Girls Basketball

January 6, 2010

Unlikely heroes emerge for Marist

Alexis Wilson Marist

Freshman guard Alexis Wilson had five of her seven rebounds in the second half.

Click Here for photos from Marist at Union City.

By Jason Bernstein
Editorial Director

UNION CITY – For most of the season, Marist has had to rely heavily upon the veteran trio of Antoinette Blake, Desiree Denmark and Ashley Vazquez. But during the most pivotal stretch of their 58-49 victory over Union City, was when the two youngest starters – Angela Randle and Alexis Wilson – rose to the forefront.

Randle and Wilson combined for eight points during a 10-0 run late in the third quarter and early fourth that allowed the Royal Knights (5-2) to pull away and earn the win.

“It was a whole team effort,” Denmark said. “We struggled early, but we kept going and didn’t give up. Our whole starting five is good. We have help.”

After Denmark broke a 39-all tie with 36 seconds left in the third quarter on a drive towards the basket, Randle closed out the quarter with a 3-pointer to make it a five-point game.

Wilson, a freshman, took a rebound across court for a lay-up to open the fourth. Another Wilson rebound would set up a second trey from Randle, a sophomore, to cap off the rally.

The two-minute run accounted for all six of Randle’s points and half of Wilson’s four on the night. Three of Randle’s four steals and five of Wilson’s seven rebounds came in the second half of play.

“They’re going to help us out,” Marist head coach Damel Ling said. “We were waiting for a game where both them actually came up and did something (big).

“If both of them can do that, it’s going to help us out the rest of the way.”

The other development for the Royal Knights has been the maturation of Vazquez’s perimeter shot. The senior point guard said she spent the off-season working on her outside shooting and it showed with a game-high of 17 points. With a pair of 3-pointers and many long 2-pointers, it was a display that even Vazquez was surprised by.

“Not at all,” she said when asked if she could recall being that locked in from the perimeter. “I maybe hit one of those shots a game. I’m more of a drive the ball towards the basket player. Tonight was a good night.”

Vazquez had eight points in the first half and scored her team’s first six points of the third quarter. She also finished with six assists and five rebounds in a performance that Ling called “the best game I’ve seen her played in four years.”

“She came out huge while I was struggling,” said Denmark, who had nine points and seven rebounds in the second half. “I had a bad first half tonight. When I struggle, (Ashley) comes through.”

While Denmark and the Royal Knights were struggling to get into a rhythm, the Soaring Eagles (2-5) had an unexpected source of offense in Helen Mustafa.

Coming off the bench, Mustafa scored 12 points in the opening half for Union City. At one point, the senior scored eight straight points for the Soaring Eagles and finished with 16 points and eight rebounds, both team highs.

“Helen Mustafa played her best game of the year and definitely earned more minutes in the future,” Union City head coach Charlie Roussel said. “And that’s a definite, she played hard.

“She runs the floor well, she can attack the basket. In an up-tempo game, she’ll do very well.”

Mustafa’s play along with consecutive 3-pointers from Debra Martinez gave Union City a one-point lead at halftime, but in Roussel’s eyes was done in by a lack of experience.

“Experience was a big difference in this game,” he said. “We played great in the first half, but (Marist’s) experience took over.

“We put 16 really good minutes together tonight. We’ve got to put together 32 minutes.”

Martinez, the lone senior with varsity experience before the season had nine points in the loss for the Soaring Eagles.

Denmark recovered from an off first half to finish with 14 points and eight rebounds. Blake had a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Helen Mustafa, Antoinette Blake

Helen Mustafa (left) had 16 points while Antoinette Blake (right) added 13 points.

  1 2 3 4 Total
Marist Royal Knights (5-2)
12
12
20
14
58
Union City Soaring Eagles (2-5)
8
17
14
10
49
Marist   Union City
  2s 3s 1s Pts
Ashley Vazquez
5
2
1
17
Antoinette Blake
6
0
1
13
Alexis Wilson
2
0
0
4
Angela Randle
0
2
0
6
Devina Simon
0
0
0
0
Desiree Denmark
5
0
4
14
Ebony Wood
2
0
0
4
Destiny Brewer
0
0
0
0
Total
20
4
6
58
 
 
  2s 3s 1s Pts
Angie Estrada
3
0
0
6
Debra Martinez
0
3
0
9
Maydelin Hernandez
2
0
1
5
Evelyn Garcia
0
0
3
3
Jeanette Fernandez
3
0
1
7
Helen Mustafa
7
0
2
16
Samantha Uribe
1
0
0
2
Shaela Rodriguez
0
0
1
1
Jocelyn Morales
0
0
0
0
Total
16
3
8
49
     
Marist: Blake 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals; Denmark 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals; Vazquez 6 assists, 5 rebounds; Randle 4 steals. Union City: Mustafa 8 rebounds; Rodriguez 5 rebounds; Fernandez 4 rebounds.