Roselle Catholic junior Kate
Tobie brings ball upcourt against Cranford during Friday night's big
Union County Conference-Watchung Division showdown. (Photos by Gene
Nann-nannphoto)
Cranford senior Jess McCoy (20) looks to drive past Roselle Catholic's soph Zhane Irby (22)
Roselle Catholic's Zhane Irby
(22) reaches for ball as players from both teams get after it under the
basket during Friday night's important early-season UCC-Watchung
Division contest at RC.
Roselle Catholic Applies Early Pressure
En Route To A Key Win Over Cranford
By JR Parachini
For sidelinechatter.com
En Route To A Key Win Over Cranford
By JR Parachini
For sidelinechatter.com
ROSELLE
– Seeking to immediately create havoc and really put the ‘press’ure on
visiting Cranford, host Roselle Catholic went to a full court press
after the opening tip.
With hands up and bodies closely guarded, RC
put the pressure on, with four of its players - seniors Niavanni Grant
and Renee Oliver, junior Tori Pozsonyi and sophomore Allieyah Cubbage -
combining to score the game’s first 10 points on four inside baskets and
two free throws.
While Cranford, without the services of injured
starting forward Kaitlin McGovern (ankle), overcame an early
double-digit deficit, coming back from a second one was a bit too much.
The Cougars did, however, manage to pull back
to within three points and had two possessions to tie the game with less
than five minutes to go in the fourth quarter before the Lions ended
the contest on a 13-6 run.
In Friday night’s battle of the last two teams
that were undefeated in Watchung Division play, Roselle Catholic went on
to post a convincing 51-41 victory over Cranford in a Union County
Conference clash that was a bit closer than the final score indicated.
Roselle Catholic, which came off an impressive
61-54 home win over defending Shore Conference Tournament champion St.
Rose of Belmar Thursday night, improved to 7-0 overall and 4-0 in the
Watchung Division. The Lions will next take on Paramus Catholic Sunday
at 7 p.m. at Kean University’s Harwood Arena in Union. In the same
setting last year, a 5-1 RC squad lost to Paramus Catholic 48-44.
Cranford slipped to 6-1 overall and 3-1 in the
Watchung Division, its first year in the division after finishing second
in the Mountain Division last year. Cranford will host Group 4 power
North Hunterdon, 6-1 as of Friday, Saturday at noon at Cranford High’s
Martin Gymnasium.
Cranford and Roselle Catholic battled for the
first time in three years. They last played each other on Feb. 23, 2010
at RC, with the host Lions winning a Union County Tournament semifinal
game 75-50.
This was the first time in five games that RC
defeated Cranford at home in a regular season contest. Cranford defeated
RC the previous four times they played each other in a regular season
game at RC. Including Friday night, RC was undefeated all five times.
LAST 5 CRANFORD AT ROSELLE CATHOLIC REGULAR SEASON GAMES:
Jan. 4, 2013: Roselle Catholic 51, Cranford 41 – RC was 6-0
Jan. 16, 2010: Cranford 49, Roselle Catholic 47 – RC was 8-0
Jan. 15, 2009: Cranford 44, Roselle Catholic 33 – RC was 9-0
Dec. 14, 2007: Cranford 41, Roselle Catholic 38 (OT) – RC was 0-0
Dec. 20, 2006: Cranford 42, Roselle Catholic 27 – RC was 2-0
Roselle Catholic’s 10-0 run to start the game
included inside baskets by Cubbage, Grant, Oliver and Pozsonyi, with two
Pozsonyi free throws included in the mix. Those four players combined
to score 50 of Roselle Catholic’s 51 points, with Pozsonyi leading all
scorers with 17, while Oliver netted 14, Cubbage 11 and Grant eight.
Cranford was out of sorts at the onset and did
not get on the scoreboard until there was 3:49 left in the first quarter
following a 3-point shot that junior Mairead McKeary banked in.
“Having Kaitlin out, hurting her ankle, that
really kind of threw everything off,” Cranford head coach Jackie Dyer
said. McGovern hurt her ankle in practice Tuesday but, according to
Dyer, was to be back in the lineup for Saturday’s game vs. North
Hunterdon.
“Having someone consistently in the rotation
out like that made it a little difficult against Roselle Catholic, which
is a very good team,” Dyer said. “Breaking their press, we just had a
hard time with it. Next time we need to tighten up our passes, some of
them were soft, and be a little bit stronger with the ball.”
Sparked by five points from McKeary, three on a
3-pointer by junior Carly Maucione and two from junior Kerry Wischusen,
Cranford immediately got back in the game by pulling to within 12-10 at
the end of the first quarter.
The Cougars evened managed to take not one, but
two leads in the second quarter. However, after their final advantage
at 18-17, Roselle Catholic went on a 13-2 run that bridged the second
and third quarters, giving it another 10-point lead at 30-20.
Cranford, without McGovern in the lineup and
senior Jess McCoy held to zero points, actually did quite well to be
down only three at the break at 21-18.
After closing the first half with inside
baskets by Pozsonyi and Oliver, Roselle Catholic continued to dominate
the paint in building up its second double-digit advantage.
“We’re lucky it’s early in the season that we
can fix the mistakes that we made,” said McCoy, who scored her first
points with 1:17 left in the third quarter and finished with seven.
Cranford was led offensively by senior shooting
guard Jenna Goeller’s 12 points and Maucione’s 11. Stepping in for
McGovern, Maucione also had two blocked shots in the fourth quarter, the
first an impressive one of a shot that Pozsonyi took.
“We can’t have the breakdowns that we did and
moments on the court when we turn the ball over,” said McCoy, who
although she did not score a lot of points, was solid on the boards,
coming down with 12 rebounds.
Cranford went on a 7-0 run in the fourth quarter to make it a 38-35 game following two free throws Maucione made.
After the Cougars took the ball down twice with
opportunities to tie the game, RC gained possession with a jump ball.
Then Grant scored inside off a big offensive rebound to give the Lions a
40-35 lead.
Goeller’s final basket made it 44-38 with 1:20
to go before RC went on a 7-0 run. The game’s final points were produced
by McCoy on a 3-pointer from the top of the key.
“As a team we normally don’t give up,” McCoy said. “We always want to win, despite all of our struggles.”
Cranford, one of the top teams in North 2,
Group 3, came into the game as the only Union County school that was
state-ranked. RC may soon have that distinction.
“I think we got some turnovers, maybe not a lot
or maybe not a lot of points off turnovers - but then we turned it back
over a couple of times - but I think our press helped make it a 94-foot
game and that helped us a bit,” RC head coach Joe Skrec said. “I think
our press is pretty good and our defense is pretty good.”
While it might have been a bit rare that RC did
not produce a single 3-point basket, the Lions did well to limit
Goeller to just one. Four different Cranford players made just one each.
“I think we did a pretty good job on No. 20
(McCoy), who I think is a very good player and one of the best in the
county and I think we did a pretty good job on No. 4 (Goeller), who is a
pretty good 3-point shooter, but only got a couple of looks,” Skrec
said.
Pozsonyi netted 10 of her 17 points in the
second half - six coming in the third quarter - and Oliver eight of her
14 in the first. Oliver, who played her first two years at Scotch
Plains, also grabbed a team-high 13 rebounds for a double-double.
Pozsonyi, a Roselle Park resident, also contributed five rebounds, three blocks and two steals.
“Tori had a very good game today and also last
night (vs. St. Rose),” Skrec said. “Tori works very hard and she does a
lot of good things for us.
“A lot of times people don’t notice the other
things players do when they’re scoring. Tori was struggling a little bit
(to score), but she was doing other things like rebounding and playing
defense.
“The ball’s going in the basket a little better
and I think it will continue to go in the basket better for her. Oliver
is doing a great job inside. Renee and Tori are really starting to work
well together and are a nice tandem.”
Two Pozsonyi third-quarter free throws gave RC
its first 12-point lead at 34-22. She had two inside baskets in the
fourth quarter, with the first one coming when McCoy committed her
fourth foul with 6:55 to go.
“We had really good team chemistry tonight,”
said Pozsonyi, who played on the varsity as a freshman two years ago
when Roselle Catholic last won the UCT and became a starter last year as
a sophomore. “We made sure we got up on their 3-point shots because we
know that’s an advantage for Cranford and they’re a good team.”
NOTES: RC took the lead for good late in the second quarter and also was not outscored in any of the four periods.
Cubbage also produced four rebounds, two assists, one block and four steals.
The teams are scheduled to play this season’s
second and final Watchung Division game against each other Jan. 24 at 4
p.m. at Cranford.
UNION COUNTY CONFERENCE-WATCHUNG DIVISION GAME
CRANFORD (6-1, 3-1) 10 8 8 15 - 41
ROSELLE CATHOLIC (7-0, 4-0) 12 9 15 15 - 51
CRANFORD COUGARS (41):
20-Jess McCoy, senior, 2-1-0-7
4-Jenna Goeller, senior, 3-1-3-12
15-Carly Maucione, junior, 3-1-2-11
32-Kerry Wischusen, junior, 2-0-0-4
13-Mairead McKeary, junior, 0-1-4-7
Starters: McCoy, Goeller,
Maucione, Wischusen, McKeary
Totals: 10-4-9-41
ROSELLE CATHOLIC LIONS (51):
3-Niavanni Grant, senior, 3-0-2-8
23-Renee Oliver, senior, 6-0-2-14
32-Tori Pozsonyi, junior, 6-0-5-17
14-Kate Tobie, junior, 0-0-1-1
31-Allieyah Cubbage, 4-0-3-11
21-Ashley Skrec, sophomore, 0-0-0-0
22-Zhane Irby, sophomore, 0-0-0-0
24-Danielle Franklin, senior, 0-0-0-0
Starters: Grant, Oliver,
Pozsonyi, Tobie, Cubbage
Totals: 19-0-13-51
Roselle Catholic head coach Joe
Skrec (gray shirt) and assistant Charlie Wischusen guide the Lions
during timeout in their big UCC-Watchung Division contest vs. Cranford
in the RC gym.
Roselle Catholic's Tori
Pozsonyi (32) gets up in the air to battle for ball while her
teammates, from left, Niavanni Grant (3), Kate Tobie (14) and Renee
Oliver (23) all look to help her out.
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