Sunday, March 2, 2008

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Tara Schwitter made two technical free throws and followed them up with a 3-pointer that changed mometum in IHA's favor on the way to a 60-49 win over Paramus Catholic.

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP – It would have been easy for Immaculate Heart Academy to look ahead to a potential match-up against Morris Catholic for the Non-Public North A state sectional championship on Thursday.

After all, Saturday’s state sectional semifinal was home game for the second-seeded Blue Eagles and their opponent was a No. 14 seed, the lowest seed left in the state tournament on either the girls or boys side.

But this No. 14 seed was no pushover, instead its was one of the hottest teams in the state and an archrival to boot. Paramus Catholic had finally gotten healthy and done so just in time to pull upsets of Pope John, a team ranked in the Star Ledger Top 20 at the time and Roselle Catholic.

IHA knew better to take the Paladins lightly set about doing what its does best, which is to get the ball inside and pound the opposition.

Rae Corbo scored all of her team-high 15 points after halftime for PC, which finished up at 15-13.

Aileen Daniels scored all 11 of her points in the first half as IHA grabbed a 10-point halftime lead and went on to end the Paladins’ string of upsets run with a 60-49 victory.

“Good things happen when we get the ball inside,” said IHA head coach Steve Silver. “We have two strong players in the paint with Daniels and (Brooke) Lundy. I thought we defended well and made the most of the offensive opportunities in the first half.”

After the two upsets, Paramus Catholic had the confidence that it could play with anyone and went right after the Blue Eagles in the opening quarter. But IHA turned up its defensive pressure in the second quarter and started to control the pace. The Paladins had no answer for Daniels in the first half as the Brown-bound senior hit five of seven shots to lift IHA to a 27-17 lead at the break.

“We had to win this game on defense and rebounding,” said IHA’s Laura Benvenuto. “This wasn’t the same [Paramus Catholic] team we saw at the beginning of the year. They were playing with a lot of confidence. We just had to get a big lead and try to maintain it because we knew they were going to make a run.

The Paladins trimmed the lead down to five early in the third quarter on consecutive three-pointers from Rae Corbo. IHA’s lead was still five when an error in the scorebook put a halt to any momentum Paramus Catholic might have had.

Aileen Daniels scored all 11 of her points in the first half as IHA advanced to the Non-Public North A state sectional final.

On the chase for a loose ball Corbo was fouled and the Paladins had a chance to make it a one possession deficit. However, seconds prior to that play, a Paramus Catholic player checked into the game wearing a number that did not correspond to the one in the scorebook. The result was a technical foul and a subsequent jump ball and, with the possession arrow in IHA’s favor, sophomore Tara Schwitter hit one of the free-throws and then nailed a three-pointer on the ensuing possession to bump the lead back up to nine.

“I didn’t even know what was going on, but I wasn’t going to argue,” said Schwitter. “In a hard game like this, there is a big difference between a five-point lead and a nine-point lead. It helped us settle down. We got back to playing our style and playing under control.”

Schwitter did not let the Paladins get much closer the rest of the way. After struggling early at the foul line, she hit 10 of her last 11 free-throw attempts to put the game away.

Schwitter netted a game-high 22 points, along with three rebounds, three assists, and three steals for IHA (23-4). Lundy added 10 points and pulled down seven rebounds. Benvenuto did a little bit of everything with seven points, four rebounds, three assists, and two steals.

Jessica Biggs scored 14 points for Paramus Catholic.

Corbo scored all of her team-high 15 points after halftime for Paramus Catholic, whose season came to a close at 15-13. Jessica Biggs had 14 points, and Cassidy Moore had game-highs of 11 rebounds and four blocks.

“Well you just saw our team for next year,” said Paramus Catholic head coach Al Roth, will return his entire starting five. “We were battling heath problems all year and we got healthy at the right time. We went from barely making the state tournament to having a shot to make a section final. It’s always disappointing to lose in the states, but everyone is back and this is a big building block for the future.”

IHA moves on to the Non-Public North A final where it will face Morris Catholic, the state’s only undefeated team and the No. 1-ranked squad in New Jersey. The top-seeded Crusaders advanced with a 61-54 win over Mount St. Dominic.

The Blue Eagles will be looking for revenge against Morris Catholic, which beat IHA twice last year including in the state tournament. That game will be played on Thursday at Belleville High School and will immediately follow the Parochial B North final with a scheduled 8:00 p.m. start time.

“We’re pumped to play Morris Catholic,” said Schwitter. “Last year, they were awesome and had a great player in Mary Dunn. She’s in college now, but they’re still a great team. But we’re also a very good team and we’re a year older now. I think that experience will only help us and we’re more confident as a team than we were last year.”

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