Sunday,
February 8, 2015
By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer
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Jasmin Wilson scored a game-high 14 points for the Paramus Catholic, the No. 12 seed which added a 50-35 upset of No. 4 Old Tappan to it run to the Bergen County Tournament Final 4. |
EAST RUTHERFORD – During her freshman season, Paramus Catholic's Jasmin Wilson got caught up in the emotion that comes with a run to the Bergen County Tournament semifinals. It was an experience she hoped she would have again during her high school career, but the Lady Paladins have fallen short of the Final 4 in each of the last two seasons.
This is Wilson last chance to make it at least that far and even though her team was the lower seed, it was facing an opponent they had already beaten, Northern Valley/Old Tappan, and were on a roll after having beaten then-undefeated Ramapo in the tournament last weekend.
Wilson made the most of this chance as she finished with a game-high 14 points and Kayla Martinez hit all eight of her fourth-quarter free-throws as 12th seeded Paramus Catholic went a remarkable 15 of 16 from the foul line in the fourth quarter to advance to the Bergen County semifinals with a 50-35 win over fourth-seeded Old Tappan on Saturday at Becton Regional High School.
“I think we took it personal when we got seeded 12th and we were determined to prove to everyone that we were better than being the 12th ranked team in the county,” said Wilson. “Old Tappan is such a tough team because they never stop moving. We had to match that intensity and force them to play our style. They were going to keep coming, so we couldn't afford to take a second off.”
Nyree Grant had the hot hand inside for the Paladins early. Her basket put them ahead late in the first quarter, 9-8, and the Paladins never gave that lead up. Neither team got going offensively throughout the first half, but Paramus Catholic got just enough breathing room on an elbow jumper from Wilson to take a 19-13 lead into halftime.
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Junior Kailyn Systma made three 3-pointers for Old Tappan. |
The Paladins led by as many as nine but Old Tappan finally got on track to make it a game. Kailyn Systma's 3-pointer was followed by a jumper from Alexie Piccinich and a drive from Emily Crevani to cut it to a one-possession game, 22-20. It never got closer than that as Wilson scored half of the points in an 8-0 spurt that helped Paramus Catholic regain control heading into the fourth.
“We had good runs in the third and fourth quarter but couldn't use that momentum to get the lead,” said Old Tappan head coach Brian Dunn. “We selected better shots in the second half than the first half, but we turned the ball over way too much. PC had a lot to do with that, too. They made us pay for our turnovers and and we didn't take advantage when they turned the ball over.”
Old Tappan cut an 11-point lead down to five and had three chances to make steals on the ensuing possession, but the Golden Knights were unable to corral the ball and it eventually led to a 3-point play from PC's Rayna Ortiz. Kayla Martinez closed it out from the foul line from there, hitting all eight of her free-throws in the final three minutes to seal the PC win.
“We really practice our foul shots so much and it's great to see that work pay off in a game as important as this one,” said Martinez. “When you bring that same intensity from practice to the game in every way, that's when you see why work hard. We're playing with so much confidence right now and we're finally clicking the way we thought we would be in the beginning of the year.”
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Kayla Martinez hit all 8 of her fourth quarter free throws to help Paramus Catholic close out the win. |
Paramus Catholic had a balanced scoring attack with Wilson netting 14 points while Grant and Destinee Hall each had 13. The Paladins shot a blistering 27-for-31 (87%) from the foul line.
Ariana Chipolone led the way with 13 points and Systma had all nine of her on a trio of 3-pointers for Northern Valley/Old Tappan.
The Paladins have made it back to the Bergen County semifinals after a two-year absence. They will face top-seeded IHA in the BCT Final 4 at Ramapo College next Sunday. Although they lost by 25 to them just last week, Paramus Catholic head coach Al Roth likes his team's mindset going into that game.
“We know IHA is a great team, but we feel like we can play with them and we're excited for the chance to do it again,” said Roth. “We didn't play helter-skelter, we really moved the ball and made an effort to get the ball inside. I'm not sure what we were from the foul line but it was definitely our best game of the year when it came to hitting free-throws. We have four seniors who have all played in big games for three or four years now, that experience always helps in big games. I have great girls who work hard, a great coaching staff (Kate Drumgoole and Floriana Borova), and now we have the confidence that we were lacking earlier in the season.”
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