February
18, 2007
 |
 |
 |
| Cara Bonito paced AHA early, giving her team the lead for good at 5-3 with a three-point field goal, and adding a conventional three-point play to make it 8-3 midway through the first period. | |
EAST RUTHERFORD -- Having the best player on the floor is not a guarantee of victory, especially when it is deep in a tournament situation. Holy Angels owned the best player in Tayler Wejnert, but against an Old Tappan team that Angels head coach Sue Liddy admitted to being a scary opponent, they needed more.
They got the extra dimension from Cara Bonito, the junior guard who seized the moment in the first half and ignited her team to a 56-47 victory on Saturday evening at Becton High School.
The win sends the Angels back to the Bergen County basketball tournament championship game for the first time since 2003 and the fifth time overall. They will try to join Ridgewood as the only schools to be 5-0 all-time in championship games when they face Ramapo at 2:00 p.m. next Sunday at Becton.
 |
| Lisa Jaris topped Old Tappan with 17 points and nine rebounds. |
Bonito sent Holy Angels on its way right from the get-go, giving her team the lead for good at 5-3 with a three-point field goal, and adding a conventional three-point play to make it 8-3 midway through the first period.
After two Lisa Jaris free throws moved the Golden Knights within three, Holy Angels (22-1) ripped off the next 13 points, with Wejnert draining seven of them and Bonito converting a Wejnert steal with a layup.
The fast-paced four minutes to close out the first period had Old Tappan (19-4) on its heels.
“Our game plan was to run up and down the court, because we knew they didn’t have as deep a bench as we did,” Bonito related.
 |
| Despite foul trouble, Taylor Wejnert led all scorers with 20 points. |
The Angels had a 21-6 lead after the first period and, after stretching it out to 25-6 with a pair of Wejnert buckets, the Knights whittled away and got within 29-19 with 1:20 to go before the half.
Wejnert had picked up her third foul and went to the bench with 2:08 remaining, and the Knights seem poised to win the moment and creep closer. A three-point try clanged iron, and Holy Angels came back the other way and scored off a Kate Branciforte jumper.
Another miss led to a Bonita trey with seven seconds left that sent Angels into halftime with a 34-21 bulge.
“I didn’t think about it,” Bonito said. “We just kept running our offense. I saw I had room and I just pulled up. It was good to get our momentum back because they had made that run in the second quarter.”
 |
| Old Tappan's Sam Sinatra pushing the ball up the floor. |
“I have a team that can do it with or without me,” Wejnert commented. “If I have to sit out a minute or two here or there, I’m not worried about it. Anyone can get this team going. I don’t have to be the only one putting the ball in the basket.”
Bonito three-point play midway into the third quarter sent Holy Angels to a 40-27 lead, and they were never threatened the rest of the game.
“She’s maturing at point guard like there’s no tomorrow,” Liddy said of Bonito. “She and I are starting to think alike, and that’s scary. She knows what she wants to do, and the kids are responding to it. She’s taken charge of this team and done a real nice job.”
Jaris was the only Old Tappan player in double figures with 17 points, including 9 of 11 at the free throw line, and she had 8 rebounds. The Knights as a team were 18 of 52 shooting and 10 of 14 on free throws.
 |
| Krissi Gorsuch grabbed 7 rebounds for second-seeded AHA. |
Wejnert topped Angels with 20 points and 9 rebounds, Bonito had 19 points and Krissi Gorsuch had 7 rebounds. Holy Angels was 17 of 38 from the floor and 19 of 26 at the foul line, including 12 of 17 in the fourth quarter.
“This is the first time for any of us in the final,” Bonito said, “and we won’t be satisfied until we win it.”
“We’re trying not to get too high,” Wejnert added. “We just have to keep level-headed. We know that (Ramapo) is going to be the toughest game of the year.”
FOR MORE PHOTOS OF THE EVENT OR TO BUY A COLLECTOR'S PRINT OF THIS GAME STORY, PLEASE VISIT 4FeetGrafix.com.
|
|
|
| About Us | Contact Us | Home |
Questions?
E-mail the editor editor@northjerseysports.com
All contents © copyright 2004-2007 HSSportsWeb.com, Inc. All rights reserved.
