Bruins outlast Patriots

Ashley Heredia, North Bergen

Ashley Heredia matched her career-high with 18 points off the bench for the Bruins.

Click her for photos from North Bergen vs Secaucus

By Jason Bernstein
Editorial Director

ORADELL – North Bergen head coach Dan Reardon said he couldn’t recall having a team with as much depth as this season’s Bruins squad.

Reardon and North Bergen would need all of it as they held off Secaucus 59-58 in a see-saw affair at the Lady Hawk Holiday Hoop Jam at River Dell High School.

Led by the Ashley Heredia and Doris Ilic, the Bruins (4-1) held a staggering 29-0 advantage in points off the bench.

“I feel like we have a good bench,” Reardon said. “When we put these bench kids in we’re not losing much. Generally that’s a cliché, but in our case it’s actually true.”

That superior depth of North Bergen was most evident late in the third quarter. With the score tied at 38-all, Secaucus (2-2) standouts Andrea Innis and Shannon Waters were sent to the bench due to foul trouble in a span of 15 seconds. The Bruins responded with 12 unanswered points over the period’s final two minutes.

“We had to sit both of them down and the other team went on an immediate run,” Secaucus head coach John Sterling said. “I know Shannon and Andrea are our best players, but a lot of the other girls have had significant time and they’ve got to be better equipped to step up when those two are in foul trouble.”

Heredia, who had five points in the stretch, started the surge with an old-fashion three-point play to break the tie and send Innis to the sidelines with her fourth foul.

With the Patriots trailing by 12, Innis and Waters returned at the start of the fourth quarter, but it didn’t stop the momentum as North Bergen scored the first seven points of the period, five coming from Ilic.

In a game full of extended runs by both teams, Secaucus had one last surge in them. The Patriots scored the next 16 points to cut the Bruin lead down to just three points.

After a Heredia basket, the Patriots cut the deficit down to one behind a Danielle Roesing 3-pointer and a free throw from Waters. Secaucus missed a pair of potential game-winning shots in the final seconds before Palma corralled the rebound to preserve the victory.

“This is probably why some coaches collapse on the sidelines,” said Reardon with a laugh. “You’ve got to try to stay calm, but it’s difficult. If it’s this hard for me, imagine how hard it is for the kids. (The momentum swings) are just the nature of high school basketball.”

In total there were four different occasions when one team scored 10 or more consecutive points.

Secaucus held an 18-15 lead midway through the second when the Bruins struck for 17-straight points. Senior Ashley Vazzona busted the zone defense of Secaucus, hitting a pair of 3-pointers and scoring 10 points in the five-minute run.

Vazzona scored all 18 of her points in the opening half as North Bergen took a 15-point lead into the break.

As hot as the Bruins offense was in the second quarter, they were equally cold in the third, going more than five minutes without a point to start the half. Secaucus took full advantage with 15 unanswered points of its own and tied the game up at 36 on layup from Roesing.

“In the third quarter we came out and played a full-court man (defense),” Sterling said. “We forced the tempo a little bit. I think the change of pace caught them a little off guard.”

“You have to give Secaucus credit,” Reardon said, “because every time we built up a lead they came back.”

Heredia, a starter the previously three seasons, matched her career high with 18 points for North Bergen. Ilic, a sophomore, added 11 points off the bench.

Waters led all scorers with 22 points and added eight rebounds. Innis just missed out on a triple-double as she finished with 14 points (12 in the second half), eight rebounds and eight assists.

Shannon Waters, Secaucus

Secaucus forward Shannon Waters led all scorers with 22 points in defeat.

	1	2	3	4	Total
North Bergen Bruins (4-1)	15	21	14	9	59
Secaucus Patriots (2-2)	11	10	17	20	58

North Bergen

Secaucus

	2s	3s	1s	Pts
Ashley Vazzona	2	4	2	18
Jazmin Palma	2	1	0	7
Nicole Paulino	0	0	0	0
Alyssa Arroyo	1	0	0	2
Amanda Rivera	0	1	0	3
Ashley Heredia	7	1	1	18
Doris Ilic	3	1	2	11
Tiana Nassrallah	0	0	0	0
Total:	15	8	5	59

	2s	3s	1s	Pts
Shannon Waters	9	0	4	22
Andrea Innis	5	0	4	14
Danielle Roesing	2	1	0	7
Alyssa Lyngholm	2	1	2	9
Ariana Simon	1	0	1	3
Lauren Guillen	1	0	1	3
Brittney Mitchell	0	0	0	0
Danielle Mitchell	0	0	0	0
Total:	20	2	12	58

North Bergen: Palma 6 assists, 5 rebounds, 5 steals; Vazzona 6 rebounds, 4 assists; Rivera 4 steals. Secaucus: Innis 8 assists, 8 rebounds, 4 steals; Waters 8 rebounds; Roesing 5 steals, 4 rebounds; Simon 5 rebounds.