Friday,
February 7, 2014
By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer
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Sophomore forward Julia Koenemund scored seven of her nine points in the third quarter and Paramus turned the tables on Hackensack with a 41-34 win. |
PARAMUS – The disappointment of not being selected for the Bergen County Tournament was wide spread among the Paramus girls’ basketball program. From head coach Scott Papetti, to the program's all-time leading scorer Brittany Stone and fellow senior Sabrina Helm, to the younger players who wanted a shot against one of the better teams in Bergen County, the disappointment was taken to heart from top to bottom.
Playing a big hand in Paramus' eventual disappointment was a young Hackensack squad that registered one of its three wins on the season over the Spartans back in early January. Although a win in the rematch could not change outcome of missing out on the county tournament, Paramus was looking forward to getting another crack at Lady Comets to exact a measure of revenge.
Sophomore forward Julia Koenemund scored seven of her nine points in the third quarter as Paramus had five players score at least five points each in a 41-34 triumph on Thursday night.
“This is a big win for us, especially with how poorly we played the last time we played them,” said Paramus head coach Scott Papetti. “In our first meeting, Hackensack just outhustled us and we couldn’t get anything going. Tonight we were much more balanced offensively and got a lot of contributions off the bench.”
A big contributor off the bench was sophomore Carla Cristo. Having scored only six varsity points this season, she provided a spark with consecutive baskets to start the second quarter and Alexa Colantino followed with a long jumper as the Spartans stretched their lead from a single point to an eight-point margin at halftime, 22-14.
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Hackensack's Jordyn Hellpap scored a game-high 13 points. |
Hackensack cut it to five twice in the third quarter, only to be answered both times by Koenemund. She scored on a layup and then a short jumper in the lane to help keep the Comets at bay.
“Julia definitely stepped up for us tonight and she really worked hard inside,” added Papetti. “With teams concentrated on stopping Brittany, it is going to give some other girls opportunities to get open looks. We definitely could have played better, but we made the plays we needed to make to prevent them from going on a run.”
Sophomore point guard Jordyn Hellpap and center Allie Wickersheim tried valiantly to keep the Comets within striking distance. But Hackensack never got closer than five points in the second half as Paramus held on for the victory.
“We’re young and we still have to learn how to win these tight games,” said Hackensack head coach Perrin Mosca. “It’s all the little things that we have to work on. The effort is there, but we can’t get over the hump because we make the same mistakes repeatedly. When you turn the ball over or allow someone to get an offensive rebound and a putback, it’s tough to gain momentum.”
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Senior Brittany Stone scored 7 points for Paramus, which improved to 7-10 on the season. |
Koenemund led the way with nine points for Paramus (7-10). Stone and Colantino each had eight, while sisters Sabrina and Jackie Helm each added five. Hellpap led all players with 13 points and four steals for Hackensack (3-16). Wickersheim added eight points, eight rebounds, and four blocks.
The Spartans came into the season with plenty of promise, but it has not gone how they expected it to. Losses at the buzzer to Indian Hills and Rutherford along with the loss to Hackensack early in the season shook their confidence a bit, but with last night’s win, they are hoping that this could be a springboard toward finishing the season on a positive note.
“It’s a good feeling to beat Hackensack since we know losing to them is one of the reasons we didn’t make the counties,” said Koenemund. “We were really motivated coming into this game. Brittany is a huge part of our team, but we all have to pitch in to be successful. The attention she draws gives us some open shots and we hit those tonight. Hackensack is a very tall team and we’re a very short team, so we had to be more aggressive. Hopefully this can be the start of us finishing out the season strong.”
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