Sunday,
December 27, 2015
By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer
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Carly Christofi scored 11 points for Saddle River Day, which remained unbeaten with an impressive 69-34 win over New Providence at the Lady Lions Tournament on Saturday in Jersey City. |
JERSEY CITY – When a freshman steps into an already established basketball program and is quickly anointed the starting point guard and number one option offensively, the chemistry of the team can really only go one of two ways. Either there is bitterness on the part of the upperclassmen that leads to a team’s demise, or the team can embrace that player to grow from a very good team into one that can contend for county and state titles.
For Saddle River Day, Michelle Sidor possesses the kind of talent to truly bring this team to the next level. Her teammates have welcomed her with open arms and the results have been eye-popping thus far.
Facing reigning Group 1 state champ New Providence, Sidor put on a dazzling first-half display by hitting 10 of her 14 shots, including 5 of 6 from 3-point range with several of those coming well behind the 3-point line as Saddle River Day’s remained unblemished with a 69-34 triumph over New Providence on Saturday at the Lady Lions Tournament at Lincoln High School in Jersey City.
“Sidor is an incredible player. She can hit a shot from anywhere and their defense was all over the place making plays and frustrating us,” said New Providence head coach Cap Pazdera. “They were a step ahead of on seemingly every play at every position. That team is definitely going to make some noise this season. We knew coming in that this is the type of team that will expose our weaknesses and they certainly did that today.”
Saddle River Day set the tone right from the opening tap by using a 2-1-2 full-court trap defensively to create a frenetic pace. Dani McMahon and Cassie Cruz both had steals off of that trap in the final 30 seconds of the first quarter that led to a pair of layups by Sidor for a 16-7 lead.
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New Providence's Katie Kinum filled the scoresheet with 16 points, 7 rebounds, 4 steals, and 3 assists. |
While New Providence is still trying to find its way this year after the transfer of all-state guard Sydney Morang, the Pioneers showed they had some fight in them in the second quarter. Katie Kinum used a nice around-the-back dribble to shake a defender for a driving layup that cut the deficit to 25-20 with just over three minutes left in the first half. But before the Pioneers knew what hit them, the lead nearly tripled in less than a minute.
Sidor hit a 25-footer followed by a step back 3 to bump the lead up to double-digits before Caity House came off the bench to nail a 3-pointer of her own as the Lady Rebels quickly righted the ship and were firmly in control by halftime, 38-22.
“We try to play fast but also settle things down and get a good shot, too,” said Sidor. “When we force turnovers, we want to turn those turnovers into points. I’ve been around this team for years now so when I came here, it wasn’t that big of a transition. I just try to play with a lot of energy and help the team any way that I can.”
With the Pioneer defense doing everything it could to slow down Sidor, the rest of the court opened up for players like the sharpshooting Carly Christofi. She nailed three of her four third-quarter shots, including a 3-pointer to bump the lead up to 19 going into the fourth quarter, 49-30.
While Sidor has already asserted herself as the leading scorer in Bergen County this season, it is the camaraderie between the entire team that has made this work so well, so easily.
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Dani McMahon provides senior leadership for a talented Saddle River Day team that is now 4-0 on the season. |
“We all get along really well and everyone knows they have an important role on this team,” said McMahon, who will attend Stanford University next year on a lacrosse scholarship. “Our team has a lot of experience and our younger players have come in and played really well. We’ve trained really hard knowing that we can go really far in counties and states.”
Sidor finished with a game-high 33 points for Saddle River Day (4-0). Christofi also reached double-figures with 11 points. Kinum played well in all aspects with 16 points, seven rebounds, four steals, and three assists for New Providence (2-2). Hannah Caminiti chipped in with nine points.
Saddle River Day will continue to play in the Lady Lions Tournament when it resumes on the Dec. 29 with the Rebels facing Bloomfield Tech before taking on Newark Tech on the Dec. 30. They hope to take some momentum into the New Year before a showdown with Paterson Kennedy on January 3. With some lapses in Friday’s game, the Rebels still have room for improvement, but with a bevy of experienced players along with some impact freshmen led by Sidor, both the present and the future are very bright for the Rebels.
“The key we’ve talked about from Day 1 is chemistry,” said Saddle River Day head coach Danny Brown. “We’ve had an open-arms-and-let’s-go type of attitude. There are some adjustments that we’re making now and we’ll continue to make throughout the season. I thought we did a great job of pushing the pace and making them play at our speed. If we can keep doing that and keep growing as a team, we’ll have a lot of success this season.”
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