Cranford Lady Cougars Stall Viking Basketball Girls, 38-21

The full article can be found in the Westfield Leader, Jan 14th edition, or online at:
http://www.goleader.com/10jan14/10jan14.pdf

WEBB SINKS 16, MILLER NETS 10, GROSS 8 REBOUNDS
Cranford Lady Cougars Stall Viking Basketball Girls, 38-21
By DAVID B. CORBIN
Specially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

Stubborn defense has been the trademark of Union Catholic High School girls basketball Head Coach Kathy Matthews, who has harvested more than 600 career victories using that method, and she has taught her former players very well.

Cranford Cougar Head Coach Jackie Huber, who played for coach Matthews when she notched her 500th win, learned well as her team gave the Vikings a dose of their own medicine with a strong defensive effort, which led to a 38-21 victory in Cranford on January 7.

“I credit the way we play defense to her. When I played at Union Catholic, we were a huge defensive team, and I brought that over when I came to Cranford,” said coach Huber, who graduated in 2001. “We work on defense constantly. We talk about always doing the little things, and that’s what has been helping us these days to have good leads on teams and win the games.”

Senior tri-captain Jamie Webb kept the 5-1 Cougars focused both offensively and defensively. She pumped in a team-high 16 points, including a 3-pointer, dished out four assists, had three rebounds and two steals, and added two blocked shots. But when the Vikings made their only threat with a 10-0 run at the end of the second quarter and at the beginning of the third quarter to narrow the Cougars’ lead to 18-17, Webb got her team back on track to roll with an 8-0 run.

“Jamie! I always say to her, ‘you are me on the floor.’ So when you see things getting out of hand and you see people in the wrong spots, you need to help them out and tell them where they need to be,” coach Huber said.

BATTLING FOR THE BALL…Cougar senior Jamie Webb, No. 15, battles a Viking for possession of the ball. Webb pumped in a team-high 16 points, including a 3-pointer, dished out four assists, had three rebounds and two steals, and added two blocked shots.

CONTRIBUTING WELL ON DEFENSE…Cougar senior Taylor D’Antico had four rebounds, two points, a steal, an assist and two blocks against the Union Cathloic Vikings. The Cougars won 38-21.

“On offense, they (Vikings) want us to fall asleep, and they keep passing [the ball] around,” Webb explained. “Our coach said, ‘you have to play the ball. Play harder! Get the timing of the ball, and we needed to talk more on defense.’ We did that!”

The offensive turnaround in the third quarter that continued into the fourth quarter was a result of Webb’s and center/tri-captain Danielle Gross’s working of a smooth giveand-go connection. Gross, who led the team with eight rebounds, bucketed four points and had three assists, while adding a blocked shot.

“We have been playing all our life, since like third grade together,” Webb said. “We really know what type of basketball we want to play as a team. We work well together because we both like give-and-goes, and I pass out to her. She has a good jump shot and I am better going to the basket.” “That Danielle Gross and Jamie Webb give-and-go is something that they started doing on their own. Now, we even made a play out of it,” coach Huber said. “It is working!”

Sophomore Morgan Miller got the Cougars’ offense rolling by banging a pair of 3-pointers and a two-bagger in the first quarter, which led to an 11-3 lead. Miller finished with 10 points, two assists and two rebounds. “She is awesome! Every practice, she is making like 10 out of 11. She
was off the first couple of games, and now she is starting to get back on,” Webb said. “We have a lot of talent, and a few years from now they are going to be amazing.”

“She has been struggling from the outside. We have been working on seeing the floor more and going to the basket,” coach Huber said. “She started the game going to the basket, then she
pulled out and her shots started falling. I was happy to see that. It’s finally clicking. I was a shooter in high school, so I know what it is like when you have those games where your shot is not on. You can’t get discouraged and keep doing it.”

Freshman guard Jess McCoy pulled down seven rebounds and had three points, two assists, a steal and a blocked shot. Freshman Jenna Goeller (2 rebounds, assist) hit three points in the final quarter, and senior tri-captain Taylor D’Antico had four rebounds, two points, a steal, an assist
and two blocks.