Allie Shenloogian finished wqith a game-high 24 points for Park Ridge, which topped Westwood, 43-30, in the opening round of the Bergen County Tournament.
WASHINGTON TWP -- Park Ridge improved to 14-2 and avenged an early season loss to Westwood with an impressive 43-30 victory in the opening round of the 49th Annual BCWCA Basketball Championship Thursday afternoon.
“Today we came out energetic and we were here to play and get revenge for what they did to us earlier in the season,” said Park Ridge junior Allie Shenloogian. “We were ready.”
“[Coach Charles] Collis is one of the best and we always have great games against them,” said Owls coach Ryan Dennis. “They beat us (in December) and I think our girls wanted to be sure to give a full 32 minutes. I thought we did a great job on both ends of the floor. Westwood is such a great team all the time so it’s a good win for us.”
Park Ridge senior Juliana Barros opened the scoring with a layup off a pinpoint pass from Shenloogian. Westwood quickly tied and went ahead on a pair of drives to the basket by junior Erin Gashler. Unfortunately, for the Cardinals that would be the last time they would be in the lead.
Shenloogian scored on a three-point play and a minute later stole the ball and drove the length of the court for a layup to give Park Ridge a 9-4 lead as the first quarter came to an end. Shenloogian opened the second quarter by draining a three-pointer to boost the lead to 12-4 but Westwood rallied with baskets from in close by senior Kate Walsh and Gashler to trim the lead back down to four.
The game turned with two minutes to go in the half when Shenloogian tallied 7 points in just over a minute. First she hit a jumper and scored from in close. Then she swished a 3-pointer and the Owls’ lead climbed to 19-8.
“We grind it on defense, getting turnovers and turning them into easy buckets,” Shenloogian said. “As long as we convert them we’ll be fine.”
A put-back by Walsh with 48 seconds to go closed out the first half scoring with Park Ridge ahead, 19-10.
The Owls opened the second half with a 7-0 run on baskets by Shenloogian and senior Abigail McManus and a three-pointer by sophomore Kate Broderick.
A basket from in close by Walsh and a trey by freshman Cameron Roche temporarily halted the Owls run but Park Ridge took a 32-17 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Owls struggled in the first half with rebounding as the Cardinals got a ton of rebounds enabling them second and third chances to score. Unfortunately for them, however, the shots were not going in.
“Rebounding was a big thing today,” said McManus. “In the first two quarters we struggled with defensive rebounding. At halftime coach told us we could do better on the rebounding. We wanted to prove to him we were better and we really stepped it up on the defensive end so I’m really proud of the team for that.”
“I think we did a good job of rebounding much better in the second half,” Dennis added. “But give them a lot of credit - they were really hitting us hard in the first half on the board. Our girls made an adjustment and I thought we were good on the defensive end in both halves.”
Balanced scoring was another advantage for the Owls as all five starters scored at least two points. Shenloogian led the way with 24, but Barrios and McManus each had 5 points, while Barros chipped in with 7.
“We’re a very unselfish team with each other,” McManus said. “We all just love to pass to each other and we’re very close off the court so that chemistry helps us be even better on the court and make great passes because we all trust each other.”
“It’s important that our whole team participates in the activities on offense,” said Dennis. “We give them the opportunity to score - it’s not a one-man show. Allie is obviously a big part of that - she’s a great scorer - but she’s a great passer as well. Our players always have their hands ready, looking for their opportunities and we took them today and it helped us get the win.”
Park Ridge moves on to play No. 1 seeded Saddle River Day in the Round of 16 on Saturday. Westwood moves to the BCWCA Basketball Invitational where it will host Emerson, also on Saturday.
“Last time we played Westwood both teams put up a really good fight but unfortunately Westwood won,” McManus said. “Yesterday at practice we all came together as a team and told each other we should have won that other game. We knew we all could have played better and we knew we all had to step up today and all put in the same amount of work. It’s just amazing - I’m so proud of the team. Everyone is putting in so much effort and work on the court and off the court and I couldn’t ask for a better team.”
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