Sunday, February 12, 2012

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Michelle Van Dyke finished with her first career triple-double for Eastern Christian, which upset Kennedy, 45-44, in the Passaic County Tournament quarterfinals.

WAYNE – Eastern Christian’s Michelle Van Dyke has always been the center of attention ever since stepped on the court as a 6-foot-4 freshman. But with one of the state’s best players, Brianne Traub, playing along side her the past three years, she was allowed to play a more complementary role, which suited her just fine. But in this her junior year, the spotlight has been on the now 6-foot-6 center and she has responded with the best season of her varsity career.

The one thing Van Dyke had missing from her resume was a breakout performance in a big game. That was until Saturday’s Passaic County Tournament quarterfinal against second-seeded John F. Kennedy when she picked a perfect time to have one of the greatest games in tournament’s illustrious history.

Van Dyke simply owned the paint on both ends of the floor on her way to her first career triple-double. She finished with 26 points, 20 rebounds, and 10 blocks as seventh-seeded Eastern Christian held off a furious fourth-quarter rally to upset Kennedy and advance to the Passaic County Tournament semifinals with a 45-44 triumph at Passaic County Technical Institute.

“This was a big game and Michelle carried us early when we needed her to,” said Eastern Christian head coach Barry Veenstra. “She was aggressive and really had great touch around the basket all game. The clock could not have moved fast enough at the end, but we found a way to hold on.”

Ahnyyah Jackson scored 12 points for Kennedy.

Without injured center Kylla Champagne, Kennedy had a big void in the middle and Van Dyke took full advantage of it early. She hit five of her six first-quarter shots, including a putback that gave Eastern Christian a 12-11 lead, an advantage it maintained throughout. But the Eagles also got some points from beyond the three-point arc as Bethany Kuiken and Carly Veenstra both hit long-range shots in the final two minutes of the half to put the Eagles on top 26-19 at the break.

“We came in as a big underdog and that actually helped us a lot,” said Carly Veenstra. “There wasn’t really any pressure on us, so we were really relaxed. We have a lot of respect for Kennedy and we knew that they were a really good team. But we felt like we were up for the challenge. Getting off to a good start was a huge confidence booster for us.”

The Eagles tacked on their lead with consecutive short jumpers from Veenstra and Van Dyke to grab their largest lead, 37-23, at the end of the third quarter. But despite not able to do much of anything offensively, the Knights hung tough and turned to their pressure defense to create more offense. They sliced the lead to 10 when VanDyke picked up her fourth foul with 5:46 to play and had to go to the bench.

From there, the Knights finally got some momentum and turned it up another notch with Morgan Taylor scoring six straight points to cut the lead down to three, 41-38, with under three minutes to play. Van Dyke came back into the game, but the momentum was still going the way of Kennedy until the Eagles got a pair of breaks that proved to be the difference in the end. Veenstra had a layup attempted blocked by Kennedy’s Ny’Lasha Lewis, but the ball went straight up in the air high above the top of the backboard and dropped in before Abby Kuder banked in a free-throw for a 44-38 lead.

EC's Carly Veenstra scored 10 of her 15 points in the second half.

Kennedy kept the pressure on and got it back to a one-possession game with 22 seconds left and got a chance to tie it. It was the Eagles’ turn to clamp down on defense as it took 15 seconds to get off a tying three-point attempt from Taylor. Koryn Lawrence-Barrett scored on a rebound with 1.5 seconds left, but the Eagles were able to inbound the ball and pull off the biggest upset of this year’s Passaic County Tournament.

“We got on a roll at the end, we just ran out of time,” said Kennedy head coach Mar’Quette Burgess. “(Van Dyke) killed us inside and without Kylla (Champagne), we didn’t have an answer for her. They did what they had to do and we didn’t. We dug ourselves too big of a hole and I think we expended too much energy trying to fight out of it. It’s a tough loss because one goal of ours every year is to be county champions. The only thing we can do is learn something from this and use it as motivation for the states.”

Van Dyke was simply magnificent in every aspect of the game, leading all players in points, rebounds, and blocks for Eastern Christian (15-3). Veenstra scored 10 of her 15 points in the second half. Taylor led the way for Paterson Kennedy (16-6) with 16 points and Ahnyyah Jackson added 12.

Koryn Lawrence and Kennedy made up a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter, but fell just short.

Eastern Christian is the lowest seed (No. 7) remaining in the tournament and will face third-seeded Passaic County Tech. After their quarterfinal upset, the Eagles feel they have even less to lose now. With the steady backcourt of Veenstra and Kristen Traub along with Van Dyke emerging a true offensive and defensive force in the middle, the pieces of the puzzle are starting to come together for a team that is now a legitimate contender for a county title.

“This was a really big win for us and I’m glad we survived at the end,” said Van Dyke, who is getting attention from several Division 1 schools. “I know their center was out, so it was an opportunity for me to be more aggressive and step it up. I was definitely nervous in the fourth quarter and I’m sure we’ll all be nervous next week. But if we’re not nervous, there’s something wrong. It’s more excited than nervous really. We are playing with a lot more confidence than we were earlier in the season and we can’t wait to get back on the court.”

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