February
20, 2005
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| Lauren Jimenez went for 30 points and 15 rebounds as North Bergen came back on Bayonne to claim its second straight Coviello Division title. | |
JERSEY CITY - The North Bergen girls basketball team has proven in recent weeks that it has the ability to pull out a win by coming from behind. The most telling example of that came when it rallied from a 15-point halftime deficit and a six-point fourth quarter deficit to knock off Marist in the HCIAA-Coviello semifinals on Thursday.
However,
the Bruins found themselves in tougher situation on Saturday in the HCIAA-Coviello
Division final, facing a nine-point deficit late in the third quarter against
top-seeded Bayonne, which did not lose a league game during the regular season.
But in a matter of two minutes, the whole landscape of the game changed.
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| Jen Mayo was named Bayonne's MVP in her final game against in-county competition. |
The Bruins scored the last nine points of the third quarter, with Karina McGuire's steal and three-pointer off the glass at the buzzer tying the score heading into the final eight minutes. With North Bergen rejuvenated and its momentum growing bigger with each passing minute, it was only fitting that the biggest player on the court completely took over the game.
Six-foot-three
sophomore center Lauren Jiminez hit nine of her last 10 shots, including five
straight in the fourth quarter, to cap one of the best performances in HCIAA
Championship game history. Her monster 30-point, 15-rebound effort helped
the Bruins go ahead to stay as they pulled off an upset over the top seed
in the HCIAA-Coviello Championship game for the second straight year with
a 61-52 win.
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| Karina McGuire's steal and halfcourt heave pulled North Bergen even at the end of the third quarter. |
"Basically, it came down to who wanted it more and we came out in the second half to defend our title," said Jiminez. "After Karina (McGuire) hit that three-pointer, we knew we weren't going to lose this game. I just wanted to do my part in the paint and I wanted the ball every time down the floor. I had my best individual game, but it only means something because the team won and it was for the county championship."
Jen Mayo has been a star for Bayonne in her four years as a starting guard and came out on fire in her last game against a county opponent. She hit two 3s, including one at the buzzer, in a first quarter-closing 10-3 run that gave the Bees a 20-12 lead.
With leading
scorer Christy Altamarino being well defended, Courtney Young stepped up as
a second offensive weapon and hit for eight points in the first half with
Bayonne holding a 30-21 halftime lead.
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| Christy Altamarino and Bayonne will try to rebound int he North 2, Group 4 state tournament. |
The lead was still nine with just over two minutes to play in the third quarter when Jiminez began to show her offensive prowess and touch around the basket. She hit a pair of baskets to spark the game-changing run. After Luz Cotorreal hit a short jumper to trim the lead to three with 4.1 seconds remaining, Bayonne took a timeout.
On the ensuing play, the long inbounds heave was meant to go to Altamarino, but McGuire made a steal at midcourt. She took two dribbles, and then heaved up an off-balance shot at the buzzer that went off the glass and rattled in to knot the score at 38 going into the final stanza.
"That
was the play that really turned the momentum in our favor," said North Bergen
head coach Dan Reardon. "We were a little more familiar with Bayonne's press
after seeing them two times already this season, which helped. They are a
tough, tough team, but we were able to get it inside to Lauren (Jiminez) in
the fourth quarter and she got the job done."
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| Cassandra Chenet and North Bergen received a first-round bye and will face Bergen Tech in the second round of the North 1, Group 4 state tourney. |
The two squads battled back and forth for the next five minutes, trading shot for shot. Mayo and Altamarino started clicking from the perimeter, but Jiminez seemed to always have the answer inside. With the scored tied at 47, Jiminez made two great catches in the paint and laid them in for a 51-47 lead with two minutes to play.
Mayo hit a 10-foot bank shot to trim the lead in half, 51-49, with 1:35 to play, but the Bees never got any closer. Jiminez hit another lay-up to make it a two-possession game with a minute to go. Cotorreal and Cassandra Chenet iced the game from the charity stripe as the Bruins, for the first time in their history, have won back-to-back HCIAA titles.
"We knew
this was going to be a tough game and we just ran out of gas at the end,"
said Bayonne head coach Jeff Stabile. "Defense has been our strength all year
long and we just didn't have the energy left at the end. North Bergen was
able to go deeper into their bench. I normally can do that as well, but Jiminez
causes so many match-up problems that I pretty much had to stick with my starting
five for most of the way. She alters the game in so many ways, especially
with the way we have to play."
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| Luz Cortorreal and the Noth Bergen seniors were a part of the first back-to-back county title teams in school history. |
Jiminez was dominant throughout, finishing a blistering 14 of 19 from the floor for North Bergen (18-5). Also, eight of her 15 rebounds were off the offensive glass. Cotorreal finished with 11 points, nine rebounds, and three steals. McGuire chipped in with eight points off the bench. The Bruins, the No. 3 seed in the North 1, Group 4 state tournament, received a first-round bye and will face Bergen Tech in the second round.
After 15 consecutive victories, Bayonne suffered its first defeat to a county opponent, but not without another strong effort from Mayo, who led the Nees with 18 points, including 4 of 7 from three-point range. Young added 12 points for Bayonne (18-3), which attempted just four free throws in the game. The Bees also received a No. 3 seed in the upcoming state tournament. They are in North 2, Group 4 and will face the winner of Plainfield and Piscataway.
"It's not just how we've won the last two years, it's the way we've comeback that has made it so special," said Cotorreal, a senior and three-year starter. "We knew how good Bayonne was, but we never quit. After Karina (McGuire)'s shot in the third quarter, we knew it was our game to win and we came out and did it. There is no better way to finish my senior year then to do something no team in the history of the school has ever done, win back-to-back championships."
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