Cranford Downs Hillside in Opening Round of UCT
On Monday night Cranford traveled to Roselle Catholic to take on Hillside in the opening round of the Union County Tournament. Hillside came in to the game with an impressive 14-3 record, so Cranford knew they would have to be sharp on the court.
Hillside won the opening tip off, but an immediate steal by Jess McCoy gave the Cougars the ball. Cranford worked the possession until Kaitlin McGovern found Morgan Miller for an open look and the first two points of the game. On Hillside's next possession, McCoy again intercepted a pass; pushing the ball up the court to Jenna Goeller who found Miller again on the arc to give Cranford a 5-0 lead in the opening minute of play. On their next trip up the court Hillside managed to avoid McCoy, but it was Kaitlin McGovern who got a hand on the ball for the Cougars.
Goeller garnered her second assist of the evening when she found Mairead McKeary racing for the basket. Not to be outdone, on the next Hillside attempt McCoy got back into the act, grabbing her third steal of the evening. It looked like the Cougars were set to run away with the game when on the very next trip McGovern blocked a Hillside shot, McCoy grabbed the rebound, found Goeller racing up the court, who gave it right back to McCoy for two. Hillside called a timeout with 5:38 remaining in the period and Cranford up 9-0.
Out of the timeout, Hillside settled down a bit and got two looks at the basket but were unable to connect before McCoy got a hand on the ball for her fourth steal of the game. Cranford was unable to connect on that possession and Hillside got on the board for the first time with a fast break off of the rebound. The Comets began to pressure Cranford a bit more at this point, and the Cougars found it more difficult to get good looks at the basket.
Both teams traded a couple of fruitless trips up the court before Kaitlin McGovern earned a trip to the charity stripe, where she converted one of two to give Cranford a 10-2 lead. Hillside duplicated that feat, earning a trip of their own on the next possession and bring the score to 10-3, then swiped the ball from the Cougars and added two more to make the score 10-5 with 2:44 to go in the first as the Cougars called a timeout.
Both teams traded a couple of fruitless trips up the court before Kaitlin McGovern earned a trip to the charity stripe, where she converted one of two to give Cranford a 10-2 lead. Hillside duplicated that feat, earning a trip of their own on the next possession and bring the score to 10-3, then swiped the ball from the Cougars and added two more to make the score 10-5 with 2:44 to go in the first as the Cougars called a timeout.
Out of the timeout, the Comets worked the ball well up the court and earned a basket. The Cougars responded on the next possession when Goeller found McCoy under the basket to bring the score to 12-7. A steal by McKeary, and assist by Goeller and a trey by Miller gave Cranford a 15-7 advantage and a last second steal by McCoy ended the period.
The Cougars opened the second quarter with a three-pointer from Goeller off an assist by McKeary on a play that started with a Goeller steal.
Hillside came back and answered with a trey of their own. Then followed that with layup, which Cranford's Carly Maucione responded to with a 12 footer from the baseline.
Goeller then hit again from long range off a pass from Miller to put the Cougars ahead 23-13 with 5:50 to go in the half. At this point, though, the tide started to change a bit for the Cougars. Senior standout Morgan Miller went to the bench with foul trouble and Hillside reeled off five unanswered points before Miller made it back to the floor. Jess McCoy stopped the run by converting both shots of a 1-and-1 after being fouled hauling in a rebound and it was 25-17. Goeller added two more from the charity stripe, and the Comets then added five straight of their own off of a jumper, and a couple of trips to the foul line. McCoy again stopped the Hillside run, getting fouled in the lane and making both bonus shots to close out the half with a 29-23 lead.
Hillside came back and answered with a trey of their own. Then followed that with layup, which Cranford's Carly Maucione responded to with a 12 footer from the baseline.
The second half opened with aggressive defense by both teams. Miller blocked Hillside's opening shot, and McGovern blocked two more successive attempts by the Comets. But the Cougars couldn't take advantage of their defense as they turned the ball over twice on their own, all in the first ninety seconds of play. Perhaps most damaging for the Cougars was that Miller got her fourth foul in that same period, sending Cranfords most dominant player to the bench for an extended rest. The Cougars began to look a little shaky, turning the ball over three quick times and giving up six straight points to bring the score to 29-27 with 5:25 remaining in the third when Coach Dyer called a timeout to settle her team.
Coming out of the timeout, Jess McCoy took the inbounds pass from Goeller and raced down the court, only to be fouled in the lane. McCoy converted one of her two shots from the foul line. The Comets answered right back, patiently working their offense until they got an open look and closed the gap to 30-29. A Goeller pass to Maucione who sank a 10 footer from the right side gave the Cougars some breathing room. Kaitlin McGovern found Mairead McKeary streaking for the basket to stretch the lead out a little more for Cranford.
After a couple of missed shots by the Cougars, Hillside got back on the board with a three, but Cranford quickly answered with a two from McCoy off of a pass from Goeller. Goeller then earned another trip to the line where she added two more points for the Cougars. Hillside added a pair of freebies of their own to narrow the score to 38-35.
After a couple of missed shots by the Cougars, Hillside got back on the board with a three, but Cranford quickly answered with a two from McCoy off of a pass from Goeller. Goeller then earned another trip to the line where she added two more points for the Cougars. Hillside added a pair of freebies of their own to narrow the score to 38-35.
Morgan Miller was a welcome sight on the court for the Cougars to start the fourth quarter. Hillside opened pressing the Cougar ball handlers hard, but McCoy found Goeller racing for the basket for two to start things off.
Jess McCoy then hit a baseline jumper off an assist from Morgan Miller on a play that started with a steal by McCoy, and the Cougars were up 42-35 with 6:46 remaining in the game when Hillside called a timeout.
On the first possession after the timeout, McCoy again got in the way of the Hillside offense, giving the ball back to the Cougars. Cranford was unable to convert, however, and the Comets reeled off five straight unanswered points make it a two-point game.
Jess McCoy then hit a baseline jumper off an assist from Morgan Miller on a play that started with a steal by McCoy, and the Cougars were up 42-35 with 6:46 remaining in the game when Hillside called a timeout.
On the first possession after the timeout, McCoy again got in the way of the Hillside offense, giving the ball back to the Cougars. Cranford was unable to convert, however, and the Comets reeled off five straight unanswered points make it a two-point game.
Morgan Miller stepped up and sank one from long range off of an assist by Goeller to put Cranford up by 5 with five minutes remaining. McCoy then added two in transition off of pass from McKeary.
On the next possession, McKeary found McGovern in the paint for two more and Cranford led 49-40 with 3:53 remaining.
Coming out of a Hillside timeout, the Comets got a quick inside look, then converted a steal on the Cranford inbounds for another two and cut the Cougars lead to 5. Goeller then drove to the hoop off a feed from McCoy and got the harm to stretch Cranford's lead back to 8.
On the next possession, McKeary found McGovern in the paint for two more and Cranford led 49-40 with 3:53 remaining.
Coming out of a Hillside timeout, the Comets got a quick inside look, then converted a steal on the Cranford inbounds for another two and cut the Cougars lead to 5. Goeller then drove to the hoop off a feed from McCoy and got the harm to stretch Cranford's lead back to 8.
Hillside had some trouble getting open looks, but did make it to the foul line. After missing the first, and making the second, the Comets were able to steal the ball off of the Cranford inbounds play and add two more. Goeller again got the Cougars back on track, taking another pass from McCoy and finishing for two.
With 1:37 remaining Hillside called a timeout with Cranford leading 54-49. Hillside sank one from behind the arc to narrow Cranford's advantage to two points. The Cougars, however, kept their composure. Under pressure from Hillside's aggressive press, Morgan Miller found a wide open Mairead McKeary at the other end of the court to pad Cranford's lead.
With 1:37 remaining Hillside called a timeout with Cranford leading 54-49. Hillside sank one from behind the arc to narrow Cranford's advantage to two points. The Cougars, however, kept their composure. Under pressure from Hillside's aggressive press, Morgan Miller found a wide open Mairead McKeary at the other end of the court to pad Cranford's lead.
On Hillside's next possession, Kaitlin McGovern recorded her fifth blocked shot of the night. The rebound was grabbed by Morgan Miller who was fouled and got a trip to the line where she made the front end of a one and one and stretched the Cougar lead to five. Hillside was not done yet, however, hitting another three on their next trip up the court. Time was running out, however, putting the Comets in a position of having to foul to try and get the ball back. Miller got another trip to the line where she sank both attempts. Another blocked shot by McGovern and another rebound by Miller earned the Senior one more trip to the line to give Cranford the 61-55 victory.
PLAYER | PTS | RBD | AST | STL | BLK | 2PM | 3PM | FTM |
Miller | 16 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
Goeller | 17 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
McCoy | 15 | 10 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
McGovern | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Maucione | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
McKeary | 6 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
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