Wednesday, January 28, 2009

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Alana Soumas made two three-pointers in the first overtime to keep her team alive long enough for a 64-62 win that puts Old Tappan in the Bergen County Tournament.

OLD TAPPAN -- After starting the season with four straight losses and five losses in its first six games, the Old Tappan girls basketball had fought hard to get back to the point that it found itself in heading into the fourth quarter on Tuesday afternoon against Wayne Hills. All the Golden Knights had to do was hold on to a seven-point lead over the final eight minutes to get back to .500 for the season and qualify for the Bergen County Tournament on the number one day before the field is chosen. But then they started missing free throws.

Only five of the 12 foul shots that Old Tappan was awarded in the final quarter missed their mark and left the door open for Wayne Hills, which almost crashed through and left the Knights on the outside looking in at the county tournament for the first time in the 12-year tenure of head coach Brian Dunn.

“If we had lost this game I would not have known what to do coming back in the gym tomorrow to get ready for Fair Lawn on Thursday,” said Dunn. “I have no experience with not making the county tournament and as coaches we would have come up with something, but it would not have been fun.”

Holli Bostwick four straight points gave Wayne Hills a quick lead in the first overtime session.

But Dunn doesn’t have to worry about talking his team out of the doldrums. Thanks to two huge three-pointers by Alana Soumas in the first overtime period and a second overtime session in which it never trailed, Old Tappan got the win it needed, a 64-62 victory that puts it in the county tournament at a 7-7.

Old Tappan had a 37-30 lead after three quarters and had hit all eight of its free throw attempts to that point, but midway through the period when Wayne Hills resorted to full court pressure, it changed the game in a big way. When the Patriots were able to force turnovers they were able to turn them into easy baskets. When Old Tappan broke the press, Wayne Hills traded fouls for missed free throws and closed the gap.

After a one-of-two trip to the free throw line for Old Tappan with 1:35 left in regulation, Bridget Greenwald drove the baseline and hit a layup that drew Wayne Hills to within 49-47. Greenwald’s free throw 46 seconds later got the Patriots to within one point and Erica Wills’ foul line jumper after another one-for-two trip at the line for Old Tappan tied the game at 50 and forced the first extra session.

After giving away the lead, it looked like Old Tappan was about to give away its season in the first overtime when Holli Bostwick scored the first four points of overtime to give Wayne Hills its first lead since it had an 11-8 advantage early in the second quarter. But that when Soumas the first of her huge three-pointers and got her team back to within a point.

Alex Radetzky finally gave Old Tappan the lead for good with 1:50 left in the second overtime.

Two Sam Litsky free throws accounted for her only two points of the game and came at what seemed the perfect time for Wayne Hills as it took a 56-53 lead with 45 seconds left in the first OT.

“I thought we had them up by three in the overtime, I thought that was it,” said Wayne Hills head coach Vinnie Porta. “But it is the girls’ game, it is not about the coaches, and they decide it. Their girl made a great shot.”

That girl was again Soumas, who made a three-pointer from the wing with 21 seconds left in the first overtime to retie the score at 56 and force the deciding second overtime.

“I knew the season was on the line and I just wanted to step up and make a big shot,” said Soumas, the Knights’ normally pass-first point guard. “My job is to get the ball to my teammates, find mismatches and run the offense, but I was just open both times. I knew everything was on the line and that it was up to me to knock them down.”

Dunn was also comfortable with Soumas shooting those shots.

Bridget Greenwald finished with 19 points for Wayne Hills.

“She’s been hitting big shots all year. For her it is just a matter of recognizing what is open and being confident,” said Dunn. “She is not afraid to shoot and I think you saw that in the overtime. She’s really becoming a good player.”

Old Tappan has other good players and it was Alex Radetzky’s turn to show her abilities in the second overtime. Radetzky grabbed a defensive rebound and drove coast-to-coast for a layup that gave the Knights the first lead of the second overtime. After Greenwald retied the scored on a putback for Wayne Hills, Radetzky put her team in front for good with a hard drive and short pull up jumper with 1:23 to go.

“We had our chance to get into the county tournament and we weren’t going to let it pass us by,” said Radetzky. “Alana helped us with those two big shots and everyone on our team made some really big plays. We had everyone step up at the right moment to help us win.”

Shannon Funsch followed by nailing to free throws to put Old Tappan up 62-58 with 1:08 to play and this time it held the lead. Funsch and Radetzky each scored 18 points to lead Old Tappan and Soumas had 12 to make it three Knights in double digits. Karli McMenamin, OT’s sophomore center, battled foul trouble all game while adding three points, while Abbey Fallon, Morgan Prucida round out the scoring for the Knights.

Wayne Hills was led by Bostwick’s 20 points and Greenwald finished with 19. Wills and Christie Cherup each scored 7 points, Heather Higgins made two field goals and Lauren Sullivan made a field goal and a free throw for the Patriots, who fell to 8-6 one day before the Passaic County Tournament is seeded.

Shannon Funsch (18 points) was one of three Golden Knights to finish in double figures.

“I thought my girls did a nice job of coming back in the second half and playing their hearts out. We are getting there; we just haven’t been able to get over the top yet. We are so close, but we make a couple of mistake that come back and hurt us, but we won’t be making them next year,” said Porta, who uses an eight-player rotation that includes two seniors, two juniors, two sophomores and two freshmen. “This loss might hurt [our county tournament seed], we might fall to No. 5 now, but it might not matter. We are looking to make a little run in our county.”

And just because Old Tappan snuck into the Bergen County Tournament under the wire, the Knights don’t plan on just being happy to be there. Lost in the .500 record is a tough schedule it has played and the close losses against good teams that are included in it. OT has been to the Final 4 in the county tournament in each of the last two years and making another run is by no means out of the question.

“I hope we just continue to play better. Obviously we have some things to work on, but we have come along way since the start of the season and we need that to continue,” said Dunn. “We’ll take whatever games we can get and go out there and give it a good shot like we have all year. Our losses have been close losses, we’ve played tough games and we’ll play whoever it is tough, I am not worried about that. Maybe we get a couple of bounces, make a couple of foul shots and things work out.”

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