December
20, 2006
 |
 |
| Lindsay Ianna had 15 points to lead Ramapo as it knocked off Northern Highlands, 36-29. | |
FRANKLIN LAKES – With the way last season ended, the expectations were high for the Ramapo girls basketball team. It was due to have all five starters back from the team that made a run from the No. 13 seed to the Bergen County final and to the state sectional semis. But before this season even began, the Green Raiders last one of those starters to other interests and another, senior point guard Samantha Depken, broke the pinky finger on her right hand just before the final preseason scrimmage.
Throw in a one-point loss to Wayne Hills on opening night and, heading into just its second game of the season on Tuesday night against Northern Highlands, Ramapo was reminded that the road back to the heights it reached last year will be bumpy at the least.
 |
| Senior Taylor Shea, who missed all of last season with a knee injury, scored nine points for Northern Highlands. |
“Those expectations are nothing that we put on them, but from a player’s standpoint, it is hard not to think about all the fun we had last year and how much fun it would be to repeat it,” said Ramapo head coach Steve Silver. “Maybe it got in the way a little bit on Friday night (against Wayne Hills), but the girls responded and worked much harder tonight, which, as a coach, is great to see.”
And if nothing else, Northern Highlands is an opponent that gives nothing away for free. The Highlanders have a brand new starting five from the one that reached the state sectional final last season, but when head coach John Smith shunned retirement for one last go round, it was almost assured that NH would be competitive once again.
Smith’s teams play defense, Ramapo is trying to figure out how to run its offense without its point guard and the result was a possession by possession, grind-it-out 32 minutes. Ramapo had just one quarter in which it scored double digits, but the Raiders held Highlands to single digits in each one and pulled out a 36-29 win, their first of the season.
 |
| Elissa Klie had 14 points for Ramapo, which evened its record at 1-1. |
Neither team had larger than a five-point lead through the first three quarters although Highlands got an early lift from point Lisa Citro, who hit her first three shots from the field, all from at least 15 feet, and NH had a 9-7 lead after eight minutes. The Highlanders held a one-point lead at the half when Christina Tyler hit a baseline jumper to give the Highlanders a 16-15 advantage.
The second half started with 3-pointers on three consecutive trips down the floor. Ramapo’s Lindsey Ianna hit the first one to give her team its first lead since 2-0. Citro answered to put Highlands back in front, 19-18, but when Elissa Klie hit a three the next time down, Ramapo had a 21-19 lead with 5:25 to go in the third quarter and the Raiders never trailed thereafter, although they never could fully pull away either.
Alyssa Bronander’s fast break layup, the only transition basket of the game by either team, with 1:16 to go in the game gave Ramapo (1-1) its largest lead to that point at 34-29. The Raiders made two of six free throws down the stretch to hold on for the win.
 |
| Lisa Citro hit her first three shots from the field and finished with 9 points for Highlands. |
Ianna, who made half of Ramapo’s four three-pointers, led all scorers with 15 points and Klie, who also hit two 3s, finished with 14. Bronander fined with five points and seven rebounds and the senior trio scored all but two of the Green Raiders’ 36 points. The other two belonged to junior Anna Drehwing, who started in place of Depken at point guard. Last season it was a broken pinky on her left hand that kept Depken out of five games early in the season, and the Raiders struggled in her absence.
“The big thing is Anna stepping up. This is the first time she is really being thrown in there in intense games and she is handling it well,” said Klie. “I think it is great for her and for our team that she gets this experience now and then be a spark for us off the bench when Sam [Depken] comes back. That will help us in two ways and hopefully, we’ll take right off when she gets back.”
Highlands ran much of its offense through senior forward Taylor Shea, who lost all of last season to knee surgery, but was a key piece on the 2004-05 team that reached the Group 3 state final. Shea and Citro each finished with 9 points and Xanthi Tsamutalis added 7 for Highlands, which was without the services of freshman point guard Hanna Mayer, who scored 14 points in her first ever varsity game, a three-point loss to Old Tappan on opening night.
“We are out there with only two varsity players (Shea and Julia Cohan) that have any kind of varsity experience and I think we are doing pretty good. We are going to be competitive every time out,” said Smith, who put off retirement for one more season to see this senior class through. “We lost by three to Old Tappan, which is one of the best teams around, and we played with a very good Ramapo team well into the fourth quarter.”
 |
| Anna Drehwing has filled in well at point guard for Ramapo. |
Both teams have taken on ambitious early season schedules. Highlands (0-2) will play Wayne Hills in a league game on Friday before participating in the ultra-competitive Joe Poli Tournament at Pascack Valley where it will play Montclair.
“We’d like to make the county and state tournaments, but that is going to be hard to do,” said Smith. “You start 0-2 and you have Wayne Hills next and the Joe Poli after that, it is going to be tough. But we will work hard and hope to get better.”
Ramapo will pay a visit to Old Tappan on Friday before entering the Indian Hills Holiday Tournament where it will open against Hackensack
“Every game in this league and on our schedule is tough, and playing without Depken for the first three games has made it tougher. We hope to have her back against Hackensack,” said Silver. “We are using these first few games as a learning experience. We can feel better about it after this win and then go after the next one.”
FOR MORE PHOTOS OF THIS EVENT OR TO BUY A COLLECTOR'S PRINT OF THIS STORY, PLEASE VISIT 4FeetGrafix.com.
|
|
|
| About Us | Contact Us | Home |
Questions?
E-mail the editor editor@northjerseysports.com
All contents © copyright 2003-2006 HSSportsWeb.com, Inc. All rights reserved.
