Tuesday,
January 14, 2014
By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer
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Sukhi Kaur finished with 10 points and 4 steals for Lodi, which one its fifth straight game with a defensive masterpiece in a 31-10 win over Hawthorne on Monday. |
LODI – When Alyson Gorski took over as the head coach of the Lodi girls’ basketball team, she knew that the process of becoming a competitive team would take some time and a lot of growing pains. Preaching work ethic and the benefits of solid defense were the top priorities for Gorski, whose kids bought in from Day 1. The effort was there right from the get-go, but tangible results took longer to show up.
While the jump in the number of wins from her first year at the helm to the second was a modest four, two to six, Gorski could see the light at the end of the tunnel. And now, the Lady Rams feel like they could win every time they step on the floor.
Hawthorne (4-2) came to town on Monday on the heels of suffering its first loss of the season against Glen Rock and took an early lead. The Rams were undeterred, though, and stayed after it on the defensive end. What happened from there may have been a turning point not only in the game but possibly in Lodi’s entire season.
Despite giving away a ton of size to the Lady Bears and their three 6-footers up front, Lodi got into a zone defensively both literally and figuratively. Lodi’s 2-3 matchup zone caused problems all game long as it held Hawthorne without a sing point for a span of 16 minutes and allowed just three points over the final three-plus quarters in notching its fifth straight win, 31-10, at Lodi High School.
“This is our second year playing together and we’re starting to see the chemistry develop, especially on defense,” said Lodi’s Sukhi Kaur. “We have athletes on the team and we use that to our advantage. We don’t have the tallest girls on our team so we have to work that much harder on defense every time the other team has the ball.”
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Mallory Noordeloos scored an inside basketball to give Hawthorne an early lead. |
It looked early on as if Hawthorne’s size would pose a problem. Mallory Noordeloos scored inside, then dished out to Samantha Tolomeo for a 3-pointer that put the Bears in front, 7-3, with just over three minutes to play in the first quarter.
From that point on, it was all Lodi. Any time the ball went inside the Rams surrounded the post with two or three defenders, forcing Hawthorne to settle for outside shots. More importantly, Lodi consistently pulled down defensive rebounds, which is impressive being the Rams’ tallest starter is 5-foot-7. They also made key steals when they needed them.
Kaur made a steal and converted a driving layup that beat the buzzer to end the first quarter and tied the game at 7. Ariela Nunez then made a steal of her own and followed it up on the other end of the floor with a 3-pointer, which gave the Rams the lead for good. Arlene Espinal’s putback midway through the third quarter capped the 18-0 run that spanned three periods before Hawthorne’s Danielle Hampson finally snapped the scoreless drought with a free-throw with three minutes left in the third quarter. By then, Lodi was well on its way to victory and capped off the game in style by not allowing a point in the fourth quarter.
“It’s a great feeling to go on a run like we had today,” added Kaur, a junior guard. “It hurt to walk off the court last year after losing one game after another. When you have so many of those losses you learn to appreciate how it feels to play well and win. Now we have to work even harder to keep it going.”
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Ariela Nunez had 8 points and 9 rebounds for Lodi, which is now
5-2 on the season. |
Kaur was the only player to reach double-figures in scoring with 10 points to go along with four steals. Nunez added eight points and nine rebounds while Espinal led all players with 12 rebounds to go along with six points.
After opening the season with losses to Rutherford (7-1) and Saddle Brook (6-1), Lodi has rebounded to win five straight games. That represents the longest winning streak since the Rams won 6 in a row during the 2010 season. Not too shabby for a team that won just eight games in the previous two seasons combined.
Playing with confidence and executing a defensive game plan to perfection has been the recipe for the Rams’ recent success. The challenge now for Gorski and her starters, all of whom are underclassmen, is to work even harder to take their game to the next level.
“We have nothing to lose and everything to prove. That gives us a chip on our shoulder that we come into every game with,” said Gorski. “We’ve had a long summer of leagues, open gyms, working out, running. But that’s the extra work you have to do to be successful and I’m glad the girls are starting to see it pay off.”
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