Still rolling in high gear, the New Providence High School girls basketball team remained undefeated in Union County with a 55-33 triumph over the Westfield Blue Devils in New Providence on January 30. On February 1, however, the Blue Devils recovered and worked overtime to defeat the Jonathan Dayton Bulldogs, 36-34. Two days later the Blue Devils slammed the door on the Governor Livingston Highlanders, 43-20, in Westfield.
“We have fallen short a couple times this year, so to have that overtime win verses a very good Dayton team allowed us to get over that hump we’ve been trying to conquer. Our defense stepped up and carried over into our game verses GL,” Blue Devil Head Coach Liz McKeon said.
The 17-3 Pioneers had four girls hit double figures. Jasmine Miller scored 13 points, including trip 3-pointers, and added three steals, three assists, four rebounds and two blocks. Grace Kinum also had 13 points with five steals, four assists, a rebound and a block. Kyra Licari sank 10 points (2 3-pointers) and had three steals, three assists and a rebound. Brenna Slattery finished with 10 points, five steals, two rebounds and an assist. Annie Conover had five points (3-pointer), three steals, three assists and two rebounds. Megan Henn scored four points.
Mairin Fowler struck four eight points (2 3-pointers) and added four rebounds, two assists and a steal for Westfield. Sophie Lane finished with eight points, three blocks, three rebounds, an assist and a steal. Sara Rooney finished with seven points (3-pointer), four rebounds and a steal. Catherine Oliveira (steal, rebound) and Mackenna Reed each sank a 3pointer. Priscilla Dayon sank a pair of free throws and pulled a rebound. Lucy Burke had two points and a block.
The overtime thriller against the 10-7 Bulldogs had Blue Devil Megan Logan recording a double-double (12 points, 13 rebounds), along with six blocks, two steals and an assist. Lane finished with 11 points (3-pointer), eight rebounds, two steals and a block. C. Oliveira had five points, six rebounds, an assist and a block. Fowler finished with five points, three steals and four rebounds. Rooney sank three free throws and added three rebounds, two assists and a steal. Laura Oliveira ad Darby Hubner each pulled four rebounds. Burke grabbed seven boards and added two blocks, a steal and an assist.
Amiel Dillard led Dayton with 13 points and three rebounds. Charley Badalamenti finished with seven points (3-pointer), five steals, three rebounds and an assist. Molly Martys had five steals, six points and three assists. Caitlyn Del Duca had five steals, five points, four assists and three rebounds. Tori Turner sank a 3pointer and added two steals and four rebounds.
After a relatively even first quarter, the 7-13 Blue Devils slammed the door on the 9-9 Highlanders with a 14-1 run in the second quarter then added seven more points to their lead in the third quarter to put the game far out of reach. The big contributor to the Highlanders’ demise was the Blue Devils’ ability to swipe the ball with 16 steals.
The Highlanders won the first quarter, 7-6, with Logan, Rooney and Laura Oliveira each scoring two points but Burke (2 rebounds, 2 blocks) scored all five of her points in the second quarter and Hubner (6 points, 2 rebounds) sank a pair of free throws and a two-pointer, While Fowler (5 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 assists) banged a 3-pointer. Rooney (6 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists), who led the team with eight steals, scored two points.
Logan finished the game with 10 points, two steals, three rebounds, an assists and two blocks. Lane had nine points, six rebounds and a block. Laura Loiveira finished with five rebounds, three assists, two points and a block. Catherine Oliveira had four steals, three assists and five rebounds.
Sara Castrovinci scored six points for Governor Livingston. Chelsea Keisewetter, Maria DiPasquale and Carly Pfieffer each scored four points and Mia Firdman had two points.
Coach McKeon pointed out, “I am really, really proud of this team. It is not easy to stay engaged and focused when you aren’t necessarily seeing the results you want. But these ladies continue to fight and get better every day. The best part is that it is not just one person, it’s the entire team stepping up. If someone doesn’t have it one day, someone else will step up.”
