January
29, 2007
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ALLENDALE – Before yesterday’s first-round Bergen County tournament game against Cresskill, Northern Highlands head coach John Smith pulled aside guard Xanthi Tsamutalis and marked an ‘x’ on certain parts of the floor behind the three-point line where he felt she would get open looks at the basket.
His message was sent with the utmost of importance because a loss would not only knock the Highlanders out of the county tournament, but it would force the them to win both of their games this week to qualify for the state tournament. In the second quarter, Tsamutalis showed her coach and the opposing Cougars that she got the message loud and clear.
Tsamutalis scored all 16 of her points in the first half, including hitting 4 of 6 from three-point range as 15th seeded Northern Highlands breezed to a 58-46 victory over Cresskill, the No. 18 seed.
“We lost the past three games when we had the lead, so it was big for us to get the lead and hold onto it,” said Tsamutalis. “With all the attention Taylor (Shea) gets inside, I knew I would have some open shots. I knew if I could hi a few, they wouldn’t be able to collapse on Taylor and it would open up our whole offense.”
Northern Highlands struggled to get going and was held scoreless over the first five minutes of the game. Fortunately for them, the Lady Cougars did not get off to a hot start either and held just a 3-0 lead before Shea started to click in paint.
She scored a pair of buckets to help give them a 9-6 lead after one quarter. Tsamutalis opened the game up midway through the second period and the Highlanders were on cruise control from there. She hit three of her four three-point attempts in the period to give Northern Highlands a 29-18 lead at the half.
“Our legs just weren’t with us today and they took advantage of that,” said Cresskill head coach Jen Rilli. “With (Taylor) Shea being such a presence in the paint, we had to kind of pick our poison and dare them to hit outside shots. They just kept hitting them in the second quarter, and it forced our hand to try and adjust.”
The lone bright spot for the Cougars was the play of junior point guard Stephanie Durakis. Her three-pointer cut the lead to 31-25 two minutes into the third period. But by the time the Cougars scored again, the game was well out of reach. Shea was unstoppable in the post, scoring 10 points in a 16-0 run as Northern Highlands pulled away and moved into the Round of 16.
Shea notched game-highs with 24 points and 13 rebounds for Northern Highlands (8-8), on a blistering 12 of 17 from the field. Tsamutalis chipped in with four rebounds and four assists to go with her season-high 16 points. Point guard Lisa Citro added 11 points, five rebounds, and four assists.
Durakis finished with 10 points, six rebounds, two assists, two steals, and two blocks for Cresskill (10-5). Laura Malmut and Floriana Borova had eight and seven points, respectively.
The reward for the Highlanders is a match-up next Saturday with second-seeded Holy Angels and George Mason-bound Taylor Wejnert.
“We wanted this win and honestly, we needed it,” said Shea. “To win it in a convincing way definitely helped. We’re not all about scoring and we’re more of a defensive-minded team. But you need to score to win and everyone played a big role in us winning today.”
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