Tuesday, March 10, 2009

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Sophomore Sam DeFreese scored 14 of her team's 16 first half points to keep her team close so that its late spurt was enough give New Milford its first ever state basketball championship with a 39-35 win over rival Park Ridge at Bayonne High School.

BAYONNE -- School history was not exactly on the side of New Milford. No basketball team -- boys or girls -- had ever won a state sectional championship in all of the years that the Knights have competed in the sport. Recent history wasn't exactly working for New Milford either, as its opponent in Monday's night's North 1, Group 1 state sectional final was Park Ridge, which swept the two-game regular season series between the two teams in the BCSL-Olympic Division this year.

And when Park Ridge opened an eight-point lead one minute into the third quarter of a game where the points were not coming easy for either side, New Milford had 15:40 to turn around years of frustration.

“Our goal from Day 1 was to get the section final and winning it. We were here, we just couldn’t afford any more low scoring quarters,” said New Milford head coach Mike Alfonzo, whose team scored just four points in the second quarter “We had to make up for and these kids have such tremendous heart and desire.”

The intangibles were nice to have, but what New Milford really needed was some points and the Knights finally knocked the lid off the rim in the fourth quarter. After scoring just 22 points through the first 24 minutes of the game, New Milford scored 17 over the final eight minutes and used a 9-0 run to start the fourth quarter to win its first-ever sectional title, 39-35, at Bayonne High School.

Dana Carroll led Park Ridge with 15 points and scored all of them from behind the three-point line.

“I am speechless. This is the first that a New Milford basketball team has ever won a state championship for girls or boys and it is just amazing to be a part of that history,” said New Milford’s Cassidy Holowach. “We got off to slow start, but it was just amazing the way we came back. Sweet revenge, Park Ridge beat us twice and we knew we had to beat them this time or it was all over. We were the top seed and we had a lot to prove.”

New Milford’s offense in the first half consisted almost entirely of Sam DeFreese, the sophomore center. She scored the Knights’ first 10 points of the game and 12 of their 16 before halftime while Park Ridge was more diverse with senior Dana Carroll leading the way. She hit a three-pointer with 4:25 to go in the second quarter to give Park Ridge its first lead of the game at 16-14 and made another two minutes later that gave the Owls a 20-14 advantage before DeFreese scored inside to get the Knights to within 20-16 at the break.

Park Ridge then scored the first four points out of the intermission when Nolyn Birch cleaned up some loose change on the Owls’ first possession and Jamie Kalafut followed with a steal and a layup to give them their largest lead of the game at 24-16.

“We were on a roll up until about midway in the third quarter and then we kind of hit a brick wall that we couldn’t get over,” said Park Ridge head coach Mike Weaver. “Coach Alfonzo did a great job switching things up in the second half. He showed us a couple of defenses that gave us some trouble and made it tough to score.”

New Milford's Cassidy Holowach scored 5 of her 7 points in the fourth quarter, including a key three-pointer with 1:13 to go in the game.

New Milford ran off six straight points to close to within two points, but Carroll briefly delayed the inevitable when her three-pointer with 12 seconds to go in the third quarter restored the Owls’ lead to 27-22 with one quarter left for all of the marbles.

Jamie Errico started the quarter with a right side drive and Justine Racaza followed with three straight free throws that got New Milford all even at 27 and Holowach’s steal and layup put the Knights in front for good at 29-27 with 4:55 left and Errico made both ends of a one-and-one to cap the game-changing 9-0 run.

For a team that was so reliant on its sophomore center for offense, the difference late was New Milford’s ability to get everyone involved. After Lauren Lucanie finally broke the New Milford spurt with two free throws, senior Allie Ehrhart answered with a short runner from the baseline that put the Knights back up by four points, before Park Ridge got made its last stand when Jayme Mizzoni made a three-pointer from the corner with 1:33 left that had the Owls back within 33-32.

But any more evidence that was needed to prove that it was New Milford’s night came on the next possession when Holowach let fly a three-pointer from just to the right of the top of the key. It may not have been the best of shot selections as Park Ridge was already in the double bonus and any further fouls would have give the Knights two free throws, but it did not matter.

Jayme Mizzoni's 3-pointer with 1:33 to play had Park Ridge within one point.

Holowach’s shot hit the rim with 1:15 to go in the game and by the time it was done kissing every side of it and falling through the net, there was 1:13 left and New Milford had made it a two-possession game again. Racaza added a free throw and DeFreese scored on the fastbreak to close out the Knights’ scoring and kick off their first ever state championship celebration.

“We really just came together like a real team. We worked together and we got the result. We won. We worked together for months now and it all kicked in at the right time,” said DeFreese. “It was a great opportunity. This is the kind of game that people dream about playing. It’s great competition with girls you know and it was good for me too, because I get to share it with all of the seniors before they all leave.”

One of those seniors is Racaza, who scored all five of her points in the second half and from the free throw line with four of those coming in the crucial fourth quarter.

“We felt good coming into this game because we knew it was going to be hard for Park Ridge to beat us three times in a season. We know because we beat them twice during the season in volleyball and then lost to them in the final,” said Racaza. “I’m still shaking. When Mizzoni hit that big three [with 1:33 left] it really got me nervous. The way my team fought back after that was phenomenal. I am so proud of them.”

DeFreese led New Milford with 18 points also had six blocked shots and was the only Knight to finish in double digits. Holowach scored 5 of her 7 points in the fourth quarter, and Errico (5 points), Ehrhart (4 points) and Racaza all chipped in in the second half after being held scoreless in the first half.

Senior Allie Ehrhart made this shot from the baseline to give New Milford a 33-29 lead with 2:02 to play.

Carroll was Park Ridge’s lone double digit scorer and her 15 points all came from behind the three-point line. Birch finished with 6 points, Mizzoni had 5, Kalafut made two field goals, and Kelsey Wimmershoff and Lucanie rounded out the Owls’ scoring in what was obviously a tough loss to swallow.

“They are a great group of kids, they have great relationships with each other and championships don’t define you, that is what I just told them in the locker room,” said Weaver. “They are nice to win, but when you look back on your high school career you are going to remember the memories that you have with each other more than you would worry about the banners you hung in your gym. It hurts now, but as we move further away from it we’ll look back on this season, which was a pretty historic one for our program, and smile.”

Alfonzo could sympathize with that, especially since his previous head coaching job was at Park Ridge where he coached Birch, Carroll and Mizzoni, the Owls’ core of senior starters.

“I had a good 10 years over there [Park Ridge] and I feel for them because I know those girls and I know they played their hearts out,” said Alfonzo, whose team will go from state champ to decided underdog when it takes on North 2, Group 1 champion Bloomfield Tech in the Group 1 state semifinal on Wednesday at Ramapo High School. “But this is a great win for New Milford and the guy who deserves the credit for it is [former head coach] Tony Albro. He is the one who built this program when it was at the bottom of the barrel and put these players in the position to get where they are now. I was his assistant, I know how hard he worked and I want make sure he gets the credit.”

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