Sunday,
March 15, 2015
By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer
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Jordan Wilmoth finished with a double-double (13 points, 11 rebounds) in IHA's final game of the season, a 50-46 loss to St. John-Vianney in the Non-Public A state final on Saturday in Toms River. |
TOMS RIVER – There is no way to tell just how a state championship game is going to play itself out. Nothing should come as surprise as there are so many factors that could push a game one way or the other and no lead can ever be considered safe. That being said, defending champion Immaculate Heart Academy, the reigning Bergen County champion, had to like its chances when it took a 14-point lead on St. John Vianney in a rematch of last year's Non-Public A state final.
But once the tide started to turn, there was little IHA could do to hold it back. Vianney quickly got back in the game with its pressure defense before taking over the game late. Tina Lebron knocked with a wide-open three-pointer with 2:18 to play that gave St. John Vianney the lead for good and Kelly Campbell hit four free throws in the final minute to complete the comeback as SJV put an end to IHA's season with a 50-46 win in the Non-Public A state final on Saturday at Pine Belt Arena in Toms River.
“We had to really grind this one out and we're fortunate it didn't get away from us,” said St. John Vianney head coach Dawn Karpell. “IHA has a bunch of seniors and they are a very tough team. Once we got some momentum by getting defensive stops, we started moving the ball better and the ball started going in the basket after a first half where we shot around 20-percent.”
Right from the first possession of the game it looked like IHA was not only looking to win it, but also make a statement while doing so. Jordan Wilmoth hit a 3-pointer 24 seconds in and then Caitlin Roche caught fire. She scored 12 points over the next five minutes as IHA took command with a 20-11 lead after one quarter.
Senior guard Alyx McKiernan and 6-foot-3 junior forward Megan Swords gave the Blue Eagles production off the bench just as they did on Wednesday in the Non-Public A North section final win over Paramus Catholic. McKiernan scored on a tough drive then hit Swords on the money with a long pass in transition for a short banker that gave IHA its largest lead, 33-19, which it took into the locker room for halftime
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Kelly Campbell had a team-high 12 points to go with seven rebounds and five steals for St. John-Vianney. |
Everything was going the Blue Eagles' way but it took exactly one minute for all of that momentum built up over the first 16 minutes to evaporate. On the Lady Lancers' first two possessions of the second half, Campbell scored on a drive and Kellie Crouch nailed a 3-pointer to get the lead back to a manageable deficit.
IHA seemed to avoid trouble late in the third quarter. Steady point guard Alex Mesropyan took a finger to the eye and was forced to miss the final 3-plus minutes of the period, but the Blue Eagles still maintained a six-point edge heading into the fourth quarter, 37-31.
IHA led by as many as seven with less than five minutes to play, but the Lancers kept the pressure on forced the Blue Eagles into some uncharacteristic turnovers and quick shots. The shots that were dropping in the first half were not in the second as the lead whittled away.
Campbell got a steal and scored on the ensuing possession on a nice reverse layup to cut a IHA's four-point lead in half. Then, on the Lancers' next possession, they worked the ball around from one side of the court to the other. Their patience paid off as Lebron was as wide-open as a player could be on the wing. She nailed a 3-pointer that gave St. John Vianney its first lead of the game, 44-43, with 2:18 to play.
“We couldn't get open looks the entire game and I was surprised at how open I was,” said Lebron. “You run an offense hoping to get that kind of shot, but that doesn't happen very often against a team like (IHA). When you get a clean look though against a team like this, you have to knock those down. I didn't even think about it really, I just set my feet and took the shot.”
Vianney bumped the lead up to five with free-throws but the Blue Eagles made one last stand with Wilmoth's pull-up 3 cutting the lead to two with to play. It was of no consequence though as Zoe Pero hit a free-throw and a deep Mesropyan 3 to tie in the final seconds fell short. Campbell followed with a foul shot to ice the game and put an end to one of the best seasons in the illustrious history of IHA girls' basketball.
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Senior Caitlin Roche scored a game-high 14 points in her final game for Immaculate Heart Academy. |
“I thought we played a lot of energy in the first half, (Vianney) really picked it up a gear in the second half,” said IHA head coach Steve Silver. “We all the momentum they had, we still had a lead late in that game. When they were making their run in the fourth quarter, we didn't make enough good decisions with the basketball and when we did, the ball just didn't go in as it did in the first half.”
Campbell did it a little bit of everything in the second half after a rough first start. She had a team-high 12 points to go with seven rebounds and five steals for St. John Vianney (25-3). Kim Evans and Crouch each added 10 points.
Wilmoth finished with a double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds, while Roche leading all players in scoring with 14 points. Mesropyan and Swords added seven and six points, respectively. IHA finished the season with a 27-2 record with their losses coming by a combined six points.
It is a bittersweet loss for the Blue Eagles with four senior starters departing. While they fell four points short of their ultimate goal of being league, county, and state champs, they can leave with their heads held high knowing that they made a lasting impact on the IHA girls' basketball program.
“It's tough to end the season like this but it's always tough when a season ends,” added Silver. “We played as hard as you can play against a very talented, very athletic team. I'm so proud of our effort and we really played a great first half. This is a special group and they all made an incredible amount of sacrifices. It would have been nice to come out on top, but today it wasn't meant to be.”
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