Wednesday, January 4, 2011

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Sadiera Crawford had career-highs of 18 points and 16 rebounds for St. Anthony, which won its first game of the season, 29-26, over McNair Academic on Tuesday afternoon.

JERSEY CITY – Sometimes the hardest win for any team to get is the first one. Throw in an inexperienced starting lineup and a coach in his first year with the program after coaching boys’ basketball at Hoboken for more than 30 years, and there are bound to be some growing pains. After struggling through their first four games of the season, all losses, the St. Atnony girls basketball team knew it was time to not only be in a close game, but win it down the stretch.

Diamond Yarborough hit the go-ahead three-pointer and Sadiera Crawford had a monster game with her layup sealing St. Anthony’s first win of the season on Tuesday over McNair Academic, 29-26, at what was formerly St. Mary’s High School in Jersey City.

“This was our first win of the season, so it was a big one,” said Crawford, a senior forward. “I felt I had more height inside and it was up to me to take advantage of those mismatches and get our team going early.”

On possibly the smallest court in North Jersey and with both teams pressing, turnovers happened frequently and scoring was at a premium. The first half went back and forth with Crawford hitting an elbow jumper and a layup to put the Friars ahead before a late bucket by Aryana Kemp cut the lead to 17-16 at the half.

Sarah Beckner came off the bench to hit a 3-pointer to give McNair a 24-23 lead.

The Friars maintained the lead into the fourth quarter before the Cougars mounted a comeback. Sarah Beckner came off the bench with a good pump-fake from behind the three-point line to get a defender in the air before draining a 15-foot jumper, which gave McNair a 24-23 lead.

It stayed that way until an unlikely hero stepped up for St. Anthony. Yarborough had only attempted three shots in the game, but showed she was not afraid to take the big shot when she had to. Her contested three-pointer from the wing was good and she added a free-throw on the next possession to give the Friars a 27-24 lead with just over two minutes to play.

“That was a real big shot, that three-pointer that Diamond (Yarborough) hit, it got us back on track,” said St. Anthony head coach Buddy Matthews, the longtime Hoboken boys hoops head coach. “The key for our girls is playing with confidence. I think when we saw that we could win this game in the fourth quarter we got more aggressive and turned it up on the defensive end. It’s been an adjustment period this entire season. But I think they are starting to trust me, they are starting to trust themselves, and most importantly, they are starting to trust each other that we can win games if we work together and execute the way we’re capable of.”

Crawford showed off both her length and athleticism as she poked away an attempt to drive the lane and then beat everyone down the floor where Cassandra Houghton hit her for an easy layup and a 29-24 lead.

Diamond Yarborough nailed a 3-pointer to give St. Anthony the lead for good.

McNair’s Lihsah Coulanges hit a baseline jumper to make it a one-possession game again and the Cougars had two chances in the final 30 seconds to tie the game. But Beckner back-ironed a three-point attempt and they turned it over on their last possession, McNair’s 10th of the quarter, with the Friars holding on for their first win of the season and prevented McNair from getting its second in a row.

“This was a frustrating game to say the least,” said McNair Academic head coach Annie Cossolini. “We had a ton of opportunities, but we kept throwing the ball away and (Crawford) just killed us on the glass. When you make as many mistakes as we did and you don’t execute on offense, it makes it really hard to come out of a game with the win. All we can hope for is to learn from this game and help it make us a better team moving forward.”

Crawford had career-highs of 18 points and 16 rebounds for St. Anthony (1-4). Kemp had all eight of her points in the first half, while Beckner and Delsana Italis each added six for McNair (1-5).

Although St. Anthony’s should have been jumping for joy after notching its first victory of the season, there were only smiles and the occasional high-five. That is because the Friars feel their best is still yet to come and Tuesday’s win was only the first step towards a solid season.

“We’re happy we won, but we’re not happy with the way we won,” added Crawford. “It’s nice to win after losing so many games in a row. We still have a lot of work to do though and there are so many parts of the game we need to get better at. We have one win under us finally but we’re not satisfied, we want more.”

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