Three party

Kerrie Kosakowski

Bayonne senior hit four first-half 3-pointers and finished with 17 points.

Click her for photos from Bayonne at Marist

By Jason Bernstein
Editorial Director

BAYONNE – When the Bees gave up the first nine points of last night's showdown with Peninsula City rival Marist, there was little concern on the Bayonne bench. With the collection of outside shooters, there was little reason to be.

The defending Hudson County champs would respond early and often from the outside, connecting on nine 3-pointers en route to a convincing 71-48 road victory yesterday at Bill DeFazio Court.

“Its four quarters, we’re going to play 32 minutes,” Bees head coach James Turner said. “They’re going to go on a run. We’re going to go on a run. You have to prepare for every aspect of the game. You’ve got to keep your composure.”

Down 9-0 within the first three minutes, Bayonne (3-0) responded with a series of long-range daggers. Kerrie Kosaskowski and Lisa Rovatsos hit 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to put the Bees on the scoreboard.

Tara Flynn would put the Bees in front for good with a 3-pointer to make it 19-16 with 7:09 left in the second quarter. Flynn’s trey would spark a 13-0 Bayonne run with nine of those points coming from 3-pointers.

“We smelled blood after we hit a couple of threes,” Turner said.

“We knew coming in that was going to be key, getting them off the three-point line and controlling the tempo of the game,” Marist head coach Damel Ling “We didn’t get out to their shooters fast enough.”

Bayonne would hit a staggering eight 3-pointers in the first half. Four of them would come from Kosawkowski in the corners as she went off for 16 points in the opening two quarters.

“Kerrie was on fire,” Turner said. “I don’t think anything touched the rim. I think it was all net. Her jump shot is as efficient as I’ve seen it in a long time.”

“We don’t have any big people,” said Kosakowski. “So we have to shoot the ball well to win.”

Kosakowski and Flynn each buried 3-pointers in the final minute of the half to take a 16-point lead into the intermission.

Flynn had a trio of 3-pointers in the opening half and finished with a team-best 18 points to lead a balanced Bayonne attack. Kosakowski finished with 17 points to go with six rebounds, five steals and four assists.

Four Bees scored in double figures with Rovatsos adding 18 points and seven rebounds and Luisa Montalvo racking up 13 points. Montalvo chipped in with a team-high five assists to go with five rebounds and four steals in the win.

“I’d be hard pressed to say anybody plays harder than us,” Turner said. “We’re going to meet a team that’s better than us, but it’s going to be evened out because we play hard. These girls are experienced enough and I tell them when the lights go out the stars come out.”

That energy and experienced proved enough for the Bees to hold off the 1-2 inside duo of the Royal Knights (1-2). Senior Antoinette Blake had her third double-double in as many games with 27 points and 15 rebounds. Junior Jasmine Brandon added 10 points and 10 rebounds in defeat. The tandem combined for seven of the nine points in Marist’s opening run.

While his Marist squad came up well against its in-city rivals, Ling hopes the game serves as his blueprint for what needs to be done the rest of the season.

“It could be a blessing in disguise playing them this early,” Ling said. “We’ve played them, now we know what we’re striving for.”

Antoinette Blake, Marist

Senior Antoinette Blake had her third-straight double-double for Marist.

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bayonne Bees (3-0)	16	22	14	19	71
Marist Royal Knights (1-2)	12	10	10	16	48

Bayonne

Marist

	2s	3s	1s	Pts
Lisa Rovatsos	3	1	8	17
Tara Flynn	3	3	3	18
Luisa Montalvo	3	0	7	13
Amanda Novelli	1	0	0	2
Kerri Kosakowski	0	4	5	17
Mercedes Fetch	2	0	0	4
Amelia DeSantis	0	0	0	0
Jenny Kryzinski	0	0	0	0
Alex Fajardo	0	0	0	0
Total:	12	8	23	71

	2s	3s	1s	Pts
Alexis Wilson	1	1	0	5
Kayla Rowan	0	0	0	0
Angela Randle	3	0	0	6
Jasmine Brandon	3	0	4	10
Antoinette Blake	10	0	7	27
Diamond Kirkland	0	0	0	0
Angela Lenzo	0	0	0	0
Destiny Brewer	0	0	0	0
Total:	17	1	11	48

Bayonne: Rovatsos 7 rebounds; Kosakowski 6 rebounds, 5 steals, 4 assists; Montalvo 5 assists, 5 rebounds, 4 steals. Marist: Blake 15 rebounds; Brandon 10 rebounds; Wilson 4 steals.