Monday,
February 10, 2014
By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director
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Justine Esquilin made both ends of a one-and-one with 14 seconds left to seal Teaneck's 41-36 win over Paramus Catholic in the quarterfinals of the Bergen County Tournament. |
ORADELL – There was plenty of bad news for third-seeded Teaneck as it walked off the floor at halftime against Paramus Catholic in the Bergen County Tournament quarterfinals. The Highwaywomen were in foul trouble as All-County center Kayla Gibbs has just picked up her third personal on an over-the-back call 34 seconds before the buzzer, they were getting beat on the glass and on the scoreboard by the very team that beat them by 23 points back on January 23.
The good news was that for all that had gone wrong over the first 16 minutes, Teaneck was only trailing by three points at the break and head coach Shenee Clarke was willing to pull out all the stops to help her team reach the Final 4.
“When we came out a little flat in the third [quarter], we didn't have time for it so I just started subbing. I said 'If you want a part of this win, you have to come ready to play. They had to step up,” said Clarke. “It was an 18-15 game at halftime, it was a defensive game and what it really came down to was who was going to step up and hit shots? I was going back-and-forth with my assistant Tiffany [Conner] about we should try and we tried just about everything to see what would work.”
In the end it was two key jumpers from either corner by Brienne Francois, who played extended minutes, and two clutch free throws by Justine Esquilin, who nailed both ends of a one-and-one for her only points of the game with 14 seconds remaining and lots of defense that made the difference as Teaneck advanced to next weekend's semifinal round with a 41-36 victory at a sold out River Dell High School.
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Corinne Poitevien scored a team-high 10 points for Paramus Cath. |
Teaneck was given the No. 3 seed in the tournament despite having been undefeated at the cutoff. It was an oversight that put the Highwaywomen in that spot and it meant that of the top seeds, they would have the toughest road to Ramapo College as Paramus Catholic, due to three close losses early in the season, was seeded sixth, but came in playing as well as any team in North Jersey with wins over IHA and Teaneck in the last two-plus weeks.
The Paladins came out disciplined and determined to get the ball inside. Corinne Poitevien shot six first quarter free throws while getting Gibbs in early foul trouble and with Gibbs on the bench for much of the second quarter, Poitevien scored three times off the offensive glass. The Paladins led 9-7 after the first quarter and 18-15 at halftime, but it could have been more as they made just 5 of 10 first half free throws. They also lost starting small forward Jasmin Wilson with a strained knee ligament with 55 seconds left in the first quarter and she did not return.
Paramus Catholic scored 6 of the first 7 points in the third quarter to open its largest lead of the game, but Teaneck's system of shuttling players in and out started to hit on the right combinations. An 8-2 run got the Highwaywomen right back in the game as Gibbs scored off a fourth-time offensive rebound and Francois hit those back to back jumpers from opposite corners. Faith Ashby, whose play at the point guard position was crucial in the second half, made two free throws to get Teaneck to within 27-26 before PC scored the final three points of the quarter, including one free throw by Jina Crawford with :00.3 left on the clock that came on Amanda Gordon's fourth personal foul.
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Faith Ashby scored 5 of her 7 points in the second half for Teaneck, which will play Immaculate Conception in the semifinals. |
PC led 30-26 after three quarters, but a Gordon basket off an assist by Gibbs, who played the final 12:09 with four fouls but never fouled out, and a pull-up jumper by Ashby tied the score at 30 with 7:06 to play. With all of the foul trouble affected the post players on both sides, Ashby was the key that kept the Teaneck offense moving.
“We did not play well offensively in the first half, but In the second half we realized the only way we were going to win to be the team that wanted it more. There weren't a lot of fastbreaks for either team, we just had to keep trying to find ways to score,” said Ashby, a junior. “When we can't just throw the ball into Kayla and get points, everybody else has to step up and I think we did that today.”
There were two more ties at 32 and 33 before Francois came through again. She a jumper from the corner on a Gibbs kick-out and then banked in a fade-away jumper with 1:24 to go that gave Teaneck a 37-33 lead, its largest of the game to that point. Ebony Gilchrist made a 3-pointer with 59 seconds left to get PC back to within one, but after the teams traded misses, Esquilin, a sophomore, stepped up and buried the two free throws that made it a 39-36 lead with 14 seconds left. PC elected to go for the first available shot on its next possession, but missed a layup and that was that.
“We have been through a lot together and we really had to refocus after we lost to PC the first time we played them,” said Ashby. “We had to concentrate on defense, being better on the help-side and we did that much better today. We took away their post and that was really the biggest thing.”
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Sabrina Fincher scored 7 points for Paramus Catholic. |
Paramus Catholic shot just 10 off 66 from the field and just 14 of 28 from the free throw line and 9 of 17 in the second half. Poitevien (10 points) was the lone Paladin to finish in double figures, while Fincher finished with 7 and Destinee Hall and Gilchrist each had 6.
Showing the rewards of its try anyone and everyone, Francois (10 points) was the only Teaneck player to reach double digits, but eight different Highwaywomen scored at least two points. Ashby scored 5 of her 7 after halftime and Gibbs (12 rebounds), Gordon and Briana Phillip all scored 6. Milan Johnson and Kalifah Foster each made one field goal and Esquilin's lone points came from the free throw line in a clutch spot.
It gets no easier as Teaneck will play Immaculate Conception, the No. 2 seed, next weekend in the semifinals at Ramapo College.
“We were not happy with the No. 3 seed, but when we got the three we said, 'Okay, now we have to go out and prove ourselves.' We had to do it the hard way,” said Clarke. “We are going to Ramapo College and we will try to win two more games.”
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