Monday,
February 17, 2014
By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer
|
|
Milan Johnson scored a game-high 19 points for Teaneck, which erased a 13-point fourth quarter deficit before forcing overtime and beating Immaculate Conception, 51-48, in the Bergen County Tournament semifinals on Sunday. |
MAHWAH – Playing hard from the opening tap to the final buzzer sounds is something that Teaneck head coach Shenee Clarke has preached to her players ever she took over as head coach. Clarke's players have followed that advice to the letter this season, but against a strong Immaculate Conception squad looking to make its first-ever appearance in a Bergen County final it simply was not enough for the better part of three and a half quarters as the breaks were not going Teaneck's way.
Down 13 with under four minutes to play, the Highwaywomen were in a position they are rarely in. They were getting blown out in a big game in front big crowd and they were not executing on either end of the floor. The only way to fight their way out of it was to keep the pressure on and try to make their own breaks.
The Highwaywomen got some help that allowed Faith Ashby to hit a running bank shot off the glass at the buzzer to force overtime. Third-seeded Teaneck then held No. 2 seed Immaculate Conception scoreless in the extra session in scoring a miraculous 51-48 victory in the Bergen County Tournament semifinals on Saturday at Ramapo College in Mahwah.
“We needed all five girls to play team defense to keep it close until we had a shot to tie it,” said Clarke. “If you keep playing and keep working hard, eventually things can turn your way. We had a lot of girls step up today and make plays when we needed them to be made.”
Teaneck set the tone early and took a 13-8 lead after one quarter when Brienne Francois banked in a rainbow 3-pointer to beat the buzzer. The lead grew to as many as seven until Khayla Latimer and Nicole Skelly hit back-to-back threes as Immaculate Conception clawed back to pull into a tie by halftime, 19-19.
|
Jasmine Gee scored 12 points for IC, which was making its first ever appearance in the semifinals. |
The third quarter was all Immaculate Conception with Sam Fuehring and Jasmine Gee dominating the paint. Fuehring scored twice down low and Gee added a putback for a 6-0 spurt that gave the Blue Wolves a 35-28 lead. That momentum carried into the fourth quarter when Fuehring's short bank shot gave Immaculate Conception its largest lead of the game, 42-29, with 3:46 to play. Not only was Teaneck about to get bounced out of the county tournament, but it was about to do so in embarrassing fashion. It was at this point where the Highwaywomen banded together and decided that if they were going down that it was going to be on their terms.
“We always play hard no matter what the score is,” said Teaneck's Milan Johnson. “As long as there is still time left, we feel like we have a chance to win. We had to keep on attacking and do whatever we could down their lead so we could have a chance to win it at the end or go to overtime like we did today.”
Ashby and Johnson carried the load in the crucial fourth-quarter run as a pair of turnovers and a pair of ill-advised shots helped opened the door for the comeback. Ashby scored on a layup and Johnson followed with one of her own along with two free-throws as Teaneck needed less than a minute to slice a seven-point lead down to one. Ashby then hit one of two free-throws to tie the game with under a minute to play but Immaculate Conception held the Highwaywomen off momentarily when Fuehring's putback with 8.7 seconds left put her team ahead 48-46. Ashby got the ball over halfcourt and called timeout with three seconds left. Teaneck's hopes of advancing in the county tournament now rested on one shot.
Ashby received the inbounds pass, took two dribbles, and let one fly while knifing through two defenders. The floater from just inside the left elbow went off the glass and in as the buzzer sounded to tie the game and send it into overtime.
“It wasn't pretty and I didn't call glass on that, but as long as it went in that's all that matters,” said Ashby. “That play was originally designed to get it inside to (Kayla Gibbs). But if she wasn't open, whoever got the ball was told to go right to the basket. I got the ball pretty far out and I knew I only had time for one or two dribbles. When it went, we just went crazy. We felt going into overtime like the game was ours because we fought so hard just to get to that point.”
|
Kayla Gibbs and Teaneck will play Northern Highlands in the county final next weekend. |
The Highwaywomen clamped down even harder defensively throughout the extra session as they shut out Immaculate Conception and advanced to the Bergen County final with their biggest win of the season thus far.
Johnson scored a game-high 19 points while Ashby scored 10 of her 16 points in the final three minutes of the fourth quarter for Teaneck (19-1), which has now won nine in a row. Fuehring was a force inside, finishing with 18 points, 15 rebounds, and three blocked shots for Immaculate Conception (14-4). Gee and Latimer added 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Next weekend's Bergen County final will pit the Highwaywomen against No. 4 seed Northern Highlands in a rematch of a regular-season meeting where the Umass-bound Gibbs scored at the buzzer to give Teaneck a 58-56 victory. While both teams have improved since then, the expectation is for the game to be equally as close with every possession being a significant one.
“If we're going to be county champs, we can't start off flat like we did today and expect to just come back and win,” added Clarke. “Northern Highlands is a a good team that's also scrappy like us. We'll have to get more stops on defense because that really creates our offense. We have to keep attacking and playing our style no matter what. This game shows though that if you never give up and you bring everything to the table that you can find a way to win.”
CLICK HERE FOR MORE PHOTOS FROM THIS GAME.
TO BUY A COLLECTOR'S PRINT
OF THIS STORY, PLEASE VISIT 4FeetGrafix.com. |