Sunday, January 27, 2008

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

NEW MILFORD – When the field for the Bergen County Tournament was announced, there were a handful of teams that could have made a pretty compelling case for a better position. One of those teams was Ramapo, which has reached the county final in each of the last two seasons and, even with a new head coach and a new cast of characters, has held its own against a tough NBIL schedule.

Saddled with the No. 18 seed, it meant the Green Raiders had to go on the road if they were going to advance, but instead of looking at it as slight Ramapo used that as motivation to make a statement. That was especially true of guard Sarah Halejian.

The freshman sensation finished with a game-high 20 points as Ramapo bested New Milford, the No. 15 seed, on its home court to advance to the Round of 16 with a convincing 50-35 triumph.

“I thought we did a good job in creating turnovers and limiting our own. That was the difference,” said Ramapo head coach Sandy Gordon. “We have a young team this year, but we do have some girls who experienced the run Ramapo had last year to get to the county final, so we knew what to expect. I think that helped us a lot. With the seed we had, the pressure was already off of us so we could just go out and play.”

The teams battled it out through a physical first quarter and into the second quarter before Kaitlin Taranto gave her team a cushion. The senior’s three-pointer put Ramapo up 13-8, but it was on the ensuing trip down the court the entire complexion of the game changed.

New Milford’s leading scorer, Cassidy Holowach, stepped on Taranto’s ankle on a drive to the basket and was helped off the floor. She did not return for the remainder of the first half and was limited in the second half. The Knights struggled to get into an offensive flow without Holowach in the lineup and Ramapo took advantage.

With Halejian cold from the floor, the Green Raiders needed someone to pick up the scoring slack. That source came off the bench in the form of Emma Giegerich. She scored nine of her 11 points in the first half as Ramapo grabbed a nine-point lead at the break, 24-15.

“When Cassidy (Holowach) went down, we had a tough time making up for that,” said New Milford head coach Mike Alfonso. “Any time that you have your leading scorer go down, it’s going to be tough. I thought when we scored the first basket of the third quarter that we were going to make a run. But I give Ramapo credit, they kept playing hard on both ends of the floor and they didn’t let us get any momentum.”

Holowach came back in the game and scored on a drive to the basket to trim the lead to seven. Ramapo never allowed the margin to get below that as Halejian got back into an offensive rhythm by getting to the foul line. She went 6 for 6 in the second half and 8 for 8 in the game from the charity stripe as Ramapo bumped the lead up to double-digits midway through the third quarter and was never threatened from that point on.

“After (Holowach) went down, we knew it was the perfect time for us to take over the game,” said Halejian. “I didn’t hit too many shots in the first half, so I penetrated more in the second half and tried to get to the (foul) line. We knew they were a good team and we had to keep the pressure on them until the very end.”

Halejian finished with 20 points, five rebounds, four steals, three assists, and two blocks for Ramapo (8-6). Taranto had six points, five steals, and three assists. Samantha Klie came off the bench to chip in with five points, five rebounds, and two assists.

Merlyn Jacob notched a double-double for New Milford (8-5). The senior center had a game-high 12 rebounds to go with her 11 points. Holowach added nine points, and Justine Racazza chipped in with six rebounds, five points, and three assists.

With the win, Ramapo advanced to the Round of 16, where it will face second-seeded Teaneck, a 44-23 winner over Midland Park, the No. 31 seed. The game will be a rematch of the Indian Hills Holiday Tournament semifinal where the score was close through three quarters before the Highwaywomen wore Ramapo down to win by 20.

“Playing Teaneck earlier in the year definitely helps us for playing them again next week,” added Halejian, whose brother, Eric, is the leading scorer for Ramapo’s boys’ basketball team. “To beat a team like Teaneck, you have to start strong and finish strong. We hope that we can do that and have a different result from the last time we played them.”

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