Friday, March 5, 2010

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Moriah Sweeney's early season injury was was an obstacle for Ramsey, but her return to fill strength has been a catalyst for the Rams, who pulled their second straight state tournament upset, 40-39, over Hawthorne.

HAWTHORNE – When Ramsey ended their 2008-2009 season with a first-round loss to Hawthorne in the state tournament, there were no tears because, with virtually the entire team returning, there was plenty of promise for this year and the success it was supposed to bring. And after a fast start to 2009-10, the expectations for the Lady Rams rose.

But when leading scorer Moriah Sweeney went down a hip injury, their fortunes took a hit. In any other season, a nine-game losing streak meant no shot at playing in a state tournament, let alone thriving in one. But with the new rule in place throughout the state that takes under .500 teams to fill out each section’s 16-team bracket, the Rams had new life.

After winning their final two games before the cutoff, the Rams snuck in as the No. 15 seed just at the right time. With Sweeney back and the entire team rounding into shape, Ramsey scored a big first-round upset with a two-point win over second-seeded New Milford. That gave the Rams the confidence that their level of play was back to where it was when the season started.

Sophomore center Veronica O’Neill led all players with 17 points and 12 rebounds for Hawthorne.

That carried over into Thursday night as they traveled to the same gymnasium where last season’came to an end to once again matched up against a gritty Hawthorne team. This time though, there was no looking forward to next year, just this weekend.

Finally back at full strength, Sweeney hit a pair of free-throws late that proved to be the difference. Ramsey survived a pair of go-ahead field goal attempts in the final eight seconds and hung on for its second straight upset and its first section semifinal appearance in over a decade with a 40-39 win over seventh-seeded Hawthorne in the North 1. Group 2 quarterfinals.

“This is a huge win for us. It feels amazing to win these last two games the way we have,” said Ramsey’s Jill Padovano. “It feels good to win on this court after losing here last year, but we also feel relieved that we hung on there at the end. Hawthorne plays hard and we knew they weren’t going to give us this game, we had to go out and take it.”

Hawthorne started to take control of the game late in the first quarter when Jen Gangeri nailed a three-pointer to put the Bears ahead. Veronica O’Neill had five points in a 7-2 burst over the final three minutes of the first half that put the Lady Bears up 27-20 at the break.

Tabitha Larsen and Ramsey will play Pascack Hills in the North 1, Group 2 state sectional semifinals.

Hawthorne went up nine midway through the third quarter, which became a crisis moment for the Rams. While they had points to make up, any hopes of a comeback had to start on the defensive end. After a timeout, they turned it around quickly. Ramsey forced four straight turnovers and turned them all into baskets on the other end of the floor. Alyssa Burkard drained a three-pointer and Padovano followed with a running one-hander off the glass to cap a 9-0 run and tie the game at 31.

“That stretch where we turned the ball over a few times in a row really hurt us,” said Hawthorne head coach Neil Hancock. “I thought we did a nice job defensively in the half-court. But they were tough to stop when they had fast breaks off of our mistakes. When the game got close, I figured it was going to stay close right until the very end. I like how hard we played as we have all season, but we didn’t capitalize when we had them in foul trouble because we turned the ball over and they took advantage of it to get back in the game.”

An O’Neill layup gave Hawthorne the lead heading into the fourth quarter and the Bears led for most of the period. But the pesky Rams refused to go away and finally grabbed the lead late. Sweeney hit Rachel Spero with a wraparound pass for her only basket of the game, a wide-open layup to tie the score at 37. On Ramsey’s ensuing possession, Padovano was fouled and hit one of two free-throws to put Ramsey on top, 38-37.

Molly Siss and Hawthorne finished the season with a 14-10 record.

After a Hawthorne miss and with the Bears still three fouls away from putting Ramsey in the bonus, the Rams were able to run off nearly 40 seconds before Sweeney was fouled. After having to watch from the sidelines for most of her senior season, Sweeney calmly knocked down both ends of a one-and-one for a 40-37 lead with less than a minute to play.

“I just focused on hitting the first free-throw and then worry about the second,” said Sweeney.

Hawthorne got back to within one on a bank shot from Chelsea Otte and then got a chance to win it when Sweeney next attempt on another front end of a one-and-one rimmed out. Caitlin Smith and Gangeri each had contested looks at the basket in the final eight seconds, but neither shot was on the mark and Ramsey got to celebrate yet another wild upset.

“To win another state game and to do it on this court is incredible,” added Sweeney. “Two things really got us to where we are now. We play in the NBIL where no game is an easy one and every team is really tough. Also, we’re underdogs and we have nothing to lose. Playing teams like Ramapo and Pascack Valley has prepared us for anything. We are enjoying every bit of this. We’re going to take it one game at a time and see how far we can go.”

Alyssa Burkard drained a three-pointer during a 9-0 run that got Ramsey even at 31 and back in the game.

Padovano finished with 15 points and Sweeney 12 for Ramsey (11-14). O’Neill is an emerging sophomore center who led all players last night with 17 points and 12 rebounds for Hawthorne, who finished with a 14-10 record. Senior guard Courtney Van Tine, who passed the 1,000-point plateau earlier this season, had 12 points.

Ramsey will try to keep its upset-laden run going on Saturday when they face third-seeded Glen Rock. The Panthers also advanced with a one-point win, 47-46 over Pascack Hills. While it is another daunting task ahead of them, Ramsey head coach Shannon McGarrigle is confident in her team’s chances to keep the run going.

“The kids are remembering what it’s like how to win these types of games and we’re very happy to get this one,” said McGarrigle. “Our shots weren’t falling early, but we didn’t panic. We made some stops and kept fighting until we got the lead and then we held onto it.

“Our regular season did not turn out the way wanted it to, but that is in the past and it doesn’t matter right now. This is a whole new season and we’re playing every game like it’s our last, because it is if you lose from here on out. We’re having the most fun we’ve had all year and we want to keep this going as long as we can.”

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