CRESSKILL - Cougars senior Erin Fahy scored career point No. 1,000 and Cresskill shook off a slow start to topple Waldwick, 53-22, Friday afternoon.

“At the beginning they were playing good defense,” said Fahy. “They had two girls on me so I really couldn’t do much. But once my team started shooting from the outside they were unstoppable.”

“We were a little tight in the beginning but we were getting good looks,” added Cougars coach Mike McCourt. “I just told them to keep shooting - they’re going to fall. We’ve been shooting well for the last four or five games.”

Early on a pair of free throws and a drive to the basket by Warriors junior Hailey Zirpoli gave Waldwick four quick points but three-pointers by Cresskill seniors Julia Hasenstab and Sophia Doto gave Cresskill the lead for good with just over three minutes left in the first quarter.

“Julia and Sophia are great spot shooters,” McCourt said. “They have a great touch. Sophia understands she has to shoot the ball. I’ve been telling her that for four years. All of a sudden it kicked in - she’s looking for her shots - and that’s good.”

Doto added another 3 and by the end of the first quarter Cresskill had a 10-point lead, 18-8. Four of the five starters scored at least 3 points and “sixth man” sophomore Charlie Quinn added a basket herself.

“They all can score,” said McCourt. “We basically play seven girls and all seven girls can score. It’s pretty exciting. Charlie Quinn comes off the bench and gives us a lot of energy. She can handle the ball, she drives to the basket, she can pass and she can shoot.”

“Over the course of the season we’ve become unstoppable with outside shooting,” added Fahy. “All of the girls, except me, can shoot 3’s. The other four make up for that and it definitely helped me because it kept the Waldwick players on the outside so I was able to make my post moves.”

Fahy got point No. 1,000 with a basket from in close at the 6:11 mark of the second quarter. She finished with a game-high 19 points.

“It was a milestone I never thought I would achieve when I was a freshman,” she said. “I didn’t really play that much as a freshman. I really have to thank my team, especially as a post player. It’s not like I can bring up the ball or I can pass the ball to myself or I can drive into the paint by myself. I need my teammates to pass me the ball. Me scoring 1,000 points just goes to show how good my teammates are too and how good they are at passing.”

By the end of the second quarter the Cougars had doubled their lead to 20 points, 33-13.

“Our outside shooting has been tremendous,” McCourt said. “It started to roll a little bit midway through the first quarter. We started hitting some shots and getting confidence. Once that happens it’s like wildfire. Everybody wants to shoot it. They share the ball well and they shoot the ball well. And they know when to get the ball in to Erin.”

Cresskill also has an inside presence as well. In addition to the ever-reliable Fahy senior Maddie Morgan and sophomore Aya Catran scored easy baskets. 

“I was really happy with the way Maddie (7 points) drove the ball,”McCourt said. “In the beginning she drove it a couple of times and missed and then she started to finish. That’s Maddie. She has a lot of energy too. And Aya (4 points) comes off the bench and does a great job. Once she gets into the flow of the game she’s pretty good. She can drive.”

Defense has always been a staple of Mike McCourt teams and this year, with a little wrinkle, is no exception.

“Our defense is always good,” McCourt said. “This year I tried to mix in a little zone, a 1-3-1, because we have some length. Using that length changes the pace of the game. Where we might be getting hurt with man-to-man it can change the flow of the game a little bit.”

Sophomore Lyla Stokes led the Warriors with 10 points, while junior Abby Incorvaia chipped in with 6.
The Cougars suffered a tough loss to rival Park Ridge Jan. 3 but they appear to have righted the ship.

“At the beginning of the season it was a slow start because we had trouble with turnovers,” said Fahy. “Park Ridge was definitely a tough loss and after that we sat and watched film. We corrected our mistakes, fixed our turnovers and we’re just trying to improve day by day in practice because practice is where improvement happens and where you win games. We focused on passing with a purpose - not passing into the passing lanes into girls hands. I think we’ve done a great job of improving on that each game because we’ve gotten better and better. We’re on a 4-0 win streak this week and it feels nice.”