Sunday,
February 8, 2015
By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer
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IHA's Caitlin Roche was the only player for either team to finish in double digits as the Blue Eagles lost the battle of tempo, but won their county tournament quarterfinal,
30-22, over rival Holy Angels. |
EAST RUTHERFORD – It has been a season of dominance for Immaculate Heart Academy. Coming off a Parochial A state championship last year, this season's squad has been rolling along and beating good teams handily. However, the beauty and the curse of basketball is that can change on any given day. Sometimes, the ball just will not go in the basket and the opposing has implemented a perfect scheme to dictate the pace of play.
It is rare that it happens to a team the caliber of IHA, especially in the Bergen County Tournament, but it was only fitting that it was archrival Holy Angels who did just that on Saturday and took the Blue Eagles right to the brink of extinction from the tournament in which they were awarded the top seed.
Holy Angels effectively took the air out of the ball and slowed the pace of the game to a crawl. For 29 minutes it worked to perfection, but the confidence of IHA's senior-laden group never wavered. It was a one-point game with less than three minutes to go but IHA forced four straight turnovers late to survive and advance to the Bergen County semifinals with a 30-22 win over No. 9 seed Holy Angels at Becton Regional High School in East Rutherford.
“Give Holy Angels credit, they made us play at a tempo that we clearly weren't comfortable with,” said IHA head coach Steve Silver. “We missed a ton of shots from the outside and in close, but we had to keep grinding. Shooting has been our strength, but today we really had to rely on our defense to get us though. It was the first game we've been in like this all season, but we made enough plays to survive.”
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Holy Angels' freshman point guard Elena Pulanco helped the Angels dictate the pace of play. |
The tone was set right from the beginning of the game as IHA, which averages over 60 points per game this season, did not score a single point for the first 4:53 of the game until Alex Mesropyan hit a 3-pointer from the corner. The Blue Eagles maintained the lead for the remainder of the half but Holy Angels was controlling the tempo. Freshman point guard Elena Pulanco kissed a high floater off the glass with six seconds left in the second quarter that cut the lead to 11-10 at halftime.
After a scoreless first half, Robert Morris-bound guard Caitlin Roche scored five quick points and Jordan Wilmoth followed with a bucket to quickly push the lead back up to eight. The Angels fought back by continuing to run their offense over and over until getting the shot that they wanted.
Zoe Cockinos scored twice off of nice interior passes from Ariana Ruiz for layups to cap a 9-0 spurt that gave Holy Angels the lead. It only lasted a few seconds though as Wilmoth's 3-pointer before the buzzer put IHA ahead, 21-19, heading into the fourth quarter.
“We weren't shooting the way we have been all season, but we had to keep playing,” said Roche. “Things weren't clicking but we didn't panic. We had to go back to basics and take it one possession at a time. It came down to defense and making stops. When you're not scoring the way you usually do, you have to make up for it in other ways.”
Holy Angels was within one with under three minutes to go but never got of a shot to pull back in front. The third of three straight turnovers proved costly as Katia Oge scored inside to make it a 3-point game. Then, on the next possession, senior guard Stephanie Olear came up with a steal that forced Holy Angels to start fouling. Roche made 5 of 6 from the foul line in the final 36 seconds to ice the win for IHA.
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Stephanie Olear came up with a key steal late in the game to help IHA close out the victory. |
“Turnovers really hurt us all game and it ended up being the difference,” said Holy Angels head coach Sue Liddy. “We played hard, we're just not there yet where we could get over the hump. I'm really proud of our effort, we just couldn't get that one key basket in the fourth quarter.”
Roche was the only player to reach double-figures for either team with 10 points for IHA (15-2). Elizabeth Garcia had seven points and Lauren Dines had six for Holy Angels (13-5).
What could have been one of the biggest upsets in the history of the Bergen County Tournament will only have to go down as a moral victory for a much younger Holy Angels team. But it is a learning experience that Liddy feels will only bode well for future success.
“IHA is such a good team on both ends of the floor,” added Liddy. “To beat them you have to play a perfect game and we almost did it. Got to hand it to IHA though, they made big defensive plays at the right time and that's what great teams do.”
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