Friday, December 21, 2007

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

NORTH HALEDON – With most of their team returning from last season and most of the other girls basketball teams in the B-PSL Carpenter Division graduating a lot of key players, Paterson Catholic came into this season as the overwhelming favorite to win the division. In the first week of play, that prediction became even more of a no-brainer when its closest competitors for the league crown, Immaculate Conception and Midland Park, both lost.

But in the process, a new candidate to fight for the league title emerged, an unlikely one at that, in Eastern Christian.

Just less than a year ago, EC snapped a 36-game losing streak that spanned parts of three seasons. After handing both Immaculate and Midland Park their first losses, the Eagles soared into a tie with Paterson Catholic for first place in the league a week into the next year. But when the two teams met yesterday in North Haledon, Paterson Catholic left no doubt that it is still the team to beat.

Briana Cook had 21 points and Starr Breedlove had 20 as Paterson Catholic led wire-to-wire in handing Eastern Christian its first loss of the season, 63-37 final.

“We knew this game was important and we worked together as a team,” said Paterson Catholic’s Essence Townsend. “When we work together as a team and our guards play well, we’re a really tough team to beat.”

Breedlove helped the Cougars set the tone early, scoring seven of her team’s nine points to give them a 9-2 lead just three minutes into the game. By the end of the first quarter, Breedlove, a freshman, had 12 points and the Cougars held a double-digit lead, 20-8. As hot as the Cougars were over the first eight minutes (shooting over 50 percent), the Eagles were ice cold, hitting just four of their 19 shots.

“Paterson Catholic controlled the tempo and they did it right from the opening tap,” said Eastern Christian head coach Steve King. “I thought we did a good job on Essence (Townsend), but they had great guard play in the first half.”

The lead never got below double-digits from that point on. Led by Cook, the Cougars stretched the lead to 17 by halftime and kept the Eagles at bay with smothering defense from Cook and Shaquanna Marshall on the perimeter and the 6-6 Townsend in the middle.

“We played smart early in the game and that’s how we got a big lead,” said Cook. “We didn’t turn the ball over that much and we forced a lot of turnovers.”

“We stressed that if we were going to win this game, we had to get the job on the defensive end,” said Paterson Catholic head coach Dave Andre. “We know they have a couple of perimeter weapons and anything can happen in their gym. But we played solid defense all 32 minutes and we did what we were supposed to do.”

Cook finished with 21 points, seven rebounds, three steals, and three blocks for Paterson Catholic (3-0). Townsend finished two points shy of a triple-double with an astounding 13 blocks, 10 rebounds, and eight points. Breedlove added 20 points and Brielle Jones chipped in off the bench with eight.

Freshman Brianne Traub led Eastern Christian (2-1) with 19 points and eight rebounds. It is the third straight game in which she has scored at least 19 points. Kelsey Spoelstra added five points, five assists, and four steals.

“It came down to effort and they wanted this game more than we did,” added King. “We needed more intensity to win this game. The bottom line is that they came to play and we did not have our best game.”

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