Monday, February 16, 2009

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Ana Drehwing scored a career high 15 points for Ramapo, which knocked off Pascack Hills of the second time in four days. This time it was a 42-30 win in the quarterfinals of the Bergen County Girls Basketball Tournament.

EAST RUTHERFORD – Ramapo sophomore point guard Sarah Halejian has quickly built a reputation as one of Bergen County’s best guards. With that comes tons of defensive attention. The more familiar the opponent and the bigger the game, the more attention she receives.

So more often than not, Ramapo’s success depends just as much on whether or not the Green Raiders can find a second scoring option to complement Halejian and give the Raiders a more balanced scoring attack. Against NBIL rival Pascack Hills in Sunday’s Bergen County Tournament quarterfinal, that task was placed on the shoulders of Ana Drehwing and the senior came through.

She scored a career-high 15 points as Ramapo, the No. 6 seed, took the lead on the first possession of the second half and never gave it back in pulling away for a 42-30 triumph over third-seeded Pascack Hills. It was the Raiders second win over PH in the last four days.

“We were too anxious and had to play under control in the second half,” said Halejian. “Ana (Drehwing) hit some huge shots for us today and she helped us out a lot. We got into the offense more in the second half. We took care of the ball better in the second half and we finally got some good shots.”

Teresa Kirkpatrick’s fourth got Pascack Hills to within 34-30 but those would be the last points her team would score.

Drehwing scored on a layup and a jumper to give Ramapo a one-point lead late in the first half. But as the half was winding down with the Green Raiders holding for a last shot, they committed one of numerous unforced turnovers that plagued them over the first two quarters. Michelle Feldman picked off an errant pass and raced in for a layup to give Pascack Hills a 16-15 halftime lead.

“I thought we played great defensively, but offensively we were a nightmare,” said Ramapo head coach Sandy Gordon. “I felt confident that we could pull this out if we could take care of the ball and played defense the way we did in the first half. I think we had got nervous with the big crowd and just watching that exciting (Pascack Valley) win. We just had to settle down, take a deep breath, and just play our game.”

Kelly Mitchell’s only field goal of the game came in the midst of a 15-8 third quarter where Ramapo took control of the game. Teresa Kirkpatrick’s jumper cut the lead to four, 34-30, but that would be the last points the Cowgirls would score. Halejian followed with two free-throws to bump the lead back up to six and Ramapo closed out the game on an 8-0 run.

Halejian finished with 17 points, five rebounds, and four steals for Ramapo (21-2). Erinn Hogan and Amanda Schellaci each pulled down a game-high six rebounds for the Green Raiders, who held a 28-15 advantage on the glass.

Sophomore Sarah Halejian finished with 17 points, 5 boards, and 4 steals for Ramapo.

Feldman has had a fantastic senior season and put forth another solid effort yesterday. Her 14 points, five rebounds, four steals, and three assists were all team-highs for Pascack Hills (18-4). But the Cowgirls could not overcome their three-point shooting woes, going just 2 for 20 (10 percent) from that distance.

Ramapo moves on to the Bergen County semifinals for the third time in four years and will find a familiar foe there in Pascack Valley. Just three weeks ago, Ramapo beat the Indians for the first time since the mid-1980’s. But this Ramapo team knows that a victory over PV will be even harder to come by the second time around.

“Pascack Valley is always a tough, interesting team to play against,” added Halejian. “You know they are going to come out fired up and feeling like they have nothing to lose after the way they won against Teaneck. We have to be ready for that and play just as hard as they do. They know what we want to do and we know what they want to do. Whoever executes better is going to win.”

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