The groundhog forcasted six more weeks of winter this morning, but if we continue to get as much great action as we did tonight, it'll be worth it.
On one of the busiest Tuesday nights of the winter (at least in Union County where 24 of its 25 teams played - the lone team off, Mother Seton, won on Monday) we saw four teams post what I like to call "statement" victories, and in each case the victory avenged an earlier-season defeat.
These four results from Tuesday should go a long way in helping to decide the seeding for the Union County Tournament, which takes place next Wednesday, Feb. 10.
1- Johnson behind a virtuoso performance by Gina Trani, became the first team besides Roselle Catholic to defeat Roselle, doing so with a 61-51 victory in Clark.
Trani, who led Johnson (9-5) with 19 points, six rebounds and three steals, and Roselle's Shan-Tansia Padgett evoked memories of the Larry Bird-Dominique Wilkins 1988 playoff duel as each scored 15 points in the fourth quarter as Johnson closed with an 18-17 stanza. Padgett led all scorers with a season-high 26 points. Roselle defeated Johnson, 65-45, on Jan. 5.
Roselle (13-4), which had its 11-game winning streak snapped in a loss to Roselle Catholic on Friday, was playing its third straight game without Jakoya Duggans (knee), who leads the team with an 18.1 average.
2- Oak Knoll, which moved into the Union County Top 10 for the first time this winter at No. 7, defeated the team immediately ahead of it - No. 6, New Providence, 33-23, in New Providence. New Providence had defeated Oak Knoll, 46-45, on Dec. 23.
Kerri Moran had a game-high 15 points with five rebounds, three assists and two steals, Kerry Kennedy added 10 points and Catie Mota cleared nine rebounds to lead Oak Knoll (11-4), which has won 10 of its last 12. Laura Gregory's 11 points paced New Providence (11-2), which suffered its only other loss to Roselle Catholic on Jan. 21.
3- Westfield (8-7), behind a career-high 23 points and 11 rebounds from Amanda Markowski and 13 points from Diana Venezia, went over the .500 mark for the first time this season when it defeated Scotch Plains, 45-36, in Westfield.
Scotch Plains, which received 17 points, eight rebounds and three assists from Taylor Sebolao, and six points, 10 rebounds, three blocks and two steals from Renee Oliver, had defeated Westfield, 53-42, on Jan. 5.
4- Plainfield (6-10), which lost by three points at Linden on Jan. 5, needed overtime, but avenged that defeat with a 54-51 decision in Plainfield. Tiffany Frazier was 4-for-4 from the free throw line to pace Plainfield's 16-13 showing in overtime. Shannon Wheeler, who hit a 3-pointer with two seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to force overtime, scored nine of her 21 points in the extra session for Linden. Chanel Johnson finished with 21 points for Plainfield.
Blast from the Past: Diana Venezia of Westfield looks to pass as Shan-Tasia Padgett, then of Elizabeth, defends in a Union County Tournament game in 2007. Westfield won, 46-38.Now, what does this all mean? Well, first of all, there is great parity in the county as all of the above winners lost the first time around to their respective opponents. Secondly, the remaining games before the cutoff should help un-muddy the seeding for the UCT (somewhat).
Cranford hosts Roselle in a big game on Friday and if it comes away with the victory it will even its seaseon series (Roselle won 52-50 on Jan. 8) and give the Cougars a legit chance to earn the #1 seed for the UCT. Remember, Cranford is the only county school to defeat Roselle Catholic (14-2) this year, doing so on a last-second shot by Jamie Webb that secured a 49-47 decision on Jan. 16.
Cranford (12-2), which defeated Hillside on Tuesday, has only lost to Roselle since an opening-night loss to Gov. Livingston.
Oak Knoll, barring a loss against St. Mary's on Thursday or Benedictine on Friday, will move up in the county Top 10 and may be in line for as high as a fifth seed. Its losses in-county are to Summit, New Providence and Roselle.
Johnson, Plainfield and Westfield are teams to be dealt with. I moved Westfield into the Top 10 at No. 9 and kept Johnson in at the 10th spot while Plainfield fell out for the first time this year. But all three are very capable of making a run in the UCT. (As well as any team in the Top 10).
For me, this is one of the best times of year with so much invested in each game.
Enjoy the hoops.
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