Monday, February 16, 2009

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

EAST RUTHERFORD – St. Mary’s (Rutherford) guard Brittany Sims knows her role on both ends of the floor and she has what may be the most thankless jobs any girls basketball player in North Jersey. The 5-4 junior guard not only has to defend the opposing team’s best player, but Simms also has to virtually stay out of the way of the Gaels’ dynamic trio of scorers -- Afreyea Tolbert, Shanice Hawkins, and Martina Ellerbe -- on offense. By the numbers, Simms averages nearly 25 minutes of playing time per game, and averages less than two points per game.

That suits her just fine as long as her team is winning. With time winding down in the quarterfinal round of the Bergen County Tournament and locked in a tie game against in-town rival Rutherford, Sims found herself in a position she had never been in before: with the ball in her hands and with a chance to win the game.

It is an opportunity she had been longing for, but felt she would never get for two reasons. One is the large margin of victory by which the Gaels have won most of their games this season and two is because she is always her team’s fifth scoring option out of five players. But Sunday night brought that one chance that Sims has dreamed of and she made the most of it.

Sims got her shot over the outstretched hand of a Rutherford defender and dropped in her only field goal of the game; the one that came on a layup as the final buzzer sounded and boosted fourth-seeded St. Mary’s into the Bergen County semifinals for the first time ever with an exhilarating 49-47 triumph over Rutherford, the No. 5 seed, in the finale of a quadruple-header at Becton Regional High School.

“I’m speechless, it’s an amazing feeling, the best ever,” said Sims. “Whether I got fouled or got blocked or made the shot, I just wanted to go up strong. When it went in and my teammates were going crazy, it was like a dream come true.”

St. Mary’s got off a fast start by using its customary full-court pressure to build an early lead. More of a surprise came in the second quarter when the Gaels were getting good shots through their half-court sets. Tolbert’s 17-foot jumper put them up double-digits midway through the period, but Rutherford came storming back. The Bulldogs had cut the lead to three, only to see the Gaels double that on the final possession of the half.

Kiyana Dunston’s only field goal of the game was a buzzer-beating three-pointer to end the first half with St. Mary’s ahead 33-27.

Rutherford handled St. Mary’s pressure well throughout the final three quarters and got a few easy looks at the basket in the fourth quarter because of it. Jessica Skowronski hit a baseline jumper and Kaitlyn Galati followed with a layup to tie the score at 45 with 2:35 to play. Hawkins had a driving layup to put St. Mary’s back up two, but Galati answered again with a layup of her own to knot the score at 47 with 36 seconds to play.

The Gaels held the ball for the last shot and it was Hawkins, the point guard, who looked like she was going to take it. With the clock ticking down, Hawkins drove into the paint when the entire Bulldog defense converged on her. Sims slid along the baseline towards the basket and Hawkins dropped off a pass to her. Simms quickly got the ball over the last defender, off the glass and in as the final horn sounded with her teammates mobbing her in celebration.

Tolbert had game-highs of 19 points and eight rebounds for St. Mary’s (19-2). Hawkins added a solid overall game with 11 points, six rebounds, four assists, and four steals. Sims’ six-point effort tied a season-high for the junior.

“This is so exciting, it’s definitely the best win I’ve been a part of,” said Tolbert, who will play at the University of Miami next fall. “Rutherford kept it together and played well the whole game. We had to match their intensity and make some huge plays in the fourth quarter to pull this one out.”

Taylor Wootton finished with 17 points and six rebounds, both team-highs for Rutherford, which is also 19-2 on the season. Nicole Leonard battled through a knee injury to finish with 14 points on 7 of 8 shooting to go along with five rebounds and four assists. Galati added 10 points and five rebounds.

The seeds held true on the top half of the bracket as St. Mary’s will take on top-seeded Immaculate Heart Academy in next weekend’s Bergen County semifinals. It will be a rematch of a game played at the Joe Poli Tournament back in December; which was a close game won by IHA, 38-34.

For St. Mary’s head coach Kerry Dressel, this win was about not just pulling out a win in a rare close game, but about getting a hard-working kid she loves the credit she rightfully deserves.

“If there was one player I want on this team to hit a last-second shot to win a game it’s Brittany (Sims) because she deserves it, said Dressel. “Brittany is unquestionably the unsung hero on this team. She always gets the toughest assignment defensively and doesn’t get to shoot a lot, but never complains. I’m glad we kept our composure and found a way to win a close game. I think this will help us take our game to the next level and we look forward to the challenge we have against us in IHA.”

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