As much as the Cranford and Westfield girls' basketball teams tried to live up to the rivalry, yesterday was one of those days when it was hard to match the usual hype, especially after playing a big game the night before.
Such was the case with the Lady Cougars and Lady Blue Devils, who were both coming off draining victories Monday night in the Union County Tournament.
But once Diana Venezia got the hot-hand, it was all over, as the talented sharpshooter buried a career-high 31 points and 17 rebounds to lead Westfield to a 43-26 victory.
It was Cranford's fourth game in five days. The team expended a lot of energy the night before in fighting back against Union in the first round of the county tournament. They also ran into a Westfield team that has now won seven in a row, and 10 of their last 11 games.
The Cougars also battled foul trouble early on, which didn't help their cause.
"I would have to say it was because we were tired," said Cranford head coach Jackie Huber. "Yesterday, we were down by 10, we came back and ended up winning by seven. We gave all of our energy out on that, which I wanted, so you come in today and you work on some things and you see things you need to work on for Thursday. But this game was just another game. It doesn't have any precedence on our schedule."
The Cougars led 8-5 after the first quarter, but scored just two points in the second, and trailed 17-10 at halftime in a sluggish first half. Westfield led by eight after three periods before they put the game away in the fourth when they outscored the home side 16-7 on their way to victory.
Danielle Gross had nine points to lead the Cranford offense.
"We talked about Thursday as our concentration, the most important this week," said Huber. "What happens today and what happens on Friday isn't that important. If we win, great, if we lose, it's not something that I'm going to stress about because Thursday is important. Also, we played Friday, we played Saturday, we had Sunday off and then you play Monday and Tuesday, that's a lot of games."
Westfield did have their share of motivation. They had not forgotten about losing their home floor 46-40 to the Cougars back on January 12.
Venezia, a senior, is averaging 16.5 points and 10 rebounds per game this season. She admits she's been in a zone of late.
"There's definitely a feeling that you get, especially when you shoot," Venezia said. "Shooting is rhythm. But I feel our whole team played well today and I'm really happy about our performance."
"She's a very good player," said Huber. "I've seen her play since she was a freshman and you knew she was going to be good. She showed how she blossomed as a player and how strong she can be."
Cranford, the fourth-seed in the tournament, will travel to Rahway to face Oak Knoll in the round of eight. Game time is set for 6 p.m.
"Oak Knoll's a decent team," Huber said. "We have to shut down a few of their players with our defense. I think we'll be fine. Today, it would have bee nice to win, yes, but does it hurt us that we didn't, no."
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