Strength in numbers

Jazmin Palma North Bergen

North Bergen's Jazmin Palma (right) tries to drive past Lincoln's Zierra Williams.

Click Here for photos from Lincoln at North Bergen.

By Jason Bernstein
Editorial Director

NORTH BERGEN – For the Bruins it was a true team effort. While North Bergen may not have an easily identifiable standout who will score 20 points every night, that hasn’t stopped them from success in a competitive division schedule.

Last night was no exception as four different Bruins scored in double figures as North Bergen held off Lincoln 56-51 in overtime.

“You can’t beat good teams with one or two kids,” North Bergen coach Dan Reardon said. “That’s a team effort.”

During every big moment of the game, it seemed a different Bruin (13-5) stepped up to the task to deliver each time. In the overtime it was their one senior starter, Laura Muriel.

With less than 90 second left in overtime and North Bergen holding on to a one-point lead, Muriel stripped the ball away, raced down the court and delivered a layup plus a foul shot to complete the game-changing three-point play.

“To me that was (the game),” Reardon said. “It took the air out of them and it got our energy level way up. Out 100 different plays in the game, that one was the key.”

Six of Muriel’s 14 points came in the final minute of regulation and overtime. Muriel and teammates Ashley Vazzona and Ashley Heredia combined to hit four free throws in the final minute of OT to seal the victory. Heredia scored all 11 of her points after halftime. Teammate Jazmin Palma delivered a pair of second half 3-pointers, scoring eight of her 10 points after the intermission.

Heading into the overtime all the momentum seemed to be pointed in the direction of Lincoln (14-7). Trailing by as many as 13, the Lions tied the game at 47 when Zierra Williams took an inbounds pass from teammate Andrea Crute and converted on a layup as the buzzer sounded.

“It was just a basic pick-and-roll, but we changed it up a little bit,” Lincoln coach Tom Best said, adding that Williams was not the first option on that play.

Crute and Williams scored the final 10 points of the game for Lincoln. Crute (17 points) and Williams (10 points) were the lone Lions to finish in double figures. The duo combined for 20 second-half points as Lincoln tried to fight their way back from an early first-half deficit.

Early on the Bruins seemed poised to make it a one-sided affair with an 11-0 run that made it 19-6 early in the second quarter.

Vazzona was lights out from the perimeter during the stretch. In a span of less than 100 seconds, the junior connected on a pair of 3-pointers from the wings and delivered a third long-range dagger from the corner.

Vazzona finished with 17 points and six rebounds (both team-highs), displaying a well-rounded game and superior on-court intelligence.

“She’s a very good outside shooter,” Reardon said. “She’s hard to defend out there because if you do go after her she can get by you. She sees the game a little differently than a lot of kids do.”

“I think (Vazzona’s) basketball IQ is probably her best asset,” Best said. “She just knows the game of basketball.”

Vazzona, Heredia and Palma have been three-year starters for North Bergen. After some rough patches the previous two seasons, those growing pains are starting to pay off in a big way for the Bruins.

“I can’t say we’re young anymore,” Reardon said. “I used to say that if we didn’t have a good record. You can’t say that anymore.

“That’s a nice thing, to see a team growing like that right in front of you. I’m proud of them.”

Timiah Calamito Lincoln

Timiah Calamito had four rebounds, four assists and four steals for Lincoln.

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Lincoln Lions (14-7)	6	11	15	15	4	51
Kearny Kardinals (13-5)	10	11	16	10	9	56

Lincoln

North Bergen

	2s	3s	1s	Pts
Timiah Calamito	0	1	0	3
Andrea Crute	7	0	3	17
Sharmane Rhodes	1	0	3	5
Nhire Adams	2	1	1	8
Kelysha Edwards	0	0	0	0
Indigo Hatcher	4	0	0	8
Zierra Williams	2	0	6	10
Shaquanna Bates	0	0	0	0
Chinya Swane	0	0	0	0
Total	16	2	13	51

	2s	3s	1s	Pts
Laura Muriel	5	0	4	14
Ashley Heredia	5	0	1	11
Jazmin Palma	1	2	2	10
Nicole Paulino	0	0	0	0
Ashley Vazzona	2	3	4	17
Ashley Macias	0	0	0	0
Alyssa Arroyo	1	0	0	2
Celine De La Hos	0	0	0	0
Kassandra Negroni	1	0	0	2
Total	15	5	11	56

Lincoln: Rhodes 13 rebounds, 4 steals; Hatcher 10 rebounds, 4 steals; Crute 9 rebounds; Williams 7 rebounds; Adams 4 rebounds; Calamito 4 assists, 4 rebounds, 4 steals. North Bergen: Heredia 6 rebounds; Vazzona 6 rebounds; Muriel 4 steals; Palma 4 assists.