Tuesday, January 7, 2014

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Megan Shannon two made jumpers late in the first half that gave Pompton Lakes the lead for good as it snapped a 3-game losing streak with a 31-19 win at Mary Help of Christians on Monday.

NORTH HALEDON – An inexperienced squad in the midst of a three-game losing streak, Pompton Lakes' girls basketball team was not exactly playing with an abundance of confidence. In years past, a game against Mary Help of Christians would be the perfect remedy; an automatic easy win. But having scored just seven points and trailing with two minutes to go in the first half, the Cardinals were being outhustled and in danger of dropping a key league game to a team that was desperate to pull an upset.

Megan Shannon capped a 6-0 run to end the first half with a buzzer-beating jumper. Hannah Zadoyka hit a pair of huge 3-pointers early in the third and fourth quarters and Pompton Lakes snapped its losing skid with a 31-19 victory on Monday at Mary Help of Christians Academy in North Haledon.

“We couldn’t make a shot and they made big some big ones,” said Mary Help of Christians’ head coach Ed Torres. “We’ve been in all five games we’ve played this year. I’m happy with our effort and we played hard. But you have to make shots in order to win. We lost (Zadoyka) a few times in our zone and she made us pay for it.”

Neither team got into a rhythm offensively throughout the game. Whoever played harder was going to have the advantage and early on it was Mary Help that set the tone. The BlueJays were not able to force turnovers, but used their size advantage to keep Pompton Lakes from getting any good looks in the paint or second shots. Serynna Reyes hit a foul-line jumper to put Mary Help in front, 10-7, late in the second quarter.

Mary Help's Serynna Reyes finished with 7 points and 11 rebounds.

However, that lead was the BlueJays last as Sam Beazley hit an elbow jumper and Shannon followed with a pair of 18-foot shots, including one to beat the halftime buzzer, as Pompton Lakes grabbed a 13-10 lead heading into the locker room.

“I said that we were being outhustled in the first half and we had to come out in man in the second half to jumpstart us,” said Pompton Lakes’ head coach Matt Hennessy. “We got the shots we wanted in the first half, but we weren’t getting any offensive rebounds. We said we wanted to take some drives at the basket in the second half and look for something there or dump it down to Ally (Stygar) inside.”

The lead was still three early in the third quarter when Zadoyka doubled it with one shot from the corner, a 3-pointer that made it 18-12. With less than five minutes to play, Zadoyka nailed another trifecta to give the Cardinals their first double-digit lead of the game. The Cardinals were effective on the defensive end as well, allowing just two points over the final nine minutes of regulation.

“We weren’t playing very well in the first half, so we made some corrections,” said Zadoyka. “I had open shots but I wasn’t hitting them in the first half. Shooting 3-pointers is my strength though and when I’m open, I’m going to take it. When any of us are hitting shots it gives the rest of us a boost of energy.”

Pompton's Hannah Zadoyka finished with a game-high 11 points.

Zadoyka was the only player to reach double-figures from either team with 11 for Pompton Lakes (2-3). Stygar scored six of her seven points in the second half. Serynna Reyes led all players with 11 rebounds to go along with seven points, while Erin Lynch added six for Mary Help of Christians (1-4).

Although they are a game under .500, the Cardinals, more importantly, are 2-0 in the NJIC-Colonial Division with two big league games coming up. First, they are home on Tuesday against Eastern Christian before hitting the road again on Thursday night against Lodi. How they fare in those two games will be give the Cardinals an idea of whether they can stay in the race for a league title.

“Eastern Christian is a huge game because we’ve lost to them in the past,” added Zadoyka. “It was good to get a win today and now we want to keep it going through the rest of the week.”

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