Cranford boys', girls' basketball teams begin week with 5-game winning streaks; Boys' host Hillside Tuesday, girls' are at Johnson Friday, Jan. 29 - Cranford Navigator

Cranford boys', girls' basketball teams begin week with 5-game winning streaks; Boys' host Hillside Tuesday, girls' are at Johnson Friday, Jan. 29 - Cranford Navigator

By JR Parachini
Union County Sports Editor

The Cranford boys’ and girls’ basketball teams are on a roll heading into play for the week of Monday, Jan. 25.

The boys’ are 7-3 and have won five straight leading into Tuesday’s 4 p.m. Union County Conference-Mountain Division home game against Hillside.

Cranford is 6-0 and in first place in the Mountain Division standings.

Hillside, as of Saturday, Jan. 23, stood at 6-7 overall and 3-4 in the Mountain Division.

The teams in the Mountain Division this year are: Cranford, Rahway, Roselle, Hillside, Johnson, Union Catholic, Governor Livingston and Summit.

Cranford’s latest win was a 79-66 conference triumph against Johnson Friday night in Clark. The Cougars outscored the Crusaders 31-10 in the third quarter and had eight of 13 players score points.

Kendall Grier paced Cranford with 22 points, while Will Green added 18, Chris Gross 14, Nick Pace nine and Greg Goode five.

Cranford will also host conference foe Rahway next Friday night at 7 and then is scheduled to play at non-league opponent Metuchen Saturday, Jan. 30 at 1 p.m.

Cranford boys' 5-game winning streak:
Jan. 8: (H) Cranford 59, Union Catholic 56
Jan. 12: (H) Cranford 64, Roselle 50
Jan. 14: (A) Cranford 74, North Plainfield 56 – non-league
Jan. 15: (H) Cranford 48, Summit 34
Jan. 22: (A) Cranford 79, Johnson 66

The girls’ begin the week 10-2 overall, winners of five straight, and 5-2 in the UCC’s Mountain Division. Roselle Catholic and Roselle are tied for first in the Mountain Division with just one loss each – RC to Cranford and Roselle to RC. Cranford’s setbacks are both by two points at GL 37-35 and at Roselle 52-50.

Cranford is scheduled to host Roselle Feb. 5 at 4 p.m. and GL Feb. 19 at 7 p.m., with the GL home game scheduled to be its 14th and final Mountain Division contest.

The teams in the Mountain Division this year are: Roselle Catholic, Roselle, Cranford, Johnson, Governor Livingston, Hillside, Union Catholic and Roselle Park.

Cranford’s only game this week is at Johnson this Friday night at 7. Johnson, after winning at Union Catholic 36-23 Friday night, improved to 7-4 overall with its third straight win. That put the Crusaders at 3-4 in the Mountain Division.

When Cranford and Johnson first clashed in conference play back on Dec. 22 in Cranford, the host Cougars downed the visiting Crusaders 46-31.

Cranford received fine games from junior Sara Gugliuci and sophomore Morgan Miller in Friday’s 58-30 home conference win over Roselle Park. Gugliuci poured in a team-high 17 points, while Miller added 10.

Miller nailed a three-pointer with 12 seconds left to send Tuesday’s non-conference game at Linden to overtime. Then senior Taylor D’Antico hit a three-pointer and Miller produced a conventional three-point play to lift the Cougars past the host Tigers 44-39 in single overtime.

Cranford followed that win with a dominating 56-18 non-conference triumph at Brearley Thursday.

Cranford girls' 5-game winning streak:
Jan. 12: (A) Cranford 46, Westfield 40 – non-league
Jan. 16: (A) Cranford 49, Roselle Catholic 47
Jan. 19: (A) Cranford 44, Linden 39 (OT) – non-league
Jan. 21: (A) Cranford 56, Brearley 18 – non-league
Jan. 22: (H) Cranford 58, Roselle Park 50