Sunday,
March 13, 2016
By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer
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Jahsyni Knight had 12 points and five assists for Rutgers Prep, which ended Saddle River Day's best-ever season with a 69-40 win in the Non-Public B final. |
TOMS RIVER – Saddle River Day has been the most dominant team in North Jersey this season for a variety of reasons. They had the best offensive player in freshman sensation Michelle Sidor. The Lady Rebels also had the best defensive player in do-everything senior Dani McMahon. Throw in a deep bench and a style that teams simply could not keep up with and it all added up to a record-breaking season in terms of success for the girls' basketball program.
But the deeper a great team goes into the postseason, the more likely they are to meet their match. That happened on Saturday in the Non-Public B state final when the Rebels ran into a buzzsaw of a team in Rutgers Prep.
Rutgers Prep forced the Saddle River Day into an uncharacteristic number of turnovers and the clock struck midnight on the Rebels' season. Rutgers Prep turned the Rebels over 14 times in the first half to take a 15-point halftime lead before pulling away to hand Saddle River Day a 69-40 defeat in the Non-Public B state final on Saturday at the Pine Belt Arena in Toms River.
Saddle River Day has survived without its biggest presence in the paint, Kayla Oge (who suffered a season-ending knee injury in the final regular season game), during the state tournament, but her absence finally caught up with them with Rutgers Prep (who went 6-2, 6-2 and 6-3 across the front line) effectively passing out of the high post early and often.
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Saddle River Day's Michelle Sidor closed her brilliant freshman season with a team-high 17 points. |
“We didn't shoot the ball well and we certainly didn't take care of the ball. Those are two things you have to do against a team like this,” said Saddle River Day head coach Danny Brown. “I think with (Oge) on the floor it would have created another dynamic that would have made them adjust. Their pressure was an issue and we didn't handle it as well as I would have hoped. I thought we had a chance there at the end of the half to make a push but it didn't work out that way.”
The Rebels took their only lead of the game, 3-2, on a layup from Sidor. It lasted only seconds as Gabi Redden scored inside and standout sophomore point guard Jahsyni Knight nailed a 3-pointer. Redden scored again inside before McMahon's high-arcing 3 cut the lead to 14-8 at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter started off poorly with the Argonauts needing just 62 seconds to rip off a 7-0 run. Saddle River Day hung tough before some tough breaks in the waning seconds. The Rebels were unable to hold for a last shot as a traveling violation gave the ball back to Argonauts. Olivia Dabney made them pay with a buzzer-beating 3 to give Rutgers Prep even more momentum heading into the locker room with a 36-21 lead.
“We were struggling for a few minutes there, we needed that to get back on track,” said Rutgers Prep head coach Mary Klinger. “This team is so close, so mature and we've become so unselfish that we know we're not going to give up those big runs. Keeping our composure and running through our offense were big keys to our success. Our defense was pretty consistent all game, but we started to get comfortable when our offense came around and we got the ball down low.”
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Gabi Redden scored 17 points for Rutgers Prep, which improved to 29-1 and earned a spot in the Tournament of Champions. |
The Argonauts' size advantage was evident in a dominant third period that put the game away. Redden had nine third-quarter points and Niki Metzel got it done on both ends of the floor as the lead grew to 28 by the end of the third quarter.
Metzel finished with 15 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks, and two steals for Rutgers Prep (29-1). Redden had a team-high 17 points. Knight closed with 12 points and five assists along with terrific defense on Sidor. Sidor finished with 17 points, three steals, and two assists for Saddle River Day (29-2). McMahon added eight points, four rebounds, and three steals.
As the final seconds ticked away, there were plenty of tears of both the happy and sad variety for Saddle River Day. Sad because the season that was a joy from start to finish eventually had to come to an end, but with some reflection the realization came that Saddle River Day is among the elite programs in New Jersey and the foundation for the program is firmly built.
“I wouldn't trade this season, these kids and their families, or the community that we've built here for anything,” added Brown. “When these seniors came in as freshmen, this is the level that we preached to them that we would be at. We're disappointed that we fell short today, but we achieved every goal that we set this season. I can't say enough about the experience that I've had with this group and I hope to have this feeling for years to come.”
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