Gov. Livingston tops Cranford for Union County girls basketball tournament title
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Alyssa Polimeni helped Gov. Livingston to its first UCT title on Sunday. - (Tony Kurdzuk/The Star-Ledger)
“It’s tough when you can’t score as often as you’d like,” the senior guard said. “The only thing you can do is step up defensively and limit your opponent to one shot.”
Led by Polimeni, who totaled six rebounds and two steals to go along with a game-high 15 points, top-seeded Gov. Livingston, No. 20 in The Star-Ledger Top 20, asserted itself defensively to earn a 31-25 victory over second-seeded Cranford in the championship game of the 37th Frank J. Cicarell Union County Tournament on Sunday night at Kean University in Union.
The UCT title was the first for Gov. Livingston (24-1), which bowed to Roselle Catholic, 33-26, in last year’s final. Cranford (23-4) was in the final for the first time since it won its only title in 2006.
Gov. Livingston, which held a 16-14 lead at the half, stopped Cranford on its first possession of the third quarter and Polimeni promptly buried a 3-pointer to push the lead to five points.
After Kaitlin McGovern’s basket drew Cranford to within 19-17 with just under six minutes remaining in the period, Cranford went the next five minutes without a basket until McGovern scored the final points of the quarter with 1:00 left to make the score 23-19. Polimeni had all seven points of her team’s points in the stanza.
Senior guard Bari Machado, who came in off the bench, was a huge help defensively in the third, pulling down five rebounds.
“You always have to be ready to go out and help,” said Machado, who is 5-3. “After losing last year, it's cool to come back and get the win.”
Cranford, which had its 13-game winning streak snapped, was held scoreless until 1:42 remained in the fourth when senior guard Morgan Miller made her first field goal – a 3-pointer – that drew Cranford to within 26-22.
Polimeni made two free throws after being fouled on Gov. Livingston’s next possession, but Miller again scored to draw Cranford to within 28-24 with 1:10 remaining.
“Morgan is a very good player but her shots weren’t falling,” said Gov. Livingston junior forward Mallory George, who finished with five points and four rebounds. “And ours weren’t really. Thankfully we had great defense and Alyssa and Erin (Ferguson) made their free throws.”
Polimeni added one more free throw with 25 seconds remaining and Ferguson made two in the final seconds to seal the championship.
Ferguson, a junior forward, added 10 rebounds and three points and Becca Johnson, also a junior forward, had five points and seven boards. Senior guard Sam Dowling had three points, two steals and two assists.
“We didn’t want to come here and not make it count,” Ferguson said. “We’ve had a great season and this makes it all worth it.”
Gov. Livingston had won its first 17 games this winter before falling to Cranford, 49-44, on Feb. 3. Cranford’s last loss before last night was a 42-38 setback to Gov. Livingston on Jan. 19.
“Obviously we would’ve liked to score more, but we rebounded and played great defensively,” said fifth-year Gov. Livingston coach Andy Silvagni. “We’ve had one of the great seasons in school history and now we move onto the states where hopefully we can make this a really special year.”
Cranford was led offensively by Jessica McCoy, who had eight points, all in the first half.
“I told the team it's okay to be upset, not to be disappointed,” said fifth-year Cranford coach Jackie Dyer. “They should be proud of the fact that they got to this point and what they’ve achieved this season.”
For Polimeni, the win was doubly special.
“It feels great to avenge the one loss we had this year,” she said. “And to finally win the county title is an amazing feeling.”
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