Wednesday,
March 11, 2015
By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer
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Four years ago, Westwood girls basketball team was 1-22. On Tuesday night it celebrated its first state sectional title since 1988 after a 31-22 win over Ramsey. |
WESTWOOD – If someone had approached Emily Molk after her freshman year and told her to stay positive because in her senior year she would be playing in front of a sold out home crowd for a section title, Molk likely would have had one of three reactions: She probably would have rolled her eyes, gotten angry or simply started laughing hysterically.
Westwood varsity girls' basketball team finished that 2011-2012 season with a 1-22 record. But as Molk and her teammates took the court for warm-ups on Tuesday night for the North 1, Group 2 state sectional final, they looked up and there was not a seat to be had. Molk got the basketball experience every player dreams of when they put on a uniform. She was about to play the biggest game of her life in front of a capacity home crowd that was ready to go nuts.
“It's so surreal to think about how far we've come from when we won one game my freshman year,” said Molk, now a senior. “It was by far our most important game of the season. We felt like once that we got to this game that nothing was going to stop us from winning.”
Facing Ramsey in the championship game, the Cardinals had plenty of reason to be confident. They were the top seed, playing at home, and had won 16 of their last 17 games coming in. But in a matter of three-plus quarters, all the hard work that had built up over the past three years since head coach Charlie Collis took the helm was slowly fading as the Cardinals found themselves clinging to a one-point lead early in the fourth quarter.
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Hailey Reynolds scored 9 points and had 7 rebounds for Ramsey. |
After struggling mightily on offense for 26-and-a-half minutes, the Cardinals needed just over one minute to turn it around. They scored on three consecutive possessions to keep the pesky Rams at bay. Olivia Cassidy capped the run with a 3-pointer, then hit another long-range shot with just over two minutes to play that helped secure Westwood's first section title since 1988 with a 31-22 win third-seeded Ramsey in the North 1, Group 2 final at Westwood High School.
“It took us a long time to get to this point but every bit of effort was worth it when you win a game like this,” said Westwood head coach Charlie Collis. “It starts with our commitment to get better every day both individually and as a team. When you get every player buying into that philosophy, great things start to come of it. We pride ourselves on defense and teams during the state tournament have been struggling to get to 30 points against us. It starts with our two guards (Noelle Cobin and Molk) putting pressure on their guards and holding the opposing team to one shot, which we did very well tonight.”
Ramsey had lost to Westwood by a combined 34 points in their two regular-season meetings this year. The Rams showed from the opening tap on that they were not intimidated and forced the Cardinals out of their comfort zone right from the get-go. They led 5-1 early on but picked up a tough break when leading scorer Hailey Reynolds picked up her second foul at the midway point of the first quarter and was forced to the bench for nearly all of the first half.
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Emily Molk, one of Westwood's two senior starters, did a little bit of everything for the Cardinals, who will play Newark Tech in the Group 2 semifinals. |
During that stretch, Richmond-bound forward Jaide Hinds-Clarke gave Westwood the lead late in the first quarter, 7-5, on a jumper from the elbow. It was the only lead change of the game as neither team got on track offensively in a low-scoring first half with Westwood holding an 11-9 lead at halftime.
“To be honest we were laughing to ourselves in the locker room because both teams probably had their ugliest half of basketball all season,” added Collis. “Ramsey has really improved throughout the season and they were very capable of making a run that would have put us in some trouble. The important thing for us going into the second half was that as ugly as the first half was, we were still up two. We tried to keep things loose and keep our players as comfortable as possible.”
The third quarter was more of the same with both teams dominating on the defensive end of the floor. Reynolds putback cut the lead to two points as Ramsey looked to gain momentum. Hinds-Clarke answered with a weakside putback of her own at the buzzer to double Westwood's lead to four heading into the fourth quarter, 19-15.
Ramsey's Lina Hyman hit a rainbow 3-pointer to cut the lead to one with 6:32 left. With the game, the North 1 Group 2 title, and the season all slipping away in one fell swoop, the Cardinals put together their best offensive sequence of the game at the most opportune time.
Noelle Cobin started things off with a steal and a layup, then Molk scored on a drive to the basket before Cassidy, who been a dead-eye shooter throughout the state tournament, closed out the run with a 3-pointer from the wing for a 26-18 lead with 4:31 to play.
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Victoria Clinton finished with 7 points for Ramsey, which finished the season with a 19-10 record. |
“I knew I had to pick it up and hit some shots because it was a close game,” said Cassidy, a 6-foot sophomore guard who also banked in a 3 at a crucial time in the third quarter. “I didn't have a good first half, but I felt more comfortable shooting on this side of the court in the second half. I couldn't be nervous and had to concentrate on just hitting my shots.”
Ramsey got as close as five with three minutes to play but never got closer than that margin. Cassidy provided the dagger on a deep three with 2:21 to play to make it a 10-point lead. Fittingly, Cobin and Molk (Westwood's two senior starters) passed the ball back and forth at the end with Molk dribbling out the clock in the final seconds as the culmination of years worth of hard work finally paid off with some hardware.
Hinds-Clarke finished with game-highs of 10 points and eight rebounds for Westwood (26-3). Cassidy scored all nine of her points in the second half from beyond the 3-point arc. Cobin and Samantha McClutchy each chipped in with five points with Molk doing the dirty work. Her basket in the fourth quarter gave her her only points of the game, but she proved her worth in other ways with six rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Reynolds led the way with nine points and seven rebounds while Victoria Clinton added seven points for Ramsey, which finished the season with a 19-10 record.
Westwood moves on to the Group 2 semifinals on Thursday where it will face off against North 2, Group 2 champion Newark Tech (a 47-39 winner over Lincoln) at Bloomfield High School with a 4:00 p.m. start.
The Cardinals hope to advance and keep their season going with a berth in the Group 2 state final, but for Molk and the rest of the seniors, it is finally time for them to pause, smile and simply enjoy the moment.
“It's so amazing that we're here and that we accomplished our goal ever since our season ended last year,” said Molk. “As a senior, I worked really hard as our entire team did just hoping we would get this opportunity. To make the most of it and have everything pay off by being section champs is incredible. I couldn't be more proud of this team.”
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