Monday,
February 23, 2015
By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer
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Alex Mesropyan helped IHA to its third Bergen County title in the last five years with a 50-38 win over Immaculate Conception on Sunday. |
MAHWAH – For the Immaculate Heart Academy seniors, Sunday offered not only a great opportunity, but also a time for reflection. Playing in the Bergen County Tournament final against Immaculate Conception, it was an opportunity for them to finish off something that they were not able to do last year. But it was also point where the senior-dominated Blue Eagles realized that their time of playing together is coming to a close. With only a handful of games left and with a capacity crowd on hand, they decided to show what it takes to be a county champion: a total team effort.
Caitlin Roche dropped in a game-high 19 points and under-appreciated fellow senior guard Stephanie Olear scored a career-high 13 as top-seeded Immaculate Heart Academy won its third Bergen County title in the past five years with a 50-38 triumph over No. 3 seed Immaculate Conception at Ramapo College in Mahwah.
“This is a hard tournament to win and it's very gratifying to win it the way we did it today with a total team effort,” said IHA head coach Steve Silver. “We never panicked and we never lost our composure. That goes with having so many seniors who have been in big games before.”
Behind five early points from Khay'la Latimer, Immaculate Conception got off to a good enough start to estrablish itself in the game with a 7-5 lead. But in a blink, IHA regained control. Alex Mesropyan nailed a 3-pointer to cap a 7-0 burst to close the first quarter and give IHA the lead for good, 12-7.
The story of the game early was the lack of involvement offensively of Immaculate Conception's All-American forward Samantha Fuehring. IHA applied man-to-man, zone defenses, and an occasional trap to get the ball out of Fuehring's hands. Over the game's first 11 minutes, she had attempted just two shots as IHA maintained its lead throughout the first half. The Eagles led by as many as eight on an Olear 3-pointer. Fuehring answered with a 3 of her own before Jordan Wilmoth hit a nice hook shot off the glass to put IHA up 21-14 at the half. In that first half, the Blue Wolves had just four rebounds in 16 minutes of play.
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Sam Fuehring scored a team-high 16 for Immaculate Conception, which was making its first ever appearance in the Bergen County final. |
“We didn't get Sam the ball enough in positions where she could score and they killed us on the boards,” said Immaculate Conception head coach Jeff Horohonich. “We never got them out of their comfort zone and we never got into one. Sam didn't get nearly enough touches and we never got the momentum we needed to get over the hump.”
The Blue Eagles led by as many as 12 in the third quarter on a basket inside from Megan Swords, the only points that came from IHA bench in the game. Back came the Blue Wolves though with 3-pointers from Autumn Webster and Breanne Bellerand to cut that lead in half. A strong up-and-under move by Fuehring with 11 seconds left cut it all the way down to four and seemingly gave IC all the momentum it needed to make a push going into the fourth quarter. But in just a flash, that momentum was gone.
Wilmoth quickly brought the ball up the floor and canned a deep 3-pointer with three seconds left to give IHA some much-needed breathing room going into the fourth quarter, 33-26.
“We knew they were going to make a run, The most important thing was to stay calm,” said Mesropyan. “Jordan hit a huge shot for us and it allowed us to relax going into the fourth quarter. Everyone really stepped up, filled their roles and different players hit big shots for us when we needed them. We've all had our times to shine individually throughout the season but we've done it within the team concept. After losing here last year [to Northern Highlands in the county final], if we wanted to come out on top we knew that we had to stick together and play as a team for all four quarters.”
IC was within eight points twice during the fourth quarter but never got any closer. Both times the Blue Wolves got within that margin, Olear answered on the ensuing possession with a big basket. Her 3-pointer from the corner made it 41-30 with just over five minutes to play. Then, with IHA running the clock down inside the the final three minutes, Olear snuck behind IC's half-court trap for a wide-open layup that bumped the lead up to double-digits.
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Senior Caitlin Roche scored a team-high 19 points for IHA. |
“Everyone had to step up today and we all did our part. I just tried to do mine,” said Olear. “We have so many players you have to key on that I saw they were giving me a little room. I couldn't just sit back when I had the opportunity I had to take shots. We've been in big games before so we knew we could do it.”
From there it was watching the final seconds tick away before the IHA bench rushed into the floor as the final buzzer sounded and the Blue Eagles touched off a celebration that was two years in the making.
Roche was money at the foul line late on her way to a game-high 19 points for Immaculate Heart Academy (22-1). It was the eighth time season that she has scored at least 19 points. Olear, who averaged exactly five points per game coming in, had a career high at the best possible time with a 13-point effort. Katia Oge also had a solid performance with eight points and nine rebounds.
Fuehring finished with 16 points and seven rebounds to lead the way for Immaculate Conception (18-7), which was making its first-ever appearance in a Bergen County final.
With a league title and a Bergen County title in hand, IHA will now look to achieve all of its goals and cap the triple crown with a Non-Public A state title. The defending state champs know it will not be easy, but it is the time of year that every team relishes being a part of.
“We thought about losing here last year, but that experience made this year's team work that much harder,” added Mesropyan, who will play soccer next year at Division 1 Sacred Heart University. “To play as well as we did today and have so many players like Caitlin, Steph, and really everyone playing our best in a big game means a lot. We were determined to come out on top this year in the counties and it feels great now that we've done it.”
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