Friday, March 12, 2010

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Emma Culleton and New Providence are heading for the Group 1 state final after knocking off Cresskill, 49-39, on Thursday night at Ramapo High School.

FRANKLIN LAKES – Athleticism + Hard Work + Execution = Wins.

Comprised of multi-sport athletes, the Cresskill girls’ basketball team has thrived this year on that simple equation to chalk up the best season in school history and their second North 1, Group 1 section title in three years. In the Group 1 semifinals though, the Lady Cougars saw a mirror-image of that athleticism and work ethic in New Providence. That forced Cresskill to execute more efficiently than they had to throughout the season to try to keep pace, which presented them with both an unenviable and an unfamiliar task.

New Providence scored nearly half of its points in the first quarter. Nan Tucker had 11 of her team-high 15 points in the opening stanza as New Providence led comfortably throughout in ending Cresskill’s season with a 49-39 defeat in the Group 1 Semifinals at Ramapo High School.

“This is what we have worked towards all season and it was huge to jump out early the way we did,” said New Providence head coach Cap Pazdera. “I think the first quarter was as well as we played all year offensively and it got us off on the right track.”

Floriana Borova led all scorers with 20 points, including 4 three-pointers for Cresskill, which finished the season at 22-5.

Tucker got the Lady Pioneers off to a blazing start by hitting all five of her field goal attempts in the first quarter as New Providence took a 24-15 lead after one period.

“We didn’t want to let Cresskill get on a big run because they could score points quickly,” said Tucker. “I think surviving a slow start in the section semifinals against Secaucus helped us today. We learned in that game that all of our hard work could be over in a flash if you don’t start off the game well. We were fortunate to survive that game and we have used that to our advantage in the game University (in the North 2 Group 1 final) and again tonight.”

A three-pointer from Cresskill’s Floriana Borova and a basket inside from Carly Cerone trimmed the lead down to four midway through the second quarter, 24-20. But the Cougars never got closer than that margin and New Providence got baskets from Kaitlyn Cresencia and Laura Gregory in a 7-1 spurt that bumped the lead up to 10 by halftime, 31-21.

Cresskill tried valiantly to get back in the game behind the play of Borova. But the Pioneers switched up their defense and put Tucker on Borova to force her into tougher shots. It worked as Borova was contained in the second half and the Cougars never got within eight points over the final 16 minutes of play.

Kaitlyn Cresencia and New Providence will play Florence in the Group 1 final.

“Borova is a great shooter and (Cerone) is tough inside. We didn’t want to let either of them get into a groove,” added Tucker. “I thought it was big that we got off to a good start in both halves and we didn’t give them many second-chance opportunities.”

Gregory had 10 points and Cresencia added nine points and nine rebounds as New Providence advanced to the Group 1 state final this Sunday against Florence. Borova led all scorers with 20 points, including four three-pointers for Cresskill, which finished the season with a 22-5 record. Jackie Azelby and Cerone added 10 and nine points, respectively.

Although Cresskill’s best-ever season came to a close, there was nothing for the players to hang their heads about, a point that first-year head coach Mike McCourt was quick to make.

“We worked hard every day and we gave it everything we had tonight, it just wasn’t enough,” said McCourt. “We gave up some easy baskets in the first half and New Providence earned them by working hard and they never stopped moving. We have no tears on this side here. We finished undefeated in our league, gave Teaneck a run in the counties and won a section title. This team has a lot to be proud of. We just ran into a team that did the same things we did, but just did them a little bit better on this night.”

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