Friday, December 16, 2011

Union County - a look back, a look ahead, plus Cranford-Oak Knoll coverage

http://www.nj.com/hssports/blog/girlsbasketball/index.ssf/2011/12/union_county_-_a_look_back_a_look_ahead_plus_cranford-oak_knoll_coverage.html

Union County - a look back, a look ahead, plus Cranford-Oak Knoll coverage

Published: Friday, December 16, 2011, 7:14 PM     Updated: Friday, December 16, 2011, 8:06 PM
Chris Orlando/For The Star-Ledger By Chris Orlando/For The Star-Ledger
goeller.jpg
The 2011-12 girls basketball season has arrived with just about everybody seeing action between Friday and Saturday.
Here is the link to last year's end-of-the-year Union County story. The '10-'11 season which saw Roselle Catholic earn its third straight Union County Tournament championship led by Player of the Year Melissa Tobie.
Tobie is a freshman at Montclair State but Roselle Catholic appears to be in good hands if Friday's victory over Roselle is any indication. Junior Marcia Senatus had a game-high 23 points along with nine steals to key a 70-18 decision.
Here is the allingment for the Union County Conference for this season with the only change from last year being Dayton and Hillside, which switched divsions.
Union County Conference for 2011-'12
Watchung Division: Linden, Plainfield, Roselle, Roselle Catholic, Scotch Plains, Summit, Union, Westfield.
Montain Division: Cranford, Dayton, Elizabeth, Gov. Livingston, Johnson, New Providence, Oak Knoll, Union Catholic.
Valley Division: Benedictine, Brearley, Hillside, Kent Place, Rahway, Roselle Park, St. Mary's (Eliz.), St. Patrick.
I had a chance to witness the season-opener Friday between Oak Knoll and Cranford on Friday afternoon and you can find the box from Cranford's 55-37 victory here.
Oak Knoll got off to a quick 7-3 lead as Kerri Moran had four points and Kelly McAloon added a 3-pointer early on.
But Cranford soon asserted itself offensively and defensively and took used a 13-3 second quarter run to take a 28-13 lead into intermission. Junior guard Jenna Goeller had 11 of her 14 points and senior guard Morgan Miller added seven of her team-high 15 points in the first half.
Moran and Miller were each named as Players to Watch in The Star-Ledger Girls Basketball Preview.
moran2.jpgKerri Moran of Oak Knoll, seen here shooting against Union Catholic in a game during the 2009-10 season. Photo By Tim Farrell
Oak Knoll, which split two regular-season games with Cranford last winter, including the season-opening tilt in Summit. Senior Gabriela Pallicer had four of Oak Knoll's five points as it started the third on a 5-1 run to cut its deficit to 30-18 with just over five minutes left in the quarter.
Cranford, however, received back-to-back baskets from Kaitlin McGovern and free throw from Miller to push its lead back to 17 points.
McGovern then added six points and Miller had five in the fourth as Cranford closed with an 18-14 fourth quarter.
"The first game is always tough but and we started slow but we were able to get our feet under us and stared to play better," said Miller, who also had six rebounds, six assists and six steals. "We just want to do well and play our best each game and hopefully be in good shape come tournament time."
A year ago Cranford went 22-6 and reached the finals of the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 final where it bowed to West Morris.
Goeller added four rebounds, one steal and one assist and made a game-high three 3-pointers.
"I feel like I'm more confident in shooting 3's this year," said Goeller. "Today was a good start for us and hopefully we can keep it going next (Tuesday) when we play New Providence."



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