Tuesday, December 29, 2009

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Brianne Traub, a junior and already a 1,000-point scorer, dropped in 29 on Monday night as Eastern Christian won the Garfield Holiday Tournament with a 51-35 victory over Tenafly.

GARFIELD – Ever since Eastern Christian’s Brianne Traub stepped on the court as a freshman, she quickly solidified herself as one of North Jersey’s top scorers. The junior has already passed the 1,000-point barrier, not because she is the fastest player on the court, but because of her basketball IQ.

Even against an experienced, defensive-minded Tenafly squad, Traub consistently found a way to put the ball in the basket even with a defense designed to stop her. She poured in a game-high 28 points and Kelsey Spoelstra nailed a big three-pointer in the third quarter when Eastern Christian pulled away from Tenafly en route to a 51-35 victory in the final of the Garfield Holiday Tournament.

Eastern Christian had breezed to victory in each of its games so far this season. However, it was put on alert early on Monday night that this game was going to be different. Senior guard Michelle Koles scored five points, including a three-pointer, in the 9-0 run that Tenafly used to open the game.

Michelle Koles scored five points in Tenafly's 9-0 game-opening run.

“I don’t want to say that’s what we needed, but it sure woke us up,” said Eastern Christian head coach Steve King. “Before you could blink we were down by seven and that’s not a position you want to be in. We had to pick up our pace and play with the same intensity Tenafly was playing with.”

Needing a spark, Traub carried the team on her back throughout the first half. The Eagles chipped away and got the lead down to two points by the end of the opening stanza. They finally grabbed the lead early in the second quarter on putback by Traub. She scored 17 of her 28 points in the first half as Eastern Christian held a slim lead at the half, 25-23.

“We couldn’t start the second half the way we started the first,” said Traub. “We had to step up our game. The biggest thing was that we had to play good defense and then hit some open shots.”

With the defense even more intent on limiting Traub, she used herself more as a decoy in the second half by focusing on getting better shots for her teammates. Traub was double-teamed and kicked it out to Kelsey Spoelstra at the top of the key for a three-pointer and a 31-22 lead with 4:40 to play in the third quarter. A minute later, after an Eastern Christian miss and a Tenafly rebound, Traub ripped the ball out of the hands of one of the Lady Tigers. She laid it in and was fouled, then converted the free-throw to complete the three-point play. That gave the Eagles a double-digit lead that they never relinquished.

Eastern Christian improved to 4-0 heading into a difficult stretch of schedule.

Traub had more than twice as many points as any other player on the court with a tournament-high 28 points for Eastern Christian (4-0). Spoelstra added 11, while freshman Carly Veenstra and Kristen Traub each chipped in with six.Koles was the only Tenafly (3-1) player to reach double-figures with 13 points.

With the convincing win, Eastern Christian has put itself squarely on the map as one the most improved teams in North Jersey. With that and an unforgiving schedule over the two weeks, including five straight tough games starting with one against defending Non-Public B state champion Paterson Catholic, the added pressure is something Traub and teammates are not shying away from. In fact, they are looking forward to it.

“This is definitely an exciting time for us,” said Traub. “Our team seems to play pretty well under pressure. I love the pressure personally. It makes the game more challenging and that’s what it’s all about; being challenged and trying to rise above that.”

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