Wednesday, January 13, 2010

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Leah Johnson hit both ends of a 1-and-1 with 28 seconds left to give Paterson Catholic the final points it needed to hold off E. Christian.

NORTH HALEDON – When Eastern Christian point guard Kelsey Spoelstra went down from a blow to the head midway through the first quarter, it seemed only a matter of time before a supremely-talented Paterson Catholic squad pulled away. However North Jersey’s leading scorer, Eastern Christian’s Brianne Traub, had other ideas. She not only single-handedly kept her team in the game, but also had them in a position to win in the final seconds.

That put Paterson Catholic, an athletic team that thrives on its diversity offensively, to do the one thing that it had not had to do so far this season…get a defensive stop in crunch time and put away a close game.

Eastern Christian never got off a final shot because of a traveling call and Paterson Catholic escaped with a 44-42 victory in a battle between two of North Jersey’s three previously unbeaten teams at Eastern Christian High School.

Brianne Traub finished with game-highs of 31 points and eight rebounds for E.Christian.

“We won ugly, but it’s still a win,” said Paterson Catholic head coach Dave Andre. “We were either playing really well or really poorly all game. I thought we had 22 really good minutes, and 10 really bad ones. Eastern Christian came in ready to win this game and we were lucky to get out of here with the win.”

Paterson Catholic took the lead 90 seconds into the game and was leading 7-4 when Spoelstra went down. Having already suffered a concussion during soccer season, she was held out for the remainder of the game. That forced Traub, who normally plays off the ball, to bring the ball up the court and run the offense.

Eastern Christian grabbed the lead on a Traub three-pointer, 20-19, midway through the second quarter. But Paterson Catholic battled back with Brianna Cook’s three-pointer giving them a 27-23 halftime lead.

It looked like that might be the backbreaker as the Lady Cougars bumped the lead up to seven on two steals and breakaway layups from Cook. But Traub refused to let her team go away quietly and used her long-range shooting to keep the Eagles within striking distance.

Despite foul trouble, Cook finished with 11 points, 6 assists, 6 steals, and 4 rebounds.

Traub hit a long three-pointer with a hand in her face to trim the Cougars’ lead to 38-35 with 3:35 to play. Leah Johnson answered with a layup for Paterson Catholic to make it 40-35, but the Cougars were dealt a blow on the ensuing possession when Cook fouled out with 1:47 to play.

The lead was cut down to a basket on a driving runner by Traub with just over a minute to play. The Cougars needed leadership and it was Johnson who provided it. She was clutch throughout the fourth quarter, no more so than when she hit both ends of a one-and-one with 28 seconds left to make it a two-possession game, 43-39.

“Without Bri (Cook) in there, someone had to step up and demand the ball,” said Johnson. “I wanted the ball and I wanted to make a play. It wasn’t about who scored or anything like that. All I want to do is win and I knew I had to be more aggressive in the second half when I had the ball in my hands.”

That could have been the final blow to the Eagles’ upset bid, but Traub responded once again with another huge shot. She was fouled while hitting a 17-foot jumper and completed the three-point play to shave the lead all the way down to a single point, 43-42, with 17 seconds left.

Carly Spoelstra and Eastern Christian fell to 7-1 on the season.

After Paterson Catholic missed the front end of a one-and-one at the other end, Eastern Christian pulled down the rebound and had a shot to pull off one of the biggest upsets of the season to date.

Traub brought the ball up the court and was double-teamed before passing the ball off to an open teammate. But a traveling violation with five seconds left gave the ball back to the Cougars and the Eagles never got off a game-winning shot attempt.

“We had our opportunities, we just didn’t take advantage of enough of them,” said Eastern Christian head coach Steve King. “If you told me that we would be without Kelsey Spoelstra for the final three quarters and we would be down one with the ball against Paterson Catholic in the final minute, I’m not sure I would have believed you. But we kept fighting and Brianne (Traub) played outstanding. We would have loved to pull this one off, but I couldn’t be more proud of the effort we displayed.”

Johnson led Paterson Catholic (9-0) with 15 points and eight rebounds. Although she battled foul trouble all game, Cook finished with 11 points, six assists, six steals, and four rebounds.

Shaquanna Marshall and PC improved to 9-0 on the season.

Traub finished with game-highs of 31 points and eight rebounds for Eastern Christian (7-1).

While rare, there are some regular-season games that have the feel of a state tournament game and this one of them. One everyone involved will remember for a long time.

“It was an amazing feeling just to be in a game like this,” said Traub. “When you face one of the best teams in the state, all you want is a shot at the end to win it and we had that. Without Kelsey (Spoelstra) in there, we had to improvise a lot offensively. That made the game more challenging, but our team loves challenges.

“We were so pumped for this game, so it’s tough to be so close and come away with a loss. But we know we were right there with the best team in the county and one of the best in the state, so that gives us a lot of confidence for the rest of the season.”

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