Cranford girls' basketball season comes to an end in Group 3 semifinals; Cougars conclude with impressive 21-8 mark that includes a sectional championship

By JR Parachini

Union County Sports Editor

FRANKLIN LAKES – New Providence has practice Friday.

Cranford’s next practice will be on a Friday too, but – unfortunately for the Cougars – it will be the Friday after Thanksgiving.

Led by a superb 17-point performance from senior Nan Tucker, New Providence posted a convincing 49-39 victory over Cresskill in Thursday night’s Group 1 semifinal at Ramapo High School.

In the Group 3 semifinal nightcap at Ramapo, Pascack Valley was led by senior captain Terry Ely’s 17 points as it pulled away from Cranford in the fourth quarter en route to a 40-28 triumph.

The Cougars, who captured their second sectional championship and first since the initial year of the program in 1973-1974, had a four-game winning streak
snapped and finished an impressive season at 21-8.

New Providence (21-4 and winners of five straight) is now preparing for Sunday’s 1 p.m. Group 1 state championship game against Florence (22-5) at the Ritacco
Center at Toms River North in Toms River. Central Jersey
champion Florence defeated South Jersey champ Salem 50-44 in Thursday night’s Group 1 semifinal at
Williamstown.

Cresskill, the North 1 champion, finishes its season at 25-5.

New Providence, which fell in the Group 1 semifinals two years ago after capturing Central Jersey, Group 1, has never won a state championship in girls’ basketball.

This time the Pioneers get to go to Toms River instead of going home for good.

“We were just really pumped up for this,” Tucker said.

Cresskill took its only lead at 3-2 on a 3-pointer. New Providence forward Laura Gregory followed with her first basket to give the Pioneers a 4-3 lead.

That basket by Gregory – who poured in four of her 10 points in the first quarter – turned out to be the game-winner.

It began an 11-0 New Providence run that was sparked by Tucker grabbing four steals before the game was four minutes old and scoring 11 points before six full
minutes elapsed.

“We came out strong and decided at the beginning of the game that we couldn’t take them lightly because we just had this big win (the sectional final triumph over
University),” Tucker said. “We had to put that aside, leave it for later and
get on with our next game.

“We had to come out just as strong as we did against University.”

After a 3-pointer by Cresskill’s Floriana Borova – she led her team with 20 points – pulled the Bergen County school to within three at 18-15, New Providence ended
the first quarter on a 6-0 run, with Kaitlyn Cresencia scoring a conventional
3-point play and Alexa Lesnewich hitting a 3-pointer.

“We have never won a Group 1 state championship in girls’ basketball ever in the history of our school, so we’ve been so pumped up for this,” Tucker said. “We
needed the first quarter. We needed to get that run in the first quarter in
order to set the tone for the game.”

In the second quarter, New Providence didn’t score
until there was 3:52 left in the
period, with Cresencia scoring in the lane to give the Pioneers a 26-20 lead. New Providence then scored the final four points of the period to
lead 31-21 at intermission.

Cresskill’s first points of the third quarter did not come until an inside basket off an offensive rebound with just 1:45
left in the period. Borova scored the next Cresskill basket, but those two
points were her only ones of the third quarter, with the home team being held
to just four points in the period on 2-of-7 shooting from the field.

New Providence head coach Cap Pazdera talked about the strategy of containing Borova.

“When we came out, initially, I don’t think we were in our defensive rhythm,” Pazdera said. “We gave her (Borova) a couple of easy looks that we told her she
couldn’t have.

“At halftime we kind of made the adjustment. It was to be up in her and deny the ball. Let’s try to not let her catch it and not let her have a good open look.”

Tucker’s presence on defense was just as important as it was on offense.

“You could see that she (Borova) had a tough second half,” Pazdera said. “Nan really forced her to take shots she wasn’t comfortable taking or she was
off-balance and trying to lean in and draw something.

“Nandid an incredible job, again, shutting down their best offensive player and holding her to 20 points, which could have been 30 or 40.”

New Providence outscored Cresskill 6-4 in the third quarter for its biggest lead of 12 at 37-25.

Although Cresskill won the fourth quarter 14-12, it did not get any closer than nine points at 39-30 with 6:36
remaining.

Sophomore Emma Culleton was a force on the boards for the Pioneers, coming up with nine rebounds.

Cresskill won its four sectional games in North 1 by an average of more than 20 points, averaging 47. Cresskill scored just 10 points in the middle quarters.

Cranford led Pascack Valley 9-7 after the first quarter when sophomore Morgan Miller made a 3-pointer and Jamie Webb ended the period with a free throw.

Although Cranford didn’t score until there was 2:10 left in the second quarter – freshman Jessica McCoy hit a shot in the lane – the Cougars hung tough and were only trailing 15-13 at
the half. Webb’s first field goal tied the game for the third time at 13-13
before an inside basket following an offensive rebound by senior Dana Amato
gave the Indians back the lead.

“She (Amato) was very strong and we knew she was a big presence on the floor,” Cranford head coach Jackie Huber said.

Amato had five of her nine rebounds in the first half, with her stocky build a tough one for Cranford players to get around at times.

“She has, maybe, the best boxing-out skills I’ve seen all season,” Huber said. “She pushed you underneath the basket and you were not getting around her.

“They’re a very good team and in the beginning our offense just wasn’t there and we had a hard time with that. They play very good defense and it’s hard, even if you
are running your offenses, to get through the screens.”

Cranford shot 5-of-16 from the floor in the first half and made one of two free throws. However, Pascack Valley wasn’t much better, shooting 6-of-22 and making only
three of eight from the line.

Webb’s second field goal and what turned out to be her final points tied the game for the fourth and last time at 15-15 to open the third quarter.

Then Ely took over.

Ely, who had just three points at the half on three free throws, hit her first field goal to give Pascack Valley what would be the lead for good at 17-15. That began
a 6-0 run, with Ely scoring all of the points.

Webb contained Ely in the first half, which was huge because Cranford’s shots were not falling. Had Ely had a big first half, Cranford would not have been in the game in the second half.

“I think Jamie did a very good job,” Huber said. “Jamie shut her down, but she’s a good player and she’s going to score her points. She’s good off the dribble,
good driving to the basket, a good pull-up shooter, so we knew she was going to
score her points. It was just when she was going to.”

Despite Webb getting into foul trouble, Cranford continued to hang in there and was only outscored 10-8 in the third quarter and trailed only 25-21 going into the fourth.

Ely began the fourth quarter with a layup, but Miller answered with two free throws to keep it a four-point game at 27-23.

Then the Indians took over.

Pascack Valley made 7-of-14 free throws during first three quarters, but was much better from the charity stripe in the fourth.

McCoy picked up her fourth foul with 6:11 left, giving Cranford five to PV’s one at the time. Ely went to the line
and made both, which began a 14-0 Indian run that included Pascack Valley making 6-of-6 free throws in that stretch.

A free throw by Cranford freshman Kaitlin McGovern halted the run. McGovern ended up scoring Cranford’s final five points and finished with seven.

Players such as McGovern, Miller, McCoy, freshman Jenna Goeller and junior Sara Gugliuci will return next season with a lot of valuable varsity experience
under their belts.

“I was really impressed by how Kaitlin played down the stretch,” Huber said.

Pascack Valley took advantage of Cranford’s fouls in the final quarter by making 9-of-10 free throws in the period.

“We had little nit-pick fouls and some other issues and it was hard to bounce back from,” Huber said. “We got into some foul trouble and I think, mentally, that
took us out of the game.”

Despite the setback, Cranford had quite a season. The Cougars won 21 games for the first time in four years, managed to defeat the best team in the county –
Roselle Catholic – on its home court and then captured a sectional championship
after reaching the Union County Tournament semifinals for the first time in
four years.

“I’m really proud of us,” Webb said. “We made the semifinals of counties, which is good. We had a huge letdown there, but we stuck through it and won the section,
so that’s great.

“Our coach said every time we come watch the young girls play next year we’ll see our year up on the banner, so that’s something we’ll remember.”

“Losing does not feel good and it’s not something everyone likes doing, but they have to understand that they accomplished something people dream about doing,” Huber
said. “In high school I never went to a state sectional final and everyone
talks about it.”

Huber is a 2001 Union Catholic graduate who helped the Vikings win the UCT her senior season after they also won it when she was a freshman.

“The fact that they won it (the sectional final) and when they go into the school and see their year on the banner, they’re going to be remembered and that’s
important,” Huber said.

Seniors Webb, Taylor D’Antico – who finished with five points – and Danielle Gross provided leadership for the younger players while they grew as performers
themselves this season.

“They really did a good job of taking the younger girls underneath their wing and showing that they wanted it this year,” Huber said. “As seniors they wanted to
be leaders, they wanted to win a championship and that’s what they did.

“Our team was very young this year and I think we’ll be all right next year.”

NOTES: In a 21-5 season two years ago, New Providence defeated Highland Park 41-40 in the CJ, G1 final at West Windsor-North. The
Pioneers were then defeated by South
Jersey champion Wildwood
46-30 in a Group 1 semifinal at Deptford.

Pascack Valley – which has won six in a row and 19 of 20 – will next face Neptune in Sunday’s Group 3 final at Ritacco. Central Jersey champion Neptune, which improved to 27-1, easily defeated South Jersey champ
Point Pleasant Boro 63-28 in Thursday night’s Group 3 semifinal at
Williamstown.

Neptune lost to Shabazz in last year’s Group 3 final and finished 30-1. Shabazz is in Sunday’s Group 2 final at Ritacco against Chatham.

GROUP 1 SEMIFINAL AT RAMAPO

NEW PROVIDENCE (21-4, 5 in a row) 24 7 6 12 - 49

CRESSKILL (25-5) 15 6 4 14 - 39

NEW PROVIDENCE (49): Kaitlyn Cresencia 3-0-3-9, Nan Tucker 8-0-1-17, Cassandra Squeri 0-0-0-0, Emma Culleton 2-0-0-4, Sara Lowenstein 0-0-0-0, Laura Gregory 3-0-4-10, Alexa Lesnewich 0-1-1-4, Connie Haggerty 0-1-2-5. Totals: 16-2-11-49.

CRESSKILL (39):Jackie Azelby 1-1-5-10, Ava Skinner 0-0-0-0, Floriana Borova 3-4-2-20, Nikki Hernandez 0-0-0-0, Carly Cerone 3-0-3-9, Angelina Cortazzo 0-0-0. Totals: 7-5-10-39.

GROUP 3 SEMIFINAL AT RAMAPO

PASCACK VALLEY (26-4) 7 8 10 15 - 40

CRANFORD (21-8) 9 4 8 7 - 28

PASCACK VALLEY (40): Dana Amato 3-0-2-8, Alyssa Matos 2-0-0-4, Terry Ely 4-0-9-17, Chelsea Lombardi 1-0-0-2, Lindsey Hickey 2-0-5-9, Kristen Petro 0-0-0-0. Totals: 12-0-16-40.

Starters:Amato, Ely, Hickey, Lombardi, Petro

CRANFORD (28):Taylor D’Antico 1-1-0-5, Jamie Webb 2-0-1-5, Danielle Gross 0-0-0-0, Sara Gugliuci 0-0-0-0, Jenna Goeller 0-0-0-0, Jessica McCoy 2-0-0-4, Morgan Miller
1-1-2-7, Kaitlin McGovern 3-0-1-7. Totals:
9-2-4-28.

Starters:Webb, D’Antico, Gross, Miller, McCoy.