Alexa Santo stuffed the stat sheet with 18 points, six rebounds, six assists, and four steals for Watchung Hills, which tuned up for the state tournament with a 51-35 win over Westwood on Thursday night.
WARREN – The time of the season before the state tournament starts is always tricky, especially for teams that have high aspirations about making a deep run or winning section title. The best way for a team to measure itself is to take on a challenging opponent during the build-up week, which is exactly what Westwood head coach Charlie Collis had in mind as he took his team on a road trip to Warren Township on Thursday, but with leading scorer and rebounder, senior Rachel Bussanich, out against a solid Watchung Hills squad, the Cardinals got off to a slow start and were unable to fully recover.
Alexa Santo led the way for Watchung Hills. She had nine first-quarter points to help the Lady Warriors build a sizeable lead. Then in the third quarter she had four points and two assists in a pivotal run with Watchung Hills leading wire-to-wire in a 51-35 win over Westwood.
The Lady Warriors came in to the contest just a game over .500. However, that record is misleading against a challenging schedule. Facing Westwood, which is the top seed in the North 1 Group 2 state sectional tournament bracket, Santo got Watchung Hills into a rhythm early. She was aggressive right from the opening tap with a pair of driving layups before hitting a three to open up a 19-9 lead after one quarter.
“We all took on bigger roles and we’ve gotten more aggressive as the season has gone on,” said Santo. “Not knowing this team just knowing they were good definitely helped us. We didn’t change our game and we turned our defense into offense.”
Westwood's Katy Glaher finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds, and four blocks.
Westwood was able to stay within striking distance behind the exploits of sophomore forward Katy Gashler. The Warriors had no answer for her inside as Gashler netted 12 first-half points. The Cardinals held Watchung Hills to just three field goals in the second quarter, but all of those were from three-point range to maintain an eight-point lead at halftime, 28-20.
“I thought we battled but we got outrebounded and they took advantage of their second and third scoring opportunities,” said Collis.
Gashler scored layups on consecutive possessions to start the third quarter, cutting the Warriors’ lead in half. Those were the last points of the quarter as Watchung Hills was able to force turnovers from their 1-3-1 zone, led by Jayden Baltuch creating havoc at the top. That sparked a 13-0 run to bump the lead up to 17.
Westwood fought to the very end and made one last push midway through the fourth quarter. Jojo Carrubia (nine points) hit back-to-back corner threes to trim the lead to nine, 43-34. The guard play of the Warriors was too much down the stretch with a pair of layups from Scarlett Glassner-Nehls putting the game away.
Santo stuffed the stat sheet with 18 points, six rebounds, six assists, and four steals for Watchung Hills (13-11). Glasser-Nehls and Baltuch each added 12 points. The Warriors are the No. 7 seed and will face 10th seeded Piscataway in a first-round North 2, Group 4 state sectional tournament matchup.
Jayden Baltuch and No. 7 Watchung Hills will host No. 10 Piscataway in the first-round in North 2, Group 4.
“There are some things we still need to work on, but we also created a lot of turnovers so I’m pleased with that aspect,” said Watchung Hills’ head coach Reese Kirchofer. “We’ve got to get by the first game and hopefully get a shot at (No. 2 seed) Bayonne. We feel when we’re playing well that we can play with anyone because of the schedule we play. Now it’s about peaking and taking your shot against whoever comes your way.”
Gashler led all players with 20 points, 11 rebounds, and four blocks for Westwood (17-8). Bussanich should be back for the top-seeded Cardinals’ first-round game against Vernon. With a full complement of players Collis will look for his squad to regroup and start their march towards a section title.
“There’s no doubt about what type of effort we have to give to get to a section final,” said Collis. “In the states we know we’re going to get everyone’s best shot and everyone has to contribute. Whether it’s watching film, being on the court, on the bench cheering on your teammates, our entire team has to be in tune 110-percent.”
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