Wednesday, February 27, 2013

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Kaitlyn McCue scored 19 points and had 10 rebounds for Bergenfield, which advanced to the North 1, Group 3 state sectional quarterfinals with a 38-31 win at Old Tappan.

OLD TAPPAN – With the way both teams approach the game of basketball, two straight baskets by either side could be considered a run and three straight could be a game-changer. Both the Bergenfield and Northern Valley/Old Tappan girls basketball teams value every possession, run their offenses through their best players and neither is likely to play anything other than halfcourt, man-to-man defense. Transition baskets, full court presses and wildly launched 3-pointers were just not going to be a major part of Tuesday's opening round matchup in the North 1, Group 3 state sectional tournament.

“We were talking about it all week that if they went on a 6-0 run, we were burning timeouts. In a game like this, that is like a 20-point run against anyone else,” said Bergenfield head coach Mike Kilgallen. “We said if we had a game in the 20s or 30s then we would have a game on Thursday night. If it was in the 40s or 50s, then Old Tappan would have a game on Thursday night and we would be done.”

When all was said and done it was Bergenfield moving on to Thursday night quarterfinal round and it was 6-0 run that put the Bears over the top. Two straight buckets by Kaitlyn McCue, one on the fastbreak of all things, and a turn-around jumper in the post from Steph Miranda turned a three-point lead into a nine-point spread late in the third quarter. Old Tappan got to within three with just under two minutes to play, but Bergenfield held on for a 38-31 victory that keeps its torrid streak alive.

Senior Melissa Errico had a team-high 12 points in her final game for Old Tappan.

After starting the season 2-8, the eighth-seeded Bears have won 13 of their last 15 games and will take their 15-10 record into Allendale for a quarterfinal game against top-seeded Northern Highlands.

Bergenfield never trailed and the game was tied only once at 2-2. The Bears went ahead for good on a basket by Kaitlyn McCue, who scored off a pass from Miranda with 3:34 left in the opening period. Bergenfield led 7-6 after the first quarter and led by as many as eight in the second quarter before an Alyssa D'Ericole 3-pointer got Old Tappan back to within 19-14 at the break.

McCue scored 13 of Bergenfield's 19 first half points while Melissa Errico scored half of Old Tappan's 14 points through the first two quarters. With both teams best scorers getting their points, the game was going to come down to which supporting cast could scrape together more offense after halftime. Miranda scored half of Bergenfield's points in the third quarter and the last two came on the post more that gave her team a 27-18 lead.

Part of the reason that Bergenfield started the season so poorly was the absence of Miranda and her return has coincided with the Bears run of good form over the past month-and-a-half.

“I am so proud of every single kid on this team, but it is no coincidence that we are 13-2 since Steph Miranda got healthy. The kid is unbelievable,” said Kilgallen, in his first year as the Bergenfield head coach after stints at New Milford and Midland Park. “She's a four-year starter and she is not going to put up the flashy numbers that other kids are, but she is the best basketball player I have ever coached; no doubt about it.”

Steph Miranda had 8 points for Bergenfield, which will play top-seeded Northern Highlands in the sectional quarterfinals.

McCue is pretty darn good herself and she scored on a jumper from the elbow early in the fourth quarter to give her team a 29-20 with 7:10 to play. Old Tappan got to within 31-27 on a steal and layup by D'Ericole and with 2:49 left and to within three at 32-29 when Alexie Piccinich scored inside with 1:56 to go, but McHugh made both ends of the one-and-one with 1:20 left. Piccinich scored off an inbounds play to get the Golden Knights back to within three points for the last time with 36 seconds to go, but Bergenfield made 4 of 6 free throws in the final 30 seconds to close the game out.

“Being a senior, I know that the next loss is going to be the end of my high school basketball career and I wanted to leave it all out on the court, especially because I knew that this might be the last game I ever played with this team and this is a special team,” said McCue. “We know the names of all the teams in this bracket; Ramapo, Northern Highlands, Teaneck and they are all good. But they are teams that we have seen earlier this season and we know that we can play with all of them. I am not saying we are going to win, but we definitely feel like we can win it.”

McCue certainly did her part as she finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds. She was the only player in double figures for Bergenfield, which got 8 apiece from Miranda and Dani LaPorta. Nicole Henderson had the other three points for the Bears. Errico, who was honored along with the four other Old Tappan seniors before the start of the game, finished with 12 points for the Knights. Katie Gattoni (7 points) and D'Ericole, Old Tappan's other two senior starters, combined for 12 points. Piccinich, part of a talented freshman class along with starting point guard Emily Crevani, and Ariana Chipolone among others, scored all 6 of her points in the fourth quarter.

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