Gov. Livingston (51) at Cranford (56), NJSIAA Tournament, Final Round, North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 - Girls Basketball
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By Carolyn FreundlichCranford’s Jenna Goeller, Kaitlin McGovern and Jessica McCoy had all fouled out.
With roughly 20 seconds to go the Cranford seniors, and the team’s three key starters, were all on the bench and nervous to say the least.
Gov. Livingston had the momentum, rallying since the start of the fourth to cut a 12-point deficit down to five with 14.1 seconds left. Then Erin Ferguson grabbed an offensive rebound and connected on a putback to get Gov. Livingston within three.
Cranford's upperclassmen then breathed a sigh of relief as they watched freshman forward Carly Maucione come through in the clutch.
After getting fouled while attempting to bring the ball up court against a suffocating full court press, Maucione made good on two free throws with 6.8 ticks left and sent Cranford to a 56-51 victory over Gov. Livingston for the NJSIAA/ShopRite North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 championship in Berkley Heights.
It was the first sectional title for Cranford since 2010, when Goeller, McGovern and McCoy were freshman.
"We have been playing together since we were 13, and we just don't want it to end yet," said McCoy, who finished with 12 points and six rebounds in helping Cranford reach the Group 3 semifinal where it will meet Jefferson tomorrow at 7 p.m. at Ramapo.
"It's do or die in states," McCoy said, "and we just wanted to show that we are the better team, that we are a different team than when we saw Gov. Livingston a week ago."
A week ago when Gov. Livingston knocked Cranford out of the Union County Tournament in the semifinal round. The Berkeley Heights school went on to take the UCT title over Oak Knoll on Sunday.
"I think they (Gov. Livingston) were very shocked at how much we were driving and how all five people scored consistently," said McGovern, who had a team-high 18 points. Maucione followed with 11 points, and Goeller had nine points on the day.
"We had to fix our chemistry that we lost somewhere in the middle of the season," McCoy said. "Now we are firing on all cylinders."
It took all five players on the Cranford hardwood to halt a possible Gov. Livingston comeback at the end of the fourth, and right before the break.
Down 21-13 at the start of the second, Gov. Livingston went on a 6-0 run to get within 21-19, thanks to two-point buckets by Mallory George, Sarah Dilly and Ferguson. Cranford then responded to close the period with a 7-2 surge. Mairead McKeary had a pair of free throws, McGovern connected for two, and McCoy hit a 3-pointer to cap scoring in the first half with Cranford leading, 28-21, at halftime.
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