Thursday,
March 3, 2016
By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director
|
Karlie Brogan scored the last of her 29 points on a heave from near half court that went in and gave Ramapo a 64-61 win over Northern Highlands in the North 1, Group 3 quarterfinals. |
FRANKLIN LAKES – The message in the huddle was clear. With 47 seconds left and the game tied in the North 1, Group 3 state sectional quarterfinal, Ramapo head coach Sandy Gordon wanted her team to take the last shot no matter what. Worst case scenario the Green Raiders would be forced into overtime against rival Northern Highlands with momentum after having wiped out a seven-point fourth quarter deficit.
Best case scenario? Well, that was up to Karlie Brogan, the senior and 1,000-point scorer, who found herself dribbling the ball across the floor from left to right with a defender trailing. Ramapo had been patient, but was out of options as Brogan realized that time was almost up and she was still 28 feet from the basket.
“We came out of the timeout and Coach [Sandy Gordon] said ‘It is our destiny. You have the ball, you get the last shot.’ We were passing it around and keeping it wide, but I honestly didn’t know how much time was on the clock,” said Brogan. “So when I heard everyone yelling ‘Shoot, shoot, shoot!’ I turned with two seconds left and just launched it up.”
And it went in. From about 28 feet away and from inside the center circle, the shot went in and gave Ramapo, the No. 3 seed, a 64-61 win over the sixth-seeded Highlanders and a spot in the semifinals against No. 2 Pascack Valley on Friday afternoon.
“That is not really how I drew it up. I wanted the last shot, but not from that far away with two seconds to go,” said Gordon. “I really wanted Rosie [Martin] to get to the basket because she is our quickest kid, but I am so happy for Karlie Brogan because on Senior Night when we needed to win the league outright against Hackensack, she couldn’t throw it in the ocean. It wasn’t for a lack of effort, but this was her last home game and there is no better way to go out.”
|
Emily Banafacic scored a team-high 21 points for Northern Highlands. |
This was just the latest thrilling chapter in the Ramapo/Northern Highlands all sports rivalry that, by this point, is longer than the unabridged Oxford Dictionary. The two teams split the regular season series with Highlands winning the second round convincingly. This time, Highlands made a couple of serious bids to pull away in the second half only to be chased down each time.
The Highlanders led 16-12 after the first quarter, 30-27 at halftime and by 9 points three different times in the third quarter, the last time at 41-32 on a jumper from the elbow by Madison Grossman. Ramapo answered with a 9-0 run to tie it at 41 before Northern Highlands ran off again with a 7-0 spurt to end the third quarter.
The Highlanders were effective in early offense situations as defensive rebounds led to hard pushes up the floor before Ramapo could set its defense. Emily Bonafacic was particularly effective in the open floor and her coast-to-coast layup and two free throws gave Highlands a 48-41 lead heading into the fourth quarter. The lead was still 7 at 52-45 with 5:50 left after Madison Kahn drove in for a layup and question was if Ramapo had yet another comeback in it after continually playing catch-up.
“You have to give credit to Ramapo. They didn’t fold,” said Northern Highlands head coach Al Albanese. “They could have folded five or six different times and they didn’t.”
What was unfolding was wild final few minutes in which every possession mattered. Brogan turned in in-bounds play into a 3-point play with 5:24 left and junior Emily Calabrese then scored two straight baskets with hustle, hitting the offensive glass for the first one and then getting ahead of the field for a layup off a defensive rebound and lead pass from Reilly White. Those four points tied the game at 52 with 4:31 to go and forced a Highlands timeout.
|
Ramapo junior Emily Calabrese scored 6 of her 15 points at crucial times in the fourth quarter. |
“That is my role and coach always says defense before offense. I just needed to step up for this game and it wasn’t just me,” said Calabrese. “Reilly pulled down huge rebounds, everybody helped in their own way and whatever way they could and that is what we needed. We needed everybody to go all out and we did.”
Bonafacic, a senior who left it all out there in her final game, made 3 of 4 free throws to put Highlands back up 55-52 with 3:14 to go before the first sign that it really might be Ramapo’s night shown through as White banked in a 3-pointer from the wing re-tie it the next time down the floor.
“That is a joke amongst the team. I banked one in in practice and then last game I did and this game I did. The bank is open at 5 o’clock on a Wednesday,” said the philosophical White, who was then asked if it was karma that allowed the ball to fall through the hoop. “I would like to think so, a little bit. I don’t think I am that talented to be quite honest with you. I think for our team it was just finally our time. We weren’t done and what a time to peak.”
But there was still work to do. Bonafacic and Calabrese traded baskets before Ramapo went ahead for the first time since the first quarter on Brogan’s run-out that made it 59-57 and Brogan’s bucket off another inbounds play gave the Raiders a 61-58 lead with 1:17 to play. Highlands responded in the span of just five seconds as freshman Breanne Davis made the first free throw and Grossman stole the rebound of the second miss and laid the ball in to tie the game with exactly one minute to play.
Thirteen seconds later, Ramapo took the time out that led to the final possession and the final heave at the buzzer that made this a state tournament classic. For Brogan, what could have been her last game in a Ramapo uniform was instead the best game she has ever played in a Ramapo uniform and she guaranteed herself and the three other seniors at least one more.
“The state tournament is a new season, so you either play with no regrets or you walk into the locker room thinking what you could have done differently,” said Brogan, who finished with 29 points. “I know for the seniors especially, we did not want our last game to be against Highlands so we left it all out there.”
|
Breanne Davis scored 9 of her 11 points in the second half for Highlands, which finished the season with a 16-11 record. |
There was no loser in this game, but Highlands’ state tournament run did come to an end. Bonafacic (21 points) was brilliant in her final high school game and Grossman (13 points) and Davis (11 points) also finished in double figures. Kira Boyer and Sarah Minchin each added 6 points and Madison Kahn had the other 4 points for the Highlanders, who finished the season at 16-11.
Ramapo also had three double-digit scorers as Calabrese (15 points) and Martin (10 points) backed up Brogan’s 29. White and Nikki Butler evenly split the other 10 points for the Green Raiders who head into Hillsdale for the semifinals with a 20-7 record.
“We have been up and down all year and I have told them that the one time we all show up be can be scary. We really haven’t done that all year, but no better time than March Madness. When the state tournament started the season started over. We were 0-0, then we were 1-0 and now we are 2-0 and we’ll see how long we can keep it going,” said Gordon. “It was a team effort. We had to get stops, we had to make foul shots and we hung in there.”
CLICK HERE FOR MORE PHOTOS FROM THIS GAME. TO BUY A COLLECTOR'S PRINT
OF THIS STORY, PLEASE VISIT 4FeetGrafix.com. |