37th ANNUAL FRANK J. CICARELL GIRLS U NION COUNTY TOURNAMENT

http://www.sidelinechatter.com/sport1.htm

Fifth-Seeded Summit Looks To Continue
To Make Impact As UCT Reaches Semis

37th ANNUAL FRANK J. CICARELL GIRLS U NION COUNTY TOURNAMENT

Previewing the Semifinals . . .  

By JR Parachini
For sidelinechatter.com

CLARK – The last time the top two seeds reached the championship game was 2004.

Dayton first and then Summit second will be out to keep that streak going.
We have two superb matchups ready to tip off as third-seeded Dayton will clash with second-seeded Cranford at 6 p.m. and then fifth-seeded Summit will battle top-seeded Governor Livingston at 7:30 in Monday’s 37th Annual Frank J. Cicarell Girls’ Basketball Union County Tournament semifinals at Johnson.
This is the sixth straight season that not all top four seeds made it to the semifinals. The last time that happened was in 2006
When Scotch Plains defeated in-town rival Union Catholic in the championship game to win its first crown in 2004, that was the last time the top two seeds reached the final, Scotch Plains the top seed that season and Union Catholic the second.
GL and Cranford would like to be the first 1-2 tandem to get to the final in eight years.
The championship game is scheduled for Sunday at 5 p.m. at Kean University’s Harwood Arena in Union.
Dayton and Cranford split Union County Conference-Mountain Division contests, while Summit and Mountain Division champion GL have not faced one another this season.
Dayton, as the 12th seed, upset fourth-seeded Cranford 43-42 in last year’s quarterfinals at Rahway and then topped the Cougars again 46-43 at home on Jan. 6. Cranford exacted a bit of revenge at home on Feb. 2, beating the Bulldogs 54-36 at Martin Gymnasium.
Summit, which just defeated Roselle Catholic in the quarterfinals after being 0-5 vs. the Lions since the UCC was formed in 2009-2010, last played GL on Jan. 16, 2010. The Hilltoppers came out on top that Saturday afternoon by a score of 40-33 in a conference-crossover clash in Berkeley Heights.
All four teams returned all five of their starters.
These are four of the top five teams in the county with the best winning percentage and are the only schools with 18 wins or more.
Summit reached the semifinals for the first time since 2000 and Cranford for the first time since 2010. GL and Dayton are both back in the semifinals after getting that far last year for the first time in awhile.
Summit won its only crown in 1999 and Cranford captured its only title in 2006. GL and Dayton are still seeking to hoist the trophy for the first time.
For the third year in a row the semifinals are at a different venue. They were at Roselle Catholic for the third straight year in 2010 and at Rahway in 2011.
 
Here’s a look at Monday’s matchups:
 
UCT SEMIFINALS AT JOHNSON
3-Dayton (18-6) vs. 2-Cranford (21-3), 6 p.m.: Dayton has won four in a row, while Cranford has the county’s longest winning streak at the moment at 12. Cranford finished second in the Mountain Division and Dayton tied for third with Oak Knoll.
Last year when Dayton got to the semifinals it had to face two-time defending champion and top-seeded Roselle Catholic, falling 44-25 at Rahway.
This time the Bulldogs feel like they have a much better chance of moving on.
“We were an underdog last year, but as a third seed this year we believe in ourselves a lot more,” said Dayton senior guard Anna Lies, who scored the winning point on a free throw in Dayton’s dramatic 57-56 overtime triumph over sixth-seeded Linden in Thursday night’s first quarterfinal at Roselle Catholic.
Dayton got out to a double-digit lead in the first half of its win over Cranford and then held on, with the visiting Cougars pulling to within one in the fourth quarter.
“It’s going to take a lot of heart to beat them again,” Lies said.
Dayton’s win over Cranford this season was the first of three consecutive Friday night home triumphs against strong competition.
“We know we have a chance to win this time,” said Dayton senior guard Jen Kuczynski, whose only field goal against Linden was a game-tying three-pointer with four seconds left in the fourth quarter that sent the game to overtime. “We all believe so much in everyone.”
Cranford has won 43 games the past two seasons and Dayton 38.
“We have a lot of confidence,” said Dayton senior guard Emily MacDonnell, who scored a team-leading 18 points vs. Linden on her 18 th birthday. “We’ve beaten Cranford and lost to them, so we’ve been at the top and at the bottom.
“We have to continue to play aggressive. Cranford is a very good team and we’re looking forward to the challenge.”
Dayton head coach Dave Rennie knows that when his team is in a groove shooting the ball and getting back for stops in transition that the scoreboard will more times than not favor the Bulldogs.
“We know it’s going to be a very tough game,” Rennie said. “We have to be successful on the offensive end. When we were the first time we played them we were able to play out in front.”
There will be four 1,000 point career scorers in this game, including Lies, Kuczynski, MacDonnell and Cranford senior Morgan Miller.
“We need to continue to play good defense,” Miller said. “We have to get out on their shooters and, offensively, look to push the ball up.
“We have to really work together and dominate the boards.”
Cranford’s last loss was its only defeat at home, a 42-38 Mountain Division setback to GL. The game was tied 38-38 with less than a minute left before GL grabbed an important offensive rebound and ended up scoring the final four points.
Cranford’s three losses – the first two coming away from Martin Gymnasium – have come by a total of eight points.
“We’re really focused right now,” Miller said.
Cranford’s seventh victory in its present 12-game winning streak was a 49-44 division triumph at GL in which the Cougars did a much better job of preventing GL from corralling a large number of offensive rebounds.
“We’re playing more together now and it shows, especially on the boards,” Miller said. “We had that 24-6 second quarter against GL (in its win over the Highlanders) and made a lot of shots in transition.”
When the UCT changed its format a bit last year to allow the top four seeds to go right to the quarterfinals, Cranford was the only one that did not make it to the semifinals.
“Against Dayton we can’t have a lot of turnovers and get frustrated,” Miller said. “Playing two county games, I think, has been helpful.”
Union County Conference-Mountain Division games:
Jan. 6: Dayton 46, Cranford 43 – at Dayton
Feb. 2: Cranford 54, Dayton 36 – at Cranford
 
5-Summit (18-4) vs. 1-Gov. Livingston (21-1), 7:30 p.m.: Summit is on a season-high nine-game winning streak, while GL has won four straight since its only setback. Summit is 16-1 since moving to 2-3 following its first game in January.
“It’s been our goal since the beginning of the season to make it to the semis,” said Summit senior point guard Kate Martino, who paced the Hilltoppers with 18 points in their quarterfinal round win over Roselle Catholic, including six-for-six from the free throw line during a game-ending and deciding 16-2 run. “We’ve gotten to that point and we’re going to give it everything we have.
“We know they’re a very good team. We’re going to prepare and come out ready.”
Summit is the lone Watchung Conference team that made it this far, just like Roselle Catholic was last year. For the second straight season three Mountain Division teams – New Providence, GL and Dayton last year and GL, Cranford and Dayton this season – are in the Final Four.
Summit’s only loss since Jan. 5 was a 33-26 division home setback to Roselle Catholic on Jan. 28.
In order to win a 10 th straight game Monday night, Summit will have to combat GL’s front court size and rebounding ability, with Highlander juniors Erin Ferguson and Mallory George and senior Rebecca Johnson difficult bodies to box out.
“We’re going to have to do well off the boards and definitely be aggressive and pull their arms down low in the paint,” said Martino, who reached and passed 1,000 career points in a 49-46 division home win over Linden Jan. 31, which snapped an eight-game Tiger winning streak. “If we play our best we’ll have a shot. They’re going to give us a good run.”
In order to get a shot at GL, Summit had to clear a big hurdle in Roselle Catholic. The Hilltoppers lost to Roselle Catholic in a conference-crossover game in 2010 and were swept by the Lions in Watchung Division play last year and this year.
Roselle Catholic won the last three UCTs and had a 12-game UCT winning streak snapped by the Hilltoppers.
In Thursday night’s quarterfinal at Rahway, Summit trailed 14-7 at intermission and was staring at a third loss to the Lions this season.
“We started off scared and playing not to lose, rather than to win,” Martino said. “When we came out in the second half we said, ‘let’s just play the way we can play and we took it from there.’”
After the only field goal produced by Roselle Catholic junior point guard Marcia Senatus gave the fourth-seeded Lions a 22-18 lead, Summit began to press and trap. In addition, senior guard Nicole Johnson made all three of her field goal attempts and senior guard Kelly Osmulski was four-for-six from the free throw line. After making two-of-four free throws in the first half, Summit made 10-of-12 in the second.
“I think as a team we really came together and stepped up,” Martino said. “For the first time this season I think we all clicked on the court.”
The only Mountain Division team Summit lost to this year was New Providence, with the Pioneers winning 46-35 in a Dec. 29 Hilltopper Hoopla game at Summit.
The Hilltoppers defeated Mountain Division squads Johnson and Oak Knoll in conference-crossover games.
In the fall, the Summit girls’ soccer team, sparked by the play of Martino and Osmulski, reached the UCT semifinals before falling to top-seeded Westfield 2-1. The girls’ volleyball team, sparked by Nicole Johnson and starting forward Olivia Galuppo, reached the final before falling to defending champion and top-seeded Union Catholic.
Now the girls’ basketball team will be facing the top seed in their UCT.
“I know they have a good point guard and a couple of tall posts,” Osmulski said. “They’re a good team and I think they all play AAU.
“Having beaten Roselle Catholic was amazing. We’ve wanted to do that since our freshman season, so now we’re really fired up for GL.”
After Saturday’s conference-crossover home game vs. Oak Knoll was tied 30-30 going into the fourth quarter, Osmulski scored the first six points and eight of the first 10 of the final eight minutes to put Summit in front for good en route to the Hilltoppers coming out on top 46-38.
Summit gained even more confidence with its 18 th victory in 22 games.
“We have to box out well against GL, but we can definitely run with them,” Osmulski said. “We’re really a fast break team.
“As long as we just fast break it, run our offenses, box out, calm down and don’t force anything, we’ll do well. Also, we can’t get into foul trouble.”
The teams did not play each other this year.
FEAR FACTOR – Here’s what the 4 head coaches fear the most about their
semifinal opponents:
 
Dave Rennie, Dayton: “I’m most concerned with Cranford in transition, meaning the way they run the floor, especially off a defensive rebound. We have to be able to get back and match up. Morgan (Miller) can kill you with her shooting, but they also have other players that are very dangerous, you can’t just key on one person.
“Jessica McCoy played very well vs. Oak Knoll. I’m very impressed with the way she runs the court and she also has a perimeter shot. (Kaitlin) McGovern inside can present problems with her ability to post. (Jenna) Goeller and (Mairead) McKeary do a nice job as well getting their points, whether it’s from the perimeter or driving to the basket.
“Cranford’s a solid team. Miller gets a lot of attention and is their main scoring threat, but they have plenty of other players that can hurt you.
“We know we’re in for a battle. We have to play solid defense, which means getting back, and we have to be better on offense than we were the last time we played them. Our lack of execution offensively hurt us the last time, which had a lot to do with their defense.
“We have to find a way to get people open and drive the lane. We can’t settle on shooting threes. We have players that can attack the basket.
“I think lately we’ve been able to diversify our offense a bit, which has helped us win games.”
 
Jackie Dyer, Cranford: “They kind of remind me of us where it doesn’t matter, you can be up by 40 and they will fight until the end. The first time against them (this year) we were down by almost 30 points and we fought back to bring it to one. They are resilient as well. We expect a very tough, close game.
“What we learned from the first time we played them was how to attack their outside shooters. We had to adjust defensively and we focused much better the second time around.
“It came down to things like not leaving the shooter so wide open. Defensively, we really stepped up. Boxing out and defense have been our main focus.
“When we’re getting stops and turnovers and then scoring, we’re in a rhythm and at our best. When our defense is flat, then our offense becomes flat.”
Dyer said that McCoy is averaging 10-11 rebounds a game and that Goeller does an awesome job defensively on the guards she covers. McKeary is one of the top defensive players in the county.
 
Brian Erickson, Summit: “Everything. GL is the No. 1 team in the county and the top seed and they were a Top 20 (in the state) team. We’re excited for the challenge. We can’t wait. They’re a good, solid team and well-coached.
“The worst-case scenario for me, as a coach, is getting down at all. They’re so good and talented and anything can happen, but for me, the worst would be that your kids don’t rise to the moment and play with all the effort.
“The score will take care of itself as long as our kids come out and play with the courage and the heart that they’ve been displaying all year long that has made them successful in all of our wins and our losses.
“My biggest disappointment would be is if we didn’t show up to play. That has not been the case and I don’t think that will be the case on Monday.”
 
Andy Silvagni, Gov. Livingston: “Summit plays hard as a team, but what impressed me vs. Roselle Catholic was that Summit was undersized on the glass and still they outworked Roselle Catholic, which just doesn’t happen. RC has a good team, always runs their system and plays hard.
“For an undersized team Summit boxed out well. (Kate) Martino is amazing and any point in time she can go crazy (offensively). We have to make sure she doesn’t get in the lane and cause havoc.
“You need good guard play, good defense and good coaching to be successful in a tournament and Summit has all three. They’ve played real well the last month.
“Since our loss to Cranford, hopefully, we’ve learned some things and have moved on. Any time you lose it brings you back to the drawing board a bit. We teach the kids not to get outworked. We’re ready for Monday to be here.”
NOTES: Summit will host Lyndhurst Wednesday night at 6, which is Seniors Night.
The Hilltoppers were originally scheduled to play a conference-crossover game at Union Catholic Tuesday at 4 p.m., but now can’t play that day because teams are not allowed to play three days in a row.
Erickson said he hopes to play that game after Wednesday as one more contest to prepare his team for next week’s Central Jersey, Group 2 playoffs.
 
3-DAYTON BULLDOGS
2011-2012:
15-Anna Lies, senior
3-Emily MacDonnell, senior
10-Jen Kuczynski, senior
23-Heather Fritzen, junior
14-Nikki Athan, sophomore
5-Lea Ginefra, junior
1-Ricci Rajoppi, sophomore
2-Katie Condon, junior
4-Jessi Condon, junior
12-Allie Weber, junior
13-Megan Cieri, junior
24-Gianna Izzi, sophomore
30-Elyssa Pollack, freshman
Breanne Mooney, junior
Head coach: Dave Rennie, 15th season
2012: (18-6). 2011: (20-7). 2010: (16-9). 2009: (18-7).
2008: (16-7). 2007: (15-12). 2006: (15-12). 2005: (18-10).
2004: (21-6). 2003: (18-5). 2002: (17-5). 2001: (15-7).
2000: (11-11). 1999: (5-15). 1998: (2-18).
225-137 (.622).
Overall: 241-163 (.597).
Includes two years at Union:
1996-96 (5-15) and 1996-97 (11-11).
 
2-CRANFORD COUGARS
2011-2012:
3-Morgan Miller, senior
4-Jenna Goeller, junior
20-Jessica McCoy, junior
22-Kaitlin McGovern, junior
13-Mairead McKeary, sophomore
10-Kerry Wischusen, sophomore
11-Hannah DeMars, sophomore
12-Erin Meixner, freshman
15-Carly Maucione, sophomore
21-Alyssa Curry, sophomore
23-Vienna Stivala, freshman
24-Megan Pringle, sophomore
25-Jennifer Carovillano, freshman
Head coach: Jackie Dyer, fifth season
2012: (21-3). 2011: (22-6). 2010: (21-8).
2009: (18-11). 2008: (15-8).
97-36 (.729).
 
5-SUMMIT HILLTOPPERS
2011-2012:
11-Kate Martino, senior
14-Kelly Osmulski, senior
22-Nicole Johnson, senior
10-Amanda Murphy, senior
24-Olivia Galuppo, senior
2-Kate Chase, sophomore
4-Anna Baumeister, sophomore
5-Madeleine Gramigna, sophomore
15-Ali Hoesly, senior
21-Carly Wilson, junior
23-Fionna Flannery, senior
Marissa Murray, sophomore
Head coach: Brian Erickson, seventh season
2012: (18-4). 2011: (14-11). 2010: (23-4). 2009: (16-8).
2008: (13-13). 2007: (14-10). 2006: (10-13).
108-63 (.632).
Erickson was also the head coach at New Providence
for two years in 2003-04 and 2004-05.
 
1-GOV. LIVINGSTON HIGHLANDERS
2011-2012:
14-Alyssa Polimeni, senior
42-Sam Dowling, senior
22-Erin Ferguson, junior
21-Rebecca Johnson, senior
15-Mallory George, junior
3-Bari Machado, senior
5-Marielle Jankowski, junior
10-Alyssa Cranston, junior
11-Kristen Soranno, senior
12-Chrissy Dilly, junior
23-Patrice DiTommaso, sophomore
24-Cat Quinn, senior
Head coach: Andy Silvagni, fifth season
2012: (21-1). 2011: (19-6). 2010: (11-12).
2009: (15-10). 2008: (14-8).
80-37 (.684).