Thursday, March 12, 2009

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

PATERSON – Any time Immaculate Heart Academy steps on the court, everyone in the gym knows what Ashley Morella’s job is. She is the shooter, the zone-buster from the perimeter that can get hot at any time. The sophomore guard was needed by her IHA teammates more than ever with their championship dreams slowly slipping away against upstart Holy Angels, the lowest seed to qualify in the Non-Public North A sectional playoffs, in Wednesday night’s section final.

Down by two with seconds to play, Morella knew if she got enough of an opening that she was prepared both mentally and physically to take the big shot. That slight opening came with 18 seconds left to play in the game.

Morella calmly drilled a 22-footer to give IHA the lead. Tara Wilk then pulled down a rebound of game-tying shot at the buzzer as top-seeded IHA cameback to win the Non-Public A North title with a wild 38-36 victory.

“We’ve been in some crazy games, but I’ve never been in one like this,” said Morella. “I just wanted to win this game for our seniors this year and I’m glad we get to play another day.”

After IHA scored the first basket of the game, Holy Angels ripped off eight straight points to grab an 8-2 lead late in the first period. IHA bounced right back as Brooke Lundy scored inside in the midst of an 8-0 burst. Despite shooting just 24-percent from the field in the first half (6 of 25), the Blue Eagles held a three-point lead at the half, 18-15.

“I thought we played really well defensively, we just couldn’t put the ball in the basket,” said Holy Angels head coach Sue Liddy. “We went on a run in the first half and another in the second, but it wasn’t enough of a run to get a big enough cushion to where we could afford to make a mistake or two.”

Behind Jaclyn Jerkovich and Kasheema Besley, Holy Angels refused to go away. With just seconds to play, the Angels forced a turnover. Beasley drove into the paint and then kicked it out to Christie Fredricks on the wing. The senior guard knocked down a rainbow 17-foot. jumper at the third-quarter buzzer to give Holy Angels a 30-28 lead.

A bucket by Beasley bumped the lead up to six points, 34-28, with less than four minutes to play. IHA trimmed the lead to four and had the ball when it got exactly what they wanted, a wide-open look from Morella. She swished a three from the wing to cut the lead down to one, 34-33, with 2:26 to play.

After Holy Angels’ Jillian Crawford and IHA’s Raquel Scott traded baskets, IHA grabbed the rebound of a miss and had one last chance in the final minute to take the lead. Besley was ball-hawking at the top of a 1-3-1 zone with Laura Benvenuto and Morella passing the ball back and forth. Benvenuto gave a quick ball fake and went back to her left for Morella, who immediately caught the pass and went up for the shot without hesitation. The shot hit nothing but the bottom of the net to make it 38-36 IHA.

“I was looking to get a shot and I felt it was going in when it left my hand,” added Morella. “Coach (Steve) Silver always encourages me to shoot if I have an opening. It’s an indescribable to feeling to hit a shot like this in a game this big. But the game was far from over and we knew we had to get one more stop on defense.”

Holy Angels came across halfcourt with 12 seconds left and designed a play that would either force overtime or win it with a three-pointer. The Angels got an open look from the baseline, but it hit off the back iron. Wilk, the smallest player on the court at the time, skied above everyone else in the paint to pull down the rebound with two seconds left and held onto it until the buzzer sounded and her teammates poured onto the court in celebration.

“It was one of those things that we didn’t play our best basketball, but we hung in there,” said IHA head coach Steve Silver. “Holy Angels is always such a tough matchup and Sue Liddy is a fantastic coach. This is a game where you need character and heart to come out a winner. Ashley Morella always has the green light to shoot and she made two huge threes tonight to put us over the top.”

Benvenuto was the only player in double-figures in scoring on either team with a game-high 10 points for IHA (23-4). Morella added nine off the bench, while Lundy and Scott each chipped in with six.

Holy Angels (16-13) saw its dream run come to an end, but will have plenty of players returning next year to make another run at a title. Jerkovich and Crawford led the team with nine points each. Nicole Pepe, Fredricks, and Besley each added six.

“We’re disappointed, but to get this far says a lot about how far we’ve come,” added Liddy. “We had to win on the cutoff day just to get into the state tournament. (Morella) hit a huge three at the end and it was honestly the shot we wanted. We pushed her a couple of feet behind the line and got a hand up, she just knocked down a great shot. To go from where we were to having the last shot to win a section final shows what a team we grew to be. We have a lot coming back next year, so this experience can only help the younger kids in the long run.”

IHA has a daunting task ahead of it in the Non-Public A state final when they face the defending champion and red-hot St. John Vianney. That game will be played at the Ritacco Center in Toms River at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

“It feels great to get to play at least one more game with these seniors,” added Morella. “For the first time all season, we will go into a game with nothing to lose. I think that will help us relax and just worry about playing our game.”

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