Friday, January 8, 2010

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Senior Tara Corbett scored 14 points for Northern Highlands, which improved to 5-1 on the season with a 58-43 win over Bergenfield on Thursday night.

ALLENDALE -- It's been two years since the Northern Highlands girls basketball team qualified for the Bergen County and state tournaments, but the way it looks through the first six games of the season; the reinforcements have arrived. Adding two sophomores and an impact freshman to a starting lineup to go along with two seniors that have been through the wars, has the Highlanders off and running through the first three weeks of the season.

Sophomore Tori Balzano scored on a cut to the basket and senior Tara Corbett followed with a steal and a layup to kick off a 12-2 run that the Highlanders used to closed the first half and take control in a 58-43 win over Bergenfield in Allendale on Thursday night. The victory came in the Highlanders first home game of the season and gave them a 5-1 record through their first six games.

“We were really pumped to come out and play our first home game and a little nervous, too. It was the first time we were playing on this court since last year,” said Corbett, also a soccer standout who helped lead the Highlanders to the Group 3 state championship this past fall. “I think after the first quarter we realized that we had to pick it up because even early in the season they are all important games. We haven’t been in the state tournament and the county tournament in a while and these are the kind of games we need to win to get back there.”

Jess D'Esposito led Bergenfield with 16 points.

Bergenfield is in the same boat as it is looking to pile up early season wins before its schedule turns to crossover games against NBIL Division 1 teams. The Bears came in sporting a 4-2 record and were effective early against Highlands, but a four-point offensive output in the second quarter was their undoing.

“In the beginning of the year we really used a fast-paced, transition offense into play to take advantage we thought we had against some teams, but in the league we can’t do that and we don’t have the kind of basketball intelligence yet to make that change back to slow-it-down half court sets,” said Bergenfield head coach Erik Olsen. “We don’t take care of the basketball and obviously we have some corrections we have to make.”

Bergenfield could have hung around longer if it had done better at the free throw line, but it could also be said that Northern Highlands could have pulled away sooner had it made a few more of its free throw attempts. Bergenfield was just 4 of 13 from the stripe in the first half, while Highlands made just 3 of 9 attempts before halftime and 7 of 25 from the line in the game.

What Highlands had in its favor was an offensive diversity that spread production around to four different players and a force in the middle in 6-foot-1 center Jackie Reyneke, who is one of Bergen County’s top freshmen. Reyneke grabbed 18 rebounds and blocked three shots in the game and, most importantly, stayed out of foul trouble most of the way even as they were piling up for other players on both teams.

Highlands freshman center Jackie Reyneke finished 9 points and 18 rebounds.

Reyneke scored six of her seven first half points in the first quarter to get the Highlanders off to a good start, while Corbett, Balzano and Melanie Green, Highlands’ other senior starter, combined for 16 first half points to keep Bergenfield from being able to clog the middle.

It was Corbett’s fastbreak basket with 1:00 left in the second quarter that gave Northern Highlands its first double-digit lead at 27-17 and it was Balzano’s three-pointer from the wing that were rang up the first points of the second half and gave the Highlanders a 30-18 advantage.

“When we first took over we didn’t just want to wait for that one good class, make a run in the playoffs and then have to rebuild and start all over. We wanted to build a program that can be competitive every year and that is why I like the make-up of this team with the mix of young players to go with our two seniors,” said Al Albanese, who is in his third season as Highlands head coach. “I’ve told the girls so many times that if they just go out and work hard that good things will happen and good things happened out there for us tonight.”

Bergenfield's Jackie Schultz had 2 3-pointers included in her 10 points.

Corbett’s three-pointer from the wing with 4:03 to play in the third quarter was a good thing as it pushed the Highlanders’ lead into double digits for the third time in the game at 37-25 and Bergenfield never got back within single digits.

Bergenfield did slice the deficit to 11 points on a tough finish by Shana Rivera, but she missed the accompanying free throw as the Bears were left trailing 43-32 heading into the fourth quarter. And Balzano opened the final period with a three-pointer from the left corner, the catalyst to a 6-0 run that Northern Highlands used to pull away for good.

“Bergenfield has a good defense and we just had to work around it with some of our plays and be patient when we had to be. I just tried to get to spots that were open and then make the shots when I was open,” said Balzano, who was on the varsity roster last season as a freshman, but is seeing her first real playing time this year. “We were all hoping to be 5-1 at this point, but to actually get there is a good feeling and a little bit of a shock.”

Balzano led the Highlanders with 17 points, 12 of them in the second half, and Corbett added 14 to go along with three steals. Green finished with 7 points and Reyneke finished with 9 points to go with her 18 rebounds, missing out on a sure double-double because of a struggle with the free throw line. Katie Leshinsky, Highlands other sophomore starter, had two third quarter field goals and Arista Meneve made to free throws to round out the scoring for the Highlanders, whose 5-1 is all the more impressive considering that its has been built just about entirely on the round or in neutral gyms.

Highlands senior point guard Melanie Green finished with 7 points.

“It’s where we need to be at this point, but we haven’t won anything except a couple of games,” said Albanese. “It’s a good start, but the hard work that we have put it has to continue if we want to keep it up. I know it will and we played smart tonight.”

Jessica D’Esposito (16 points) was Bergenfield’s leading scorer and Jackie Schultz followed with 10, including two three-pointers. Crystal Johnson, the Bears starting center and one of the area’s least-heralded, but best pure athletes, finished with 7 points, but added six blocks. Sophomore point guard Jesse Corredor had a three-pointer and a free throw and Steph Miranda and Rivera split Bergenfield’s other four points.

Bergenfield fell to 4-3 with the loss, which in itself is not too shabby, but the Bears missed a chance to put some distance between themselves and the .500 mark as the schedule is about to turn brutal. Next up are Ridgewood on Sunday in the 2nd Annual Breast Cancer Basketball Challenge, an NBIL-Division 2 matchup against Ramsey and then the first crossover game against Division 1 heavyweight Paramus Catholic. After that it is River Dell, Pascack Valley, Old Tappan, Pascack Hills, Ramapo and Holy Angels.

“That is as tough as it gets. It’s a seven-game stretch with six of the seven teams are in the Top 8 in North Jersey,” said Olsen. “The reality is we are not as good as we thought we were going to be at this point in the season, a little overrated right now. We have some good young players who will improve as we go along, but we see that schedule we know it is going to be tough.”

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