Team effort lifts Cranford girls' basketball past undefeated GL; Senior guard Miller leads all scorers with fine 25-point performance
By JR ParachiniUnion County Sports Editor
BERKELEY HEIGHTS – Getting a second chance to knock off an undefeated Governor Livingston squad, Cranford knew it had to do a much better job on the boards this time.
“We definitely pulled it together, especially in the second half when we allowed only three offensive rebounds,” said senior guard Morgan Miller, who paced all scorers with 25 points.
Cranford overcome a first-quarter deficit, played its best eight minutes of the season in the second quarter to take a double-digit halftime lead and then held on in the second half to defeat GL 49-44 Friday night in Union County Conference-Mountain Division action.
There are no more undefeated basketball teams in Union County, with GL slipping to 17-1 overall and 12-1 in the Mountain. The Highlanders will capture the Mountain Division championship outright if they win their final division game of the season Tuesday at Oak Knoll.
Cranford, which - ironically - was outscored in three of the four quarters, won its seventh straight to improve to 16-3 overall and 11-2 in the Mountain. Cranford’s last loss was its 42-38 defeat at home to GL on Jan. 19, with the Highlanders scoring the game’s final four points in the last minute, with the first two coming after an offensive rebound.
“We definitely knew we had to box out and limit their offensive rebounds,” Miller said. “We had to keep our composure and not get rattled. I think we got a little bit rattled when they started to make a run, but we pulled it together and were able to finish it out and get the win.”
With Cranford ahead 47-44, GL senior guard Alyssa Polimeni - who paced the Highlanders with 17 points, but did not score in the fourth quarter - drove through the middle of the lane for a layup that missed.
The difference this time was that there was a Cranford player there for the defensive rebound, which was Miller. Of Cranford’s 14 second-half points, Miller scored 12 of them, including all seven in the fourth quarter.
After grabbing that important rebound, Miller was fouled with 15.4 seconds to go. Miller made two free throws to put Cranford up 49-44.
Polimeni, teammate Sam Dowling and then Polimeni again fired three-point shots in the final seconds that all missed.
“Defensively, we were pressuring the ball and we were helping well and then we were finishing out possessions by boxing out,” Miller said.
The game was even in the first quarter and tied for the third time already at 8-8 before Polimeni scored her first nine points – all in a row – to put GL in front 17-8. Polimeni made a righty layup, her only 3-pointer - which came from the right side - a lefty layup and then banked in a shot off the glass from the middle of the lane.
Then, without anyone covering her, Miller took a shot from half court that banked in hard off the glass for a first quarter-ending three-pointer that pulled Cranford to within six at 17-11.
It was the first of a game-high five three-pointers by Miller and her first points of the game.
Little did anyone know that it was going to be the precursor to Cranford’s finest eight minutes of basketball this season.
“I never made a shot like that in a game, maybe in practice,” Miller said.
Miller began the second quarter by hitting a three-pointer from the right side. Then Polimeni followed with a layup.
Cranford - which began to speed the contest up behind a transition game that had the Highlanders a bit on their heels - then went on a 10-0 run, receiving scoring in the surge from starters Mairead McKeary, Jenna Goeller, Miller and Jessica McCoy.
After a layup by GL junior Mallory George halted the run, Cranford scored the game’s next 11 points, beginning with an inside basket by starter Kaitlin McGovern.
During a combined 21-2 run, Miller scored seven points, McKeary, McCoy and McGovern four each and Goeller two. Earning assists were McCoy with three and Goeller and McKeary with one each.
Cranford’s biggest lead of 14 was at 35-21 before George hit a shot in the lane to make the score 35-23 at intermission.
GL was never behind by that much in a game this season.
“We made a lot of shots in transition and we pushed the ball up the floor because their heads were turned,” Miller said. “We got good shots, we weren’t forcing anything and we played with confidence.”
"We had to shut them down on the boards, which was our main focus,” said McCoy, with Cranford doing a fine job of limiting George, senior Rebecca Johnson and junior Erin Ferguson from dominating the glass.
George finished with 12 points and Ferguson with eight, but they were not able to grab as many rebounds as they are accustomed to.
The Highlanders made only three-of-10 field goal attempts and did not go to the free throw line in a second quarter that Cranford dominated to the tune of 24-6.
“That was definitely our best quarter,” McCoy said. “We were firing on all cylinders. We were hitting everything, moving well and playing tight defense. I’m really proud that we came through like that.
“We knew we had to drive a lot and draw fouls, but I think rebounding was the biggest thing. Getting Ferguson and trying to stop Polimeni from driving was important.”
Cranford won with a complete team effort and also received a clutch performance from its top player, Miller, which was the best of both worlds for the Cougars.
“Morgan was definitely hitting her shots tonight,” McCoy said. “Jenna was feeding her the ball, moving around on defense and drawing fouls; Mairead driving to the basket and finishing her shots and Kaitlin was posting out. We were all moving really well.”
Not only was the second quarter the deciding stretch in this division game, but it was absolutely necessary to Cranford winning, since GL managed to score more points than the Cougars the other three eight-minute stanzas.
“That was clearly our best quarter,” Cranford head coach Jackie Dyer said. “We’re a big transition team. If you don’t have a transition layup, that’s our first option. If you don’t have that, then you pull it back up top and run through an offense, but that’s what we like to look for first.”
When Miller hit a jumper from the left side in the second quarter she put Cranford ahead for the fourth time and for good at 20-19. Then GL was down by three and then down by five and then down by eight and then down by 10, prompting head coach Andy Silvagni to call a timeout.
Cranford was red hot at this time of the game, with the home team’s fans a bit stunned to see their undefeated Highlanders trailing by 10 points.
“When our defense is on, our offense just kind of clicks,” Dyer said. “In the first quarter our defense was not. We were very laid back and not doing what we’ve gone over.
“Then in the second quarter we held them to six points. We were talking. Our bench was involved talking. We just worked really, really hard.
“I couldn’t be happier. When the going got tough and we were down they didn’t give up. That’s the one thing that I really love about coaching them. We could be down 30 and they’re going to be on the floor going for the ball.”
Trying to box out George, Johnson and Ferguson is no easy task.
“The last time we played them we lost because we allowed 11 offensive rebounds,” Dyer said. “We allowed them three in the first half and three in the second half, so we weren’t going to allow that again.
“Since that game, we’ve been going over every day in practice: boxing out, boxing out, boxing out. Our bench screamed every time they shot the ball to let them know that the shot is up and that they have to box out.”
McKeary covered Polimeni the entire game and received a rave review from Dyer. It’s not many times that Polimeni does not score a single point in the fourth quarter. That did happen last Friday night, but in a win at Dayton that was really in hand before the final eight minutes.
“Mairead McKeary is our best all-around defender,” Dyer said. “She’s the one that if I say, ‘I want you on her and I don’t want the ball back,’ the ball’s not coming back. She doesn’t back down, she’s in their face all day long and she really aggravates them. She’s a very, very tough kid.”
Polimeni and GL appeared as if they might be on their way to another victory before Miller hit the final shot of the first quarter.
“The momentum was kind of going our way in the first quarter and then that shot (Miller’s first three-pointer) switched it over,” Polimeni said. “In the second quarter we were kind of running around and not in control of the game.
“We weren’t all on the same page. When you get into a huge deficit like that it’s hard to come back from it.”
GL won the third quarter 13-7 to pull to within six at 42-36. Polimeni scored her final six points in that period to give the Highlanders a shot in the fourth quarter.
“We never gave up the entire game and showed a lot of heart,” Polimeni said. “In the fourth quarter I tried to get to the basket, but wasn’t really finishing. I tried to get some shots for my teammates too, but the ball wasn’t really going in the basket.”
“Before Miller hit the shot at the end of the first quarter I thought we had them on the ropes a bit, momentum-wise,” Silvagni said. “It was one of those shots. She’s a good player and she had it lined up and we didn’t pressure the ball enough. We should know to bother the ball there a little bit more and not let her get a clean look like that, but it was a great shot by her.”
When Cranford was passing the ball in transition and hitting 10-of-13 field goal attempts in the second quarter you could tell that it might not be GL’s night.
“They shot the heck out of the ball,” Silvagni said. “They were making all of their shots, they were moving, they had us on our heels and I thought Morgan was outstanding all night. We shouldn’t leave her and we were leaving her and she was making us pay for it.
“For whatever reason we couldn’t get a stop at all in the second quarter and we never really recovered. I thought out kids battled in the third and fourth quarters, but we just couldn’t recover from the deficit, especially against a good team like Cranford.
“Did we want to stay undefeated? Absolutely. We lost. It is what it is. We’ll learn from it and move on.”
Senior guard Bari Machado started in place of Dowling once more, although Dowling played for the first time since she suffered a concussion in last week’s home win over Johnson. Machado came up with three steals in the fourth quarter and scored GL’s final two points on free throws.
Dowling, who did a fine job of singing the national anthem on the court before the game, missed GL’s last four games with her concussion injury. She finished with three points, with her three-pointer from the top of the key in the third quarter pulling GL to within three at 39-36.
GL also got to within three points in the second half at 47-44 following Machado’s second free throw.
UNION COUNTY CONFERENCE-MOUNTAIN DIVISION
GIRLS’ BASKETBALL GAME AT GOVERNOR LIVINGSTON
CRANFORD (16-3, 11-2) 11 24 7 7 - 49
GOV. LIVINGSTON (17-1, 12-1) 17 6 13 8 - 44
CRANFORD COUGARS (49):
3-Morgan Miller, senior, 4-5-2-25
13-Mairead McKeary, sophomore, 3-0-3-9
20-Jessica McCoy, junior, 3-0-0-6
22-Kaitlin McGovern, junior, 2-0-0-4
4-Jenna Goeller, junior, 1-1-0-5
15-Carly Maucione, sophomore, 0-0-0-0
Starters: Goeller, McCoy,
McKeary, McGovern, Miller
Totals: 13-6-5-49
GOV. LIVINGSTON HIGHLANDERS (44):
3-Bari Machado, senior, 0-0-2-2
15-Mallory George, junior, 5-0-2-12
22-Erin Ferguson, junior, 3-0-2-8
42-Sam Dowling, senior, 0-1-0-3
14-Alyssa Polimeni, senior, 7-1-0-17
21-Rebecca Johnson, senior, 1-0-0-2
Starters: Ferguson, George,
Machado, Johnson, Polimeni
Totals: 16-2-6-44
PHOTOS BY JR PARACHINI:
TOP - Cranford, sparked by the play of Morgan Miller (No. 3), Kaitlin McGovern (No. 22), Jenna Goeller (No. 4) and Jessica McCoy (No. 20), handed GL its first loss.
SECOND - Cranford coach Jackie Dyer said that Mairead McKeary, No. 13, is her team's best all-around defender. GL's Alyssa Polimeni scored 17 points, but none in the fourth quarter.
THIRD - Cranford sophomore Mairead McKeary (No. 13) was praised for her defense by head coach Jackie Dyer.
FOURTH - After a hard-fought game, both teams display good sportsmanship.
FIFTH - Cranford senior guard Morgan Miller, with ball at right, is being guarded here by GL senior guard Bari Machado. Miller paced all scorers with 25 points in Cranford's win.
SIXTH - Here, Cranford sophomore Mairead McKeary guards GL senior Alyssa Polimeni.
BOTTOM - Cranford head coach Jackie Dyer has some encouraging words for her Cougars during a timeout.
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