not keep up.
The Millers knocked down two of their first three shots of the third quarter behind a pair of lay-ups from Smith and Taylor Perretti. But from there they made just 16.6 percent of their shots from the floor to close out the game and turned the ball over nine times during that stretch.
“We’re too much of a stand still, depend on Jenny Smith to hit the three,” said Millburn head coach Bill Drennan. “They’re not stupid, they know who the scorer is, they were in her face. We did not get out of all of our kids what we usually do.”
Millburn scored a total of nine second half points, including three in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, Cranford’s offense produced 24 second half points and ran very efficiently throughout the game. Cranford also drilled seven three-pointers to help them run away with this it.
“Give them the credit. They shot the heck out of it, they ran some good stuff and overall size killed us,” Drennan said. “They just shot the heck out of it, no matter what we did. We went under the screens, over the screens, and they just kept sticking them.”
Morgan Miller, Jenna Goeller and Jessica McCoy all scored in double figures for the Cougars. Miller led the way with 18 points, McCoy scored 14 and Goeller added 11. Jenny Smith led Millburn with 15 points, 12 of which came in the second quarter.
“[Miller] is our oldest person per se on the floor, she’s the only junior,” Dyer said. “She just sets the tone. She’s very experienced and she’s a big time leader on the floor for us.”
The Millers had been a typically strong defensive team heading into the game but seemed to give up too much size and speed to the Cougars, who turned the ball over just eight times in the game compared to 20 turnovers for Millburn.
“Everyone stepped up to the plate, everyone came to play today,” Dyer said. “They did everything that we prepared to do. So I was overall pleased with everyone.”
“If we’re not running with the ball, if we’re not getting down there, our key is to beat the zone down or at least get down there and get something coming from the baseline up,” Drennan said. “We never got that. We never got any fast breaks. We walked it up.”
Another possible factor in the game for Millburn was the absence of freshman starter Courtney Brosnan, who was away in Dallas for a soccer tournament.
“Brosnan is not here and it kills us,” Drennan said. “She’s a soccer player before a basketball player.”
Millburn ends its season with a 20-6 record and as Super Essex Conference Colonial Division champs for a second year in a row, after posting a 16-0 divisional record. They will be moving up to the Liberty Division next season.
“This was a pretty good team,” Drennan said of the Millers. “I don’t care what league you’re in, to win 20 games, go 16-0 in your conference, beat everybody twice is pretty good. And they beat some good teams.”
The defending section champion Cranford Cougars, who improved to 21-5, are moving on to the semifinals on Saturday, where they’ll face top seeded Chatham.
“I feel pretty good. We were the third seed last year when we won the whole thing,” Dyer said. “We talked to the girls and said that this is our title that we need to hold on to unless we give it to someone else. So it’s all in their control.”
Credit Jose Ortiz
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