Wednesday, January 16, 2008

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Junior Lindsay Finnerty made all four of her fourth quarter free throws and scored 17 points in Tenalfy's 55-44 win over Dumont in the BCSL-American Division on Tuesday.

DUMONT -- Last season the BCSL-American Division was stacked. Ridgefield Park was the defending Bergen County champion, Rutherford was emerging as power that would go on to win the league title, River Dell had a 2,000-point scorer and was on its way to a second straight Group 2 state final and Queen of Peace reached the quarterfinals of the Bergen County Tournament. Lost in the shuffle was a young Tenafly team that took its lumps, but was also biding its time.

“I told the girls that we were good last year, but it was hard with the way our league was with Ridgefield Park and Rutherford and River Dell and Queen of Peace,” said Tenafly head coach Jeff Kohler. “We had a tough league and we got banged around, but I think the girls realize now that we are a very good team and what we went through last year has helped us get to where we are now.”

Where Tenafly is now is at 7-2 after a 55-44 win over Dumont on Tuesday afternoon. The Tigers took the lead on two three-pointers by Lindsay Finnerty late in the first quarter and never trailed the rest of the way.

Jasmine Rosa scored a team-high 17 points for Dumont.

“We have everybody back from last year, so I am not really surprised that we are 7-2. We all thought we were going to have a good season,” said Finnerty, a junior. “We are growing a lot as a team and we are playing well together. We are playing tough and we are taking each game one at a time.”

The game was tight through the first half. Dumont had its largest lead of the game when Jasmine Rosa scored its first five points on a floater in the lane and a conventional three-point play, and Tenafly had its largest first half advantage, also at five points, when Jessie Shevins made a free throw to give the Tigers a 16-11 lead 1:18 into the second quarter.

Dumont came back to tie the game at 20 on a three-pointer by Emily Emmet with 54 left in the first half, but an ill-advised foul just before the buzzer gave Tenafly’s Gianna Quattrini two free throws that she converted with just over one second left before halftime. Tenafly made 6 of its 9 first half free throws while Dumont made just 4 of 10, a key to the Tigers taking a 22-20 lead into the break.

With a combined 42 points in the first half, Tenafly had the pace of the game in its favor and was consistently forcing Dumont, a team that likes to pressure the ball and get out in transition, to play at a possession by possession half court tempo. The Tigers’ defense was designed to slow down Rosa, the point guard who makes Dumont go.

Sophomore Jessie Shevins scored 19 points, including two key fourth quarter baskets, as Tenafly improved to 7-2 on the season.

“Rosa is really amazing. We tried to contain her and have a player on her all the time, but she is a nice player,” said Kohler. “She goes after it offensively and defensively and you have to be aware of where she is all the time.”

Rosa finished with a team-high 17 points, but 11 of them came in the first half and Tenafly started to take control midway through the third quarter. After Jaclyn McClinton hit two free throws to pull Dumont to within 30-29, ran off six straight points, starting with a layup by Alyssa Sherry off an inbounds play, and had a 36-30 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Desiree Rosa pulled the Huskies to within 36-32 with a basket to open the fourth quarter , but it was Tenafly that was able to sustain its offensive production enough to pull away. Finnerty hit a layup on a fast break set up when Jules Barrett pulled a defensive rebound and started the push the other way and Sherry followed with a basket that gave the Tigers their largest lead of the game tp that point at 40-32 with 5:46 left.

Dumont snuck back to within four points at 42-38 with 4:23 to play on two Leigha Moat free throws, but Jessie Shevins ended the comeback. Shevins scored on a nice hesitation move in transition and then got out on the break again and made a layup off a Finnerty pass to put the Tigers up 46-38 with 3:13 to.

Jen Murphy scored 9 points for Dumont, which fell to 6-4 on the season.

Tenafly made 9 of 12 free throws in the final three minutes to put the game away and bounce back from a two-point loss to Queen of Peace its last time out.

“Every play, every basket was important. We learned that in our last game when we lost by two points to Queen of Peace and our coach drilled into our heads that every basket counts,” said Shevins, a sophomore who was thrown to the varsity wolves last season as a freshman. “The chemistry on this team is a lot better than it was last year. We all know how each other like to play and we are more comfortable. Everyone really understands what their role is and that has really helped.”

Shevins led all scorers with 19 points with seven of those coming in the fourth quarter. Finnerty finished with 17 points and made all four of her fourth quarter free throws. Sherry finished with 6 points, Barrett had 4 to go along with 6 rebounds and Dani Katz made three of her four free throws as part of a 19 of 27 performance from the stripe for the Tigers as a team.

Jasmine Rosa’s 17 points was the team high, but no other Dumont player reached double figures. Jen Murphy had two three-pointers among her 9 points, McClinton finished with 7 and Desiree Rosa
(4 points) made both of her field goals in the fourth quarter. The Huskies made just 11 of 20 free throw in the game and fell to 6-4 on the season after a 6-0 start.

“We played just good enough to lose,” said Dumont head coach Dave Cieplicki. “I am a little disappointed because it feels like we are stuck in the mud a little bit. This league is so balanced that anyone can knock anyone else off. We know because it has happened four times in a row to us and we need to get back on track. Times are tough and we need to have somebody step up and lead us to a win."

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