HFA sets the tone in HCT opener

Samantha Sysak Holy Family

Samantha Sysak scored 17 points as Holy Family advanced to the HCT quarterfinals.

Click Here for photos from Union City at Holy Family.

By Jason Bernstein
Editorial Director

BAYONNE – Playing in a division comprised of the county’s smallest schools, Holy Family had been nothing short of dominant this season. But how would they fare against the bigger schools that the Falcons once played on a regular basis?

Yesterday, in one of their first cracks against the bigger schools, Holy Family responded with what might have been their most impressive performance of the season – a 70-34 victory over Union City in the first round of the Hudson County Tournament.

“The total team performance today was really (impressive),” Holy Family coach Pat Longo said, calling it her team’s best game of the season. “It was a total team effort today and I was really pleased.”

After a tightly-contested opening quarter, the sixth-seeded Falcons (15-2) opened the second with 16 unanswered points. Employing a mix of zone and press, Holy Family set the tempo on the defensive end as they held No. 11 seed Union City (6-13) without a point for nearly seven minutes.

“We got a lot of turnovers,” guard Samantha Sysak said. “We got to a lot of balls and we turned them into points.”

“If you play defense (like that) it affects the way they play offense,” point guard Kaydee Murphy said. “The harder defense we play, the harder the pressure is on them to get the ball in the hoop.”

Thanks in large part to that pressure, the Falcons had 16 team steals led by five from Murphy and Christina Gill. That pressure along with an extended shooting slump proved to be a toxic combination for the Soaring Eagles as they struggled to handle the small court at Holy Family’s gym.

“We just couldn’t put the ball in the basket,” Union City coach Charlie Roussel said, admitting his team struggled to handle the different court. “We were 12-of-65 (shooting). Our plan was to attack the basket and today we settled for jump shots.”

“It is our home-court advantage,” said Murphy, who had nine assists in the win. “We’re used to having a small court. We know how to play on it. They’re used to playing on a big court. It’s just a different game (here).”

It was the game that the Falcons wanted to play. Murphy’s pressure on both the offensive and defensive ends allowed them to thrive in the transition game with passes Gill and Sysak.

Gill had 10 points during the game-changing run and 13 points in the second quarter. At one point she connected with lay-ups on three straight possessions to give Holy Family a 22-7 lead midway through the quarter.

The senior forward was unstoppable for large parts of the game, finishing with 21 points, 16 rebounds, six assists and five steals in the victory.

“We lost (Christina) in transition in the second quarter,” Roussel said. “We weren’t able to pressure the guards as hard as we wanted to and I think (Sysak) had a big first quarter,”

Sysak scored the first six points of the game and finished with 17 points.

Jeanette Fernandez led the Soaring Eagles with 21 points in defeat. Evelyn Garcia and Shaela Rodriguez added eight rebounds apiece.

While Union City looks to regroup in preparation for the upcoming state tournament, the Falcons will face No. 3 seed Lincoln in the quarterfinals next weekend.

For Holy Family, which has already knocked out Union City and North Bergen this season, it’s another opportunity to show that they belong in the discussion with the biggest and best that Hudson has to offer.

“At this point in the season you need to be focused,” Longo said. “You need to be ready to play and they want to move on in this tournament.”

Jeanette Fernandez Union City

Senior forward Jeanette Fernandez led Union City with 21 points in defeat.

	1	2	3	4	Total
Union City Soaring Eagles (6-13)	7	11	5	11	34
Holy Family Falcons (15-2)	10	21	22	17	70

Union City

Holy Family

	2s	3s	1s	Pts
Angela Estrada	0	0	4	4
Debra Martinez	0	0	0	0
Maydelin Hernandez	0	0	1	1
Jocelyn Morales	1	0	0	2
Jessica Diaz	0	0	0	0
Evelyn Garcia	0	0	0	0
Jeanette Fernandez	7	2	1	21
Samantha Uribe	1	0	0	2
Joanna Encarnacion	0	0	0	0
Shaela Rodriguez	1	0	2	4
Adrianna Livermon	0	0	0	0
Total	10	2	8	34

	2s	1s	Pts
Dominique Gallo	2	1	5
Kaydee Murphy	2	0	4
Shannon Folger	0	0	0
Samantha Sysak	8	1	17
Alexis Ogbin	0	0	0
Caroline Silva	0	0	0
Diane Forker	4	1	9
Samantha Lavelle	1	0	2
Raven Wise	0	0	0
Payton Micewicz	3	2	8
Bridget Brummer	2	0	4
Christina Gill	10	1	21
Total	32	6	70

Holy Family: Gill 16 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 steals; Murphy 9 assists, 5 steals; Gorker 5 rebounds; Gallo 5 assists. Union City: Garcia 8 rebounds; Rodriguez 8 rebounds, four steals; Estrada 4 assists; Uribe 4 rebounds.