Wednesday,
December 23, 2015
By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer
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Erin VanderPlaat headed up the Eastern Christian defense that led the way to a 54-12 win at Elmwood Park on Tuesday. |
ELMWOOD PARK – Erin Vander Plaat is known for her exploits as one of the state's most dangerous strikers on the soccer pitch, but when Eastern Christian's basketball season comes around, the junior is more than happy to switch gears. On the hardwood it is not scoring that she is known for, it is playing defense and setting up her teammates. Against Elmwood Park on Tuesday, Vander Plaat showed that a player does not have to be a pure scorer to be the most dominant player on the floor.
She had a fantastic game defensively and never allowed Elmwood Park to get into any offensive rhythm. That led to lots of transition baskets as Eastern Christian took control and allowed just four points over the final two-plus quarters to score a 54-12 road win over Elmwood Park.
“One of our strengths is on-the-ball pressure and Erin does a great job of that to set the tone for us,” said Eastern Christian head coach Barry Veenstra. “We need Erin to play great defense every time out if we're going to play well. Erin is leading by example and she did so against today. She led the way and everyone else followed her lead to pick up the slack.”
It is still early in the season and that showed on both sides in the first quarter with neither team able to run a good offensive set. Elmwood Park struggled from the field while Eastern Christian had trouble with simply catching passes. Although they held a five-point lead after one quarter, Veenstra knew what he had to preach in his speech before the second quarter.
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Kathy Hanna had 8 points and 7 boards for Elwood Park, which has already double its win total from last year. |
“We had to get back to the fundamentals of catching the ball and moving it quickly,” said Veenstra. “Catching the basketball and seeing it into your hands is the most underrated skill in the game. Once we took off the oven mitts and started doing the little things that you have to do to be successful things started falling into place for us.”
Elmwood Park's Kathy Hanna (eight points, seven rebounds) hit an 18-foot jumper to cut the deficit to 9-4 two minutes into the second quarter. From there Vander Plaat and freshman guard Anna Kinz were all over the court making plays defensively to force turnovers as the Eagles quickly took over the game. Freshman center Madison Wynbeek and forward Kelly Tanis worked the high-low game in the post exceptionally well that often led to easy baskets with Eastern Christian firmly in control by halftime, 30-8.
“A lot of our offense comes from our defense and getting baskets on the fast break,” said Vander Plaat. “We just focus on getting a stop every time (the opposing team) is coming down the floor. We're pretty athletic and we're always moving, so we want to get on the fast break where we can use that to our advantage.”
The Eagles never let up defensively and Wynbeek kept doing her part on the offensive end as the pushed the lead up to 36 by the end of the third quarter. Even though the outcome of the game was never in doubt for the final two-and-a-half quarters, this season, early as it is, has still been quite a success story for the Crusaders. After winning just one of their 24 games last year with 17 of their 23 losses coming by at least 20 points, the Crusaders are 2-1 this season and there is promise for the future.
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Freshman center Madison Wynbeek netted a game-high 18 points for Eastern Christian, which improved to 2-0. |
“I was down two guards today and another went down in the first quarter. Against a good team like Eastern Christian I knew it was going to be tough,” said Elmwood Park head coach Kim Tanis. “Today's loss was frustrating for us, but these kids keep working hard and they keep buying into the system. We're not happy with today's result but we're happy with where we are as a team. To win just one game last year and to already two wins after three games this year is a great improvement.”
Wynbeek was 9 of 15 from the field to net a game-high 18 points for Eastern Christian (2-0). Vander Plaat led all players with six steals and six assists to go with her four points. Brooke Van Lenten added 10 points with Addie Peretti adding 7. Kelly Tanis also had a solid all-around game with six points, five rebounds, four assists, and two blocks.
After playing in a holiday tournament, Eastern Christian has its sights sets on a January 5 showdown with rival Glen Rock. That game will be a measuring stick for whether the Eagles are contenders for a league title or if they still have more work to do to get into that discussion.
“We definitely would like to be undefeated going into the game against Glen Rock,” said Vander Plaat. “We only had two players graduate, we had some good freshmen come in and I think our expectations are pretty high for this season. I think we're playing with a lot of confidence and we feel like we'll put up a good fight against Glen Rock.”
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