Sunday, February 8, 2009

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Sarah Halejian scored a game-high 18 points as Ramapo turned a one-point halftime lead into a 53-42 win over Glen Rock in the Round of 16 at the Bergen County Tournament.

ORADELL – By the wacky six degrees of separation theory, the Round of 16 matchup at the Bergen County Tournament should have been an upset waiting to happen. Despite Ramapo’s status as the No. 6 seed to a No. 22 for Glen Rock, recent history suggests that Glen Rock had plenty in its favor. Ramapo’s only two losses this season have come against Fair Lawn (both in overtime and both by two points), while it was Fair Lawn that Glen Rock beat last week in the opening round’s biggest upset.

When Ramapo scored 15 of the game’s first 19 points that theory seemed to hold little water. When Glen Rock closed to within one point at halftime and had six straight subsequent possessions on which it could have taken the lead it looked more plausible. But a 16-2 run that consumed more than four minutes of the third quarter made it apparent that Ramapo was not going to be the victim of an upset as it pulled away to a 53-42 win at River Dell High School.

“I told the kids before the game that they were a tough, physical team and they were going to come right at us, but maybe they didn’t believe me after we got off to such a good start,” said Ramapo head coach Sandy Gordon. “We didn’t box out, they made some shots to get back in the game and of course we like to keep the fans in the game. A one-point lead at halftime wasn’t exactly what I was looking for, but you have to give Glen Rock the credit for that.”

Alexa Hunko's basket with 2:09 left in the first half drew Glen Rock to within 26-24.

Ramapo built its early lead with a 7-0 run midway through the first quarter. Already leading 8-4, Ana Drehwing made two free throws and Sarah Halejian hit a tough scoop shot on the way to the basket before Drehwing hit a three-pointer from the top of the key to give the Green Raiders a 15-4 lead 5:18 into the game. Four straight points by Halejian, the first of them on a second chance three-pointer, gave Ramapo a commanding 20-6 lead after the first quarter.

Was it nerves that put Glen Rock, a young team, in the early hole?

“Yes, but it us hard to blame it all on that because [Ramapo] is young, too. They just handled it better than we did at the start,” said GR head coach Dave Mosconi. “This is the first time we have been to the second round in three or four years.”

But the Panthers eventually settled in and made a game of it. They got inside double digits at 21-13 with a three-point play from Jessie Maitner 1:34 into the second period and kept chipping away until they finally got all the way back to with 26-24 when Jaclyn Carosotto made a jumper from the baseline and Aleza Hunko scored inside with 2:09 left in the first half. The last point scored in the second quarter was on a Maitner free throw that had Glen Rock within just a single point at the half.

Ana Drehwing scored 12 points for Ramapo, which improved to 18-2 on the season.

“It was a one-point game and we turn it over on six straight possessions, not allowing them to score but not getting even a basket for ourselves,” said Mosconi. “If we could have made one or two and gone up by three or four points, the pressure would have been all on them and not on us.”

Glen Rock had its chances to move in front, but neither team scored in the first 2:06 of the third quarter until Kelly Mitchell’s putback basket broke the ice for Ramapo and the Raiders took off from there. They ran off 16 of the first 18 points of the second half to restore their double digit lead for good. Hunko scored inside to break up a string of six straight Ramapo points, but the Raiders followed that up with 10 more in a row to take control.

Sam Klie made a jumper from the baseline, Emma Giegerich scored on a post move, Drehwing made two free throws and Halejian finished turned a steal into a hard drive to the basket that resulted in a three-point play that put Ramapo up 42-27 with 1:38 left in the third quarter.

“Our goal was to come out strong because we haven’t been doing that lately and we did, but we didn’t keep it up and we let them back in the game,” said Halejian, Ramapo’s standout sophomore point guard. “That first basket of the third quarter [by Mitchell] was very important because we were only up one at the time and it allowed us to get our confidence and the momentum back for the rest of the game.”

Jessie Meitner's free throw got Glen Rock to within one point at halftime.

Halejian finished with a game-high 18 points for the Green Raiders, who got 12 from Drehwing, 8 from Klie, 5 from Giegerich, 4 from Deanna Devonshuk and field goals from Mitchell, Erin O’Hagan and Amanda Schellaci. The win moves Ramapo to 18-2 on the season, the record on which they will be judged for seeding in the North 1, Group 3 state sectional tournament, and sets up a very interesting week for the Green Raiders.

Ramapo will play Pascack Hills on Thursday in a game that could have huge implications in the race for league titles in both Division 1 and Division 2 in the NBIL. If both teams win their games on Tuesday, things will get real interesting. A Ramapo win would pull it into a tie with Fair Lawn atop Division 1, while a loss would hand the league title to the Cutters. A win for Pascack Hills would give the Cowgirls the Division 2 title and break Pascack Valley’s string of 30-plus seasons with a league championship. A Pascack Hills loss would pull PV back into a first place tie.

As if that weren’t enough, Ramapo and Pascack Hills will meet next Sunday in the quarterfinals of the Bergen County Tournament with a trip to the Final 4 up for grabs.

“I can’t really think about all that. We have to take it one game at a time or it could get to me too much,” said Drehwing, a senior and the only player left on the Ramapo roster who played in the 2007 county final. “I don’t want to think about the end of my senior season, so I just hope we can keep winning and play as many games as we can.”

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