Friday, December 23, 2011

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Julia McClure, one of Secaucus' two freshman starters, hit a 3-pointer and a putback basket in the fourth quarter to help the Patriots stay perfect with a 58-51 win at Garfield on Thursday afternoon.

GARFIELD – Making a varsity roster as a freshman is hard enough, cracking the starting lineup is even harder. However when you are asked to not only fill a void left in the starting lineup by a graduated senior, but replace two of the better players ever to wear a Secaucus uniform, there is quite a bit of pressure that comes with that. Secaucus freshmen Andie Lennon and Julia McClure had that pressure lessened a little bit in two season-opening blowout wins, but trailing heading into the fourth quarter against upstart Garfield, Lennon and McClure got their first taste of crunch time in varsity girls basketball.

The pair was up to the task, showing poise beyond their years and proving that the Patriots have no plans of abandoning their winning tradition.

McClure and Lennon hit back-to-back baskets midway through the fourth quarter to erase the deficit and give Secaucus the lead for good en route to a hard-fought 58-51 triumph on Thursday night at Garfield High School.

“This was a fun game to be in because the pressure was on us to make plays,” said McClure. “We didn’t play our best, but we still found a way to win. We had to step up our game and hit some big shots to pull away.”

Garfield point guard Shaunteriah Douglas 18 points, 12 rebounds, eight steals, and five assists.

Secaucus turned the lights out early on their first two opponents this season (North Arlington and Queen of Peace) and it looked like it could happen again with the three-point shot being the catalyst. Danielle Roesing scored all eight of her points in the first quarter, including a 3 in the waning seconds, to kickstart a 14-3 run. McClure capped that run with a 3 from the wing to give the Patriots their largest lead, 30-15.

Led by senior point guard Shaunteriah Douglas, the Boilermakers showed no quit and clawed their way back into the game. Douglas’ steal and layup cut the lead to nine, 33-24, at the half, and Eliany Manzueta hit back-to-back 3s to tie the game.

A scary moment occurred minutes later when Secaucus center Ariana Simon tried to take a charge on a Douglas drive. She hit the ground hard and the game was halted for nearly 25 minutes as Simon was immobilized and taken away by ambulance with a neck injury. It was tough for both teams to get back in the flow and it also left a gaping hole in middle for an already small Patriot team. Garfield center Ariana Gomez took advantage. She scored three straight baskets with the last of those giving Garfield its first lead of the game, 45-44, heading into the fourth quarter.

For the first time in their careers, the two key freshmen for Secaucus had to face adversity on the varsity level. Whether or not the Patriots stayed unbeaten rested on how well they handled that pressure. McClure nailed a 3-pointer from the baseline to take the lead, and then scored on a putback to make it a two-possession game. Lennon made it a more comfortable advantage on the ensuing possession by nailing a 3-pointer to make it 54-47.

Alyssa Lyngholm and Secaucus are now 3-0 heading into holiday tournament play.

“That was the stretch where we needed to make layups, make foul shots, and get stops, and we just didn’t get it done,” said Garfield head coach Chris Caiozzo. “No matter how young they are, Secaucus is the type of team that always knows how to win games in the fourth quarter. We’re still learning how to do that. We’ve had the lead in the fourth quarter of all three of our games and we only have one win to show for it. If we keep working hard though, the confidence will grow and we’ll start getting those wins. It just didn’t happen today.”

With the lead down to five points and just under three minutes to play, the Patriots were able to move the ball around and for over two minutes before a Garfield steal with 40 seconds left. By then though, it was too late to mount a comeback as Secaucus held on for an important victory.

“Being able to hit 3-pointers is a big part of what we do and I thought we all shot the ball well today,” said Lennon. “When Ariana (Simon) got hurt, it made it even more important for us to hit our shots because we didn’t really have a big rebounder in the paint. We’re taking this season one game at a time and we needed to play a close game like this.”

McClure had her second consecutive double-double for Secaucus (3-0) with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Lennon had 15 points and six assists, while Roesing and Simon finished with eight and seven points, respectively.

Ariana Gomez scored three straight baskets with the last giving Garfield its first lead of the game, 45-44, heading into the fourth.

Gomez had a double-double of her own with a career-high 21 points to go with 10 rebounds for Garfield (1-2). Douglas, one of North Jersey’s quickest point guards, showed off her versatility with a fantastic stat line of 18 points, 12 rebounds, eight steals, and five assists.

Secaucus passed its first true test of the season, but it is just the first of many with three more guaranteed tests coming up in the next week in the River Dell Holiday Hoop Jam starting with the host team, River Dell, in its quarterfinal matchup on Monday at 5:15. Lennon and McClure have already proven themselves to be two of the most promising freshmen in North Jersey, but how they get acclimated to receiving more defensive attention will go a long way to see if this is a team that can be in the mix for league, county, and state sectional titles as they have been in years past.

“Andie Lennon and Julia McClure made some big threes for us and we definitely needed them today or we likely would have lost,” said Secaucus head coach John Sterling. “I thought we did a much better job in the fourth quarter of holding Garfield to one shot per possession when they were killing us on the boards for most of the game.”

“We’re a very young team and there’s a learning curve that comes with that, but that experience will come as the season goes on. I thought we started and finished the game relatively well, but in between we looked real sloppy. In order for us to get where to where we want to be we have to put a full 32 minutes together. I think we’ll learn a little more about ourselves in the coming week.”

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