Bruins race to 11th-straight

Jazmin Palma, North Bergen

Jazmin Palma had eight assists for the Bruins last night in North Bergen.

Click her for photos from Holy Family at North Bergen

By Jason Bernstein
Editorial Director

NORTH BERGEN – For Jazmin Palma and the Bruins, the ability to play fast is something they hope for whenever they take the floor. With they way they play in those situations, it’d be hard to blame them.

With Palma running the point, North Bergen proved lethal in the transition game as the defeated Holy Family Academy 54-33 last night for their 11th-straight win.

“That’s what wears down the other team,” Palma said. “We just keep running and running and running. We just don’t get tired. It’s our home floor and we take advantage.”

“We love it,” said teammate Ashley Vazzona. “That’s what we do best.”

It was easy to see why the Bruins (15-2) wanted to play that style, as they consistently scored fastbreak baskets off of turnovers or rebounds..

Palma in particular is the sparkplug of the offense with her passing and defense as the senior finished with team-highs in rebounds (10) and assists (eight).

“She just created a lot of things inside,” Falcons head coach Pat Longo said. “She created spacing at the wings, just created a lot of things to get their offense going.”

Palma assisted on a pair of fastbreak field goals when North Bergen broke the open late in the third quarter. Holding on to a 29-23 lead, the Bruins went off for 11 unanswered points in a span of less than 100 seconds.

Amanda Rivera opened the surge with a 3-pointer and followed with a steal that allowed Palma to hit Ashley Heredia in transition. After a pair of Vazzona free throws, Palma would connect with Heredia for another easy basket before Doris Ilic capped off the run with a basket of her own to make it 40-23 with 1:00 left in the third quarter.

North Bergen had four steals in the run, resulting in six points.

“If you can score off your defense (that’s big),” head coach Dan Reardon said. “It’s more of that schoolyard flavor which I think they’re probably better at. When we get into a transition game, we’re pretty good at it.”

“They’re very athletic,” Longo said. “They’re very quick and it was tough to get up and down the floor with them.”

Another key to the Bruins success in transition is the on-court chemistry between the senior trio of Heredia, Palma and Vazzona. Palma and Vazzona are both four-year starters, while Heredia is a sparkplug off the bench after starting the previous three seasons.

“There’s so much trust, that’s not even the word (to describe it),” Palma said. “We’re sisters on the court. Wherever the ball goes they go. Wherever I am, they’re there next to me.”

Vazzona led all scorers with 17 points to go with seven rebounds and four steals. Heredia added 16 points with four rebounds and four assists.

Ilic added eight points and nine rebounds. A natural guard, Ilic also earned high praise from Reardon for his defense on Diane Forker of Holy Family (10-4). The Falcons’ senior was held to just eight points on the evening and has been averaging close to 20 per game this season.

Kaydee Murphy led Holy Family with nine points . Samantha Sysak had seven points and seven rebounds. Senior Dominique Gallo scored six points and Forker, one of the county’s top forwards, added 11 rebounds and three blocks in defeat.

Ashley Vazzona, Kaydee Murphy

HFA's Kaydee Murphy (right) tries to dribble past Ashley Vazzona.

	1	2	3	4	Total
Holy Family Academy Falcons (10-4)	5	9	12	7	33
North Bergen Bruins (15-2)	10	15	15	14	54

Holy Family

North Bergen

	2s	3s	1s	Pts
Kaydee Murphy	4	0	1	9
Samantha Sysak	3	0	1	7
Diane Forker	3	0	2	8
Caroline Silva	0	0	0	0
Dominique Gallo	1	1	1	6
Payton Micewicz	1	0	1	3
Alexis Ogbin	0	0	0	0
Shannon Folger	0	0	0	0
Total:	12	1	6	33

	2s	3s	1s	Pts
Ashley Vazzona	4	2	3	17
Jazmin Palma	2	0	1	5
Alyssa Arroyo	2	0	1	5
Doris Ilic	2	1	1	8
Amanda Rivera	0	1	0	3
Ashley Heredia	8	0	0	16
Raynelliz Carrillo	0	0	0	0
Kayla Muniz	0	0	0	0
Ceiline DeLaHoz	0	0	0	0
Total:	18	4	6	54

Holy Family: Forker 11 rebounds; Sysak 7 rebounds; Gallo 4 rebounds. North Bergen: Palma10 rebounds, 8 assists; Ilic 9 rebounds; Vazzona 7 rebounds, 4 steals; Heredia 4 assists, 4 rebounds; Rivera 4 rebounds.