Thursday, January 28, 2008

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Brigette Cohan sang the national anthem before the game then made the two free throws that ended it as Tenafly outlasted Dumont, 32-31, in the North 1, Group 2 quarterfinals

TENAFLY -- Before every home game Brigette Cohan can be found near midcourt, standing in front of the crowd by herself with a microphone in her hands singing the national anthem. Cohan, Tenafly's senior guard, is used to being in the middle of the basketball floor with all eyes on her. On Wednesday night in the quarterfinals of the North 1, Group 2 state sectional tournament, Cohan found herself as the center of attention again, but for a different reason.

There was just 1:14 remaining in the fourth quarter, her team was down by a point, the season was hanging in the balance as Cohan stepped to the free throw line in a one-and-one situation. Cohan nailed both foul shots; Tenafly survived two Dumont shots in the final 12 seconds and held on for a 32-31 win in Tenafly.

“Singing translates over into basketball so much. Being in pressure situations can be really hard, it just a matter of how you deal with them,” said Cohan. “The more times you do it, the more times you put yourself in those situations, the easier it becomes.”

Jen Murphy made this shot and the ensuing free throw to give Dumont a 31-30 lead with 1:23 to play.

Cohan’s points were not only important because they wiped out Dumont’s only lead of the second half, but also because points in general were just so hard to come by all night long. Dumont held a 6-5 lead after the first quarter, Tenafly held a 16-12 advantage at halftime and the teams made just 10 field goals combined in the first half.

The game was so close that Dumont head coach Dave Cieplicki could pick out two plays, two inbounds passes that went for two easy baskets by Tenafly’s Jules Barrett two-and-a-half minutes apart in the second quarter, that might actually been the turning points of the game.

“The game itself might have been those two inbounds plays in the first half. That was four points right there,” said Cieplicki. “We turned our head twice and, bang, that was it. It was those two plays and it was the foul line.”

Oh, the foul line. With the game being called tightly at both ends, the game really came down to which team could keep its starters on the floor longest and which could make foul shots.

Tenafly's Jules Barrett scored all of her team-high 9 points in the first half.

Dumont did it well for the first three quarters when it made 12 of 16 free throws, but fell apart from the line in the fourth quarter. The Huskies made just 3 of 13 free throws in the fourth quarter and, with just a little bit of simple math, those 10 points not recorded obviously played a crucial role in the outcome. Tenafly made just 3 of 7 foul shots through the first three quarters, but made 4 of 6 in the fourth, including Cohan’s clutch one-and-one.

“I think my girls played great defense and even considering that one of our better players [Jessie Shevins, high ankle sprain] wasn’t playing today, I think it just brought everyone together,” said Tenafly head coach Jeff Koehler. “Brigette made the free throws and I think everyone stepped up just enough to get us the one more point that we needed.”

Jacklyn McClinton made Dumont’s second and final three-pointer of the game to tie the score at 26 at the end of three quarters and the game was tied one more time at 27 with 6:36 to play. A Cohan free throw and a pull-up jumper by Lindsay Finnerty gave Tenafly a 30-27 lead with 5:05 to play and Dumont made just 1 of 6 free throws in the next 1:50 to creep within 30-28 with 3:15 to go in the game.

Jasmine Rosa closed her four-year varsity career and Dumont its season with a 14-10 record.

It would be nearly two minutes before either team could score another point but when Dumont senior Jen Murphy made a tough runner with 1:23 to go and then finished off the conventional three-point play, Dumont had its only lead of the second half at 31-30.

But nine seconds later, Cohan made her key free throws; Dumont missed its final two attempts from the line with 1:05 to go and then could not convert on either one of its final two shots in the waning seconds and saw its season come to an end with a 14-10 record. Tenafly’s Alexandra Zigouras blocked putback attempt at the buzzer to seal the win.
No player on either team reached double digits in points. Barrett scored all of her team-high 9 points in first half, Finnerty (7 points) and Cohan (5 points) scored all of their points in the second half, Alyssa Sherry and Zigouras each scored 4 points and Michelle Koles scored 3 points.

More than anything else, the Tigers survived and the reward is a date with Pascack Valley, the top seed, the Bergen County champion and the once beaten juggernaut in Friday’s North 1, Group 2 state sectional semifinal.

“Pascack Valley is an incredible team. We watched their entire county tournament, we watched every single game and we are really big fans,” said Cohan, who will get to see the Indians play one more time this season but this time as a participant in the game. “We are happy to get the opportunity to play such a good team. Beating Dumont was our pride factor. It was our last home game, I am a senior, it was the last time I sang [the national anthem] and it was really important for us to get this win and boost our moral.

Alexandra Zigouras blocked Dumont's final shot as the buzzer sounded to seal the Tenafly win.

“Whatever happens on Friday is going to happen. It’s going to be a really exciting day at school and hopefully it will be a really exciting day of basketball, too.”

Dumont has now experienced its final day of exciting basketball for the season and the Huskies finished up with a 14-10 record after an eight-win campaign last season. The loss also marked the final high school games for Murphy and Jasmine Rosa, the senior point guard who was in foul trouble most of the way in the last game of her four-year varsity career.

Junior Colleen O’Neill led Dumont with 8 points, Murphy had 6 points, McClinton and the Rosa sisters, Jasmine and Desiree, all added five points and Leigha Moat made two free throws for the Huskies.

“Considering we won just eight games last year, this was not a bad year,” said Cieplicki, who will have three of his five starters back next year and also Desiree Rosa, the Huskies’ first player off the bench. “But I felt this was a really important game for us, but we needed to go, we needed to play on Friday. It would have really helped us for next year.”

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