Tuesday,
March 10, 2015
By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer
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Stacey Porzl banked in a 3-pointer at the first half buzzer to give Hasbrouck Heights the lead for good in a 40-29 win at Wood-Ridge, which gave the Aviators their first ever state sectional title in girls basketball. |
WOOD-RIDGE – When Stacey Porzl woke up on Monday morning after barely sleeping the night before, she knew upcoming events would be like none that she has ever experienced before. Porzl and the rest of the Hasbrouck Heights girls’ basketball team had a chance to make history; to win the first state sectional championship in the program's history. The junior point guard knew that the North 1, Group 1 final against archrival Wood-Ridge was the opportunity she had been waiting for from the time she first picked up a basketball.
Porzl had an outstanding first half, including the game-changing play to end it. She banked in a 3-pointer as time expired in the first half and that gave second-seeded Hasbrouck Heights the lead for good as it pulled away behind the hot shooting of Hannah Bailey en route to a 40-29 triumph over top-seeded Wood-Ridge at Wood-Ridge High School.
“I’m so, so happy right now and I can’t believe this is even happening,” said Porzl. “We set this as our main goal from the beginning of the season. Throughout the day, I was only thinking winning a state championship and how much it would mean to us. To play in front of such a big crowd and win a championship has been the greatest night in my life. We’re so close as a team and we wanted to win this game for each other.”
Wood-Ridge won both regular season games between the two league rival by identical 12-point margins, but not only was the atmosphere different this time around, so the level of execution by Porzl, especially early in the game. She helped the Aviators get off to a torrid start, hitting three of her first four shots. That run to start the game was capped by a deep baseline jumper for a 10-2 Aviator lead.
“It’s always important in a big game to get off to a good state and Stacey got us going,” said Hasbrouck Heights’ head coach Amanda Kistner. “I thought we moved the ball well and we didn’t fall into the trap of taking the first available shot. We’ve been working on having that patience on offense all season. I thought finally that we fully embraced that and we saw the bigger picture every time we ran our offense through.”
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Alisa Giordano's floater late in the first half. got top-seeded Wood-Ridge even for the final time. |
Wood-Ridge steadily cut into the lead behind the gritty play of senior point guard Alisa Giordano. She scored on an acrobatic shot and then converted a 3-point play to stop the run late in the first quarter. Then in the second quarter, her floater just inside the foul line tied the game at 15. The score remained that way for over three minutes with the Aviators holding for the last shot.
They were not able to run a good offensive set and Porzl was forced to make a move with four seconds left. She took a dribble to her right and with a hand in her face and banked one off the glass from the top of the key as the buzzer sounded to give Hasbrouck Heights the lead and some desperately needed momentum heading into the locker room.
“It was definitely not the shot we wanted there, but it went in and gave us the lead so we were pretty happy,” said Porzl. “We really started to feel like we could do this. We had to keep the momentum going in the third quarter and stay confident.”
Allison Kronyak’s free-throw got the Blue Devils within four, 24-20, before the Aviators’ shooting from beyond the arc turned the complexion of the around in just over two minutes. Bailey hit a 3 with a minute to play in the quarter, then had another 3-point attempt kiss the rim three times and drop through as the buzzer sounded to make it a double-digit lead going into the fourth quarter. On the Aviators’ first possession Sami Partyka nailed a 3-pointer from the wing to make it 33-20 and put the Blue Devils officially in panic mode.
“I wasn’t very aggressive in the first half and I had to be more aggressive in the second half,” said Bailey, who had a trio of 3-pointers in the third quarter. “They were paying a lot of attention to (Porzl) and that ended up leaving me open. Once I hit the first one, my confidence grew. I knew if they left me open that I had to keep taking those shots and take them with the confidence that I’d make them.”
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Hannah Bailey scored all of her career-high 11 points after halftime for Heights, which will play New Providence in the Group 1 semifinals. |
Giordano did everything she could to will her team back in the game, hitting a floater that cut the lead to 36-27 with over three minutes to play. The Aviators never lost their composure and ran clock effectively throughout the fourth quarter, forcing Wood-Ridge to start fouling. The Aviators closed it out from the foul line to avenge their two regular season losses and secure the program’s first section title.
“I have to give all of the credit to Hasbrouck Heights. They hit some big shots and never let us get comfortable,” said Wood-Ridge head coach Jesse Romano. “We made some bad decisions with quick shots in the second and third quarters. We couldn’t put the ball in the ocean tonight and Hasbrouck Heights did a great job on the boards. Their zone really slowed us down and we weren’t getting the second chances off of offensive rebounds that we’ve gotten the past few games.”
Porzl scored all of her 13 points in the first half to go with three assists and three steals to lead Hasbrouck Heights (22-5), which never trailed at any point in the game. Stefanie Pagan, Heights' 6-foot center, was a force on both ends in the paint with 10 points, 12 rebounds, and three blocks. Bailey had all of her career-high 11 points in the second half.
Hasbrouck Heights will get a huge task in the Group 1 semifinals on Wednesday where they will face North 2 Group 1 champ New Providence. The Pioneers possess one of the state’s best players in 6-foot-1 junior point guard Sydney Morang, already committed to the University of Florida. They have opened some eyes with upsets over previously undefeated Secaucus and then over perennial powerhouse Shabazz in the North 2, Group 1 semifinals and finals, respectively.
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