Friday,
January 17, 2014
By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer
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Hannah Johnson did not get to the 1,000-point milestone for her career just yet, but she was the high-scorer in St. Dominic Academy's 56-31 win over McNair. |
JERSEY CITY – Before the game between St. Dominic Academy and McNair Academic, the buzz in the gymnasium was that St. Dom’s standout junior guard Hannah Johnson was just a few baskets away from scoring her 1,000th point. But upon going back and calculating the totals of all of the games in her three-year varsity career, it turned out that she was a bit further off than anticipated. Despite knowing she was not going to reach the milestone last night, Johnson managed to to show that she is much more than a pure scorer but more of an all-around player.
Johnson led all players in points, rebounds, steals, and assists as St. Dom’s never trailed in turning back McNair, 56-31, on Thursday at St. Aloysius School in Jersey City.
“I thought we came out and played with composure right before the half and that carried over into the third quarter,” said St. Dominic head coach David Wunsch.
On one of the smallest courts in North Jersey, St. Dom’s used a 1-2-2 full-court press to stifle the Cougars all game long, especially in the first and third quarters. So much so that McNair did not even attempt a shot until it was midway through the opening stanza.
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Despite the loss, Sarah Beckner and McNair are off to an 8-4 start to the season. |
The Cougars showed some resiliency as Jalia Carter’s layup to beat the first quarter buzzer brought them within one. St. Dom’s answered with back-to-back threes from Toni Gucci and Johnson to push the lead up to 7. McNair battled back to within 18-16 with 2:30 to play in the second quarter on a rainbow three-pointer from Sarah Beckner and a basket inside by Amissa Epperson.
That was as close as the Cougars got the rest of the game as Johnson had four steals in the final two minutes of the half. All of those steals led to baskets or points from the foul line as the Blue Devils closed the half on an 11-3 run to grab their first double-digit lead of the game, 29-19.
The second half was all Blue Devils, especially after McNair’s senior captain, Beckner, went down with an injury early in the third quarter and did not return. That left the Cougars without their most experienced player and their only true point guard. The result was a field day for the Blue Devils, especially Johnson. She took over on both ends of the floor during a 14-2 third quarter that put the game away.
“When we relax out there and set the tempo defensively things naturally happen for us,” added Wunsch. “I thought we had stretches where we played very well. But we also had stretches where our concentration level was not where it needed to be. In order to raise our level of play, we need to create an identity offensively and not solely rely on our defense to get us points in transition.”
Johnson filled up the stat sheet last night with game-highs of 20 points and 11 steals to go with nine rebounds and five assists for St. Dominic (6-3). Shannon Hester led all players pulling down 13 rebounds. Jalia Carter led the way for McNair (8-4) with 13 points.
While Johnson did not reach the milestone she covets last night, she knows that it will come eventually. Her focus is not on scoring her 1,000th point but on how to help her team get better every day.
“As a team player I want everyone to get their points and we win, that’s my only concern,” said Johnson. “I want to get my points too and it will be really exciting when I get to 1,000 points, but I want us to win more than anything. It’s all about tempo with our team. If we play like we did in the second half, I think we’ll go pretty far.”
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