Sunday,
February 7, 2016
By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer
|
Senior Emily Crevani scored a game-high 15 points for Old Tappan, which lost its top scorer Ariana Chipolone earlier in the week, but beat IHA, 42-36, in the Bergen County Tournament quarterfinals on Saturday in Fair Lawn. |
FAIR LAWN – When Northern Valley/Old Tappan's leading scorer Ariana Chipolone went down on Tuesday with a season-ending knee injury it looked like any chance had to make a run through county and state tournament play had come to an abrupt end. After the initial shock wore off with the tight-knit Golden Knights, they banded to together to play as hard as Chipolone would have if she were out on the floor. Facing defending Bergen County Tournament champion Immaculate Heart Academy, Old Tappan used a gritty performance and some timely shot-making to advance.
Alex George was tough inside all game and senior point guard Emily Crevani stepped up in the second half. Her 3-pointer with 1:21 to play gave second-seeded Old Tappan a five-point lead and the Golden Knights moved onto the Bergen County semifinals with a 42-36 quarterfinal triumph over seventh-seeded IHA on Saturday at Fair Lawn High School.
“Ariana spoke to us before the game and it really pumped us up to play this game,” said George. “(IHA) shot the ball really well in the second quarter, but we were only down five at halftime. We stepped it up on defense in the second half and we were more aggressive in going to the basket.”
Crevani's 3-pointer in the final minute of the first quarter put Old Tappan ahead 12-9. That was the Golden Knights' final lead of the first half, however, as IHA got red-hot from the perimeter, hitting 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions. Freshman point guard Katie Jones nailed the first two and University of Dayton-bound forward Jordan Wilmoth hit the third as the Blue Eagles grabbed a five-point halftime lead, 24-19.
|
Dayton-bound senior Jordan Wilmoth scored 13 points for IHA. |
The second half was a defensive struggle with every possession was magnified. The Golden Knights only forced four turnovers in the first half, but forced three in a two-minute span late in the third quarter to grab the lead for good. Crevani hit a 3-pointer then made a mid-court steal for a layup. Then, after another IHA turnover, George scored on a putback and converted the 3-point play to cap an 8-0 run that put Old Tappan in front, 29-26, going into the fourth quarter.
Old Tappan had numerous chances to pull away in the fourth quarter but kept IHA in the game with some poor foul shooting. The Golden Knights missed three straight front ends of the one-and-one. On the other end of the floor, Holy Cross-bound Megan Swords hit a pair of free throws to cut the lead to 36-34 with 2:19 remaining. It could all have fallen apart but that is where a having a four-year starter at point guard really helps. Crevani nailed a 3-pointer to make it a five-point lead with 1:21 to play.
“They were slipping underneath the high screen and that gave me some room to shoot,” said Crevani. “We have faced some adversity this season, especially with losing Ariana. But we're still a good team and we had to fight through all of that.”
IHA got a break when George, the 6-foot-1 center, fouled out and Wilmoth scored off of an offensive rebound to trim the lead to three. The Blue Eagles had two shots to cut into that lead on their next possession but both were off the mark. Kelsey McLaughlin, Kailyn Systma, and Maia Levenshu all hit free-throws in the final minute to help Old Tappan hang on for a huge win.
|
Maia Levenshus and second-seeded Old Tappan will play third-seeded Saddle River Day in the semifinals. |
Crevani led all players with 15 points for Old Tappan. Systma and George added 13 and 12 points, respectively.
Wilmoth and Swords each finished with 13 points for IHA. Swords also pulled down a game-high nine rebounds.
Old Tappan moves onto Ramapo College for the Bergen County semifinals next Saturday. There the Golden Knights will face a tough No. 3 seed in Saddle River Day, a 53-21 winner over Pascack Valley. Without Chipolone and also missing another senior starter in Alexie Piccinich, who tore her ACL back December, the odds will be stacked against the Golden Knights, but it is a role they are quickly growing accustomed to.
“I think a lot of people have doubts about us after losing Ariana and we want to prove those people wrong,” said Crevani. “We've really worked butts off as a team. We definitely miss Ariana, but we're not just going to call it a season and give up. I think we showed something today and we hope to carry it over into next weekend and through the rest of the season.”
CLICK HERE FOR MORE PHOTOS FROM THIS GAME. TO BUY A COLLECTOR'S PRINT
OF THIS STORY, PLEASE VISIT 4FeetGrafix.com. |