March 9, 2011
Edison ends Bayonne's season
Bayonne had no answers Rachel Groom (right), who had 27 points and 21 rebounds.
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By Jason Bernstein
Editorial Director
EDISON – During its state playoff run Bayonne had made a habit of being a giant slayer. The Bees not only overcame the height disadvantages in matchups against Bridgewater-Raritan and East Orange to win and seemingly thrive against the taller foes.
Bayonne was once again faced with a size disadvantage against Edison. This time would be different as the host Eagles dominated inside as they ended the Bees’ season with a 68-53 win last night in the NJSIAA North 2, Group IV title game.
“We came this far beating teams bigger than us,” Bayonne head coach James Turner said. “They just were more aggressive today. We met a hungrier dog.”
That aggressiveness, combined with Edison’s size proved especially lethal on the boards as the top-seeded Eagles (22-4) held a 58-22 advantage on the glass. Edison had 23 offensive rebounds and cashed in those second and third-chance opportunities into 24 points.
“They just killed us on the boards,” Turner said. They’re a taller team; they beat us to the boards. They were just the better team today.
“They just grabbed the rebound; they jumped over us and put it in the basket. There’s no rhyme or reason.”
“We just kept fighting for the ball,” junior forward Rachel Groom said. “Every second of the game we wanted the ball, so each time we had an opportunity to go for it we went for it.”
Groom was an unstoppable force on the glass for the Eagles as she had 21 of those rebounds. Those rebounds, along with her 27 points represented career-highs for the 6-foot-0 junior.
Groom had six points in a run midway through the third quarter which gave Edison a 42-34 lead it would never relinquish. An old-fashioned three-point play from Kerrie Kosakowski cut the deficit to four with 34 seconds left in the period, but it was as close as the second-seeded Bees (27-4) would get.
Edison’s size advantage with Groom and Dominica Gnaba (12 points, eight rebounds) also helped limit Bayonne’s Lisa Rovatsos. After averaging a mind-numbing 26 points and 16 rebounds per game in the previous three playoff contests, the junior was limited to just 12 points, with only six coming in the first three quarters. Rovatsos also had six rebounds.
“We knew (Rovatsos) was the best player that they had and (Tara Flynn) was a huge shooter. So that was a big threat for us,” Eagles head coach Amy Stanten said. “We started out with a box-and-one and we did a good job with it, but (Flynn) started to see open shots so we switched to a triangle-and-two and that’s what really worked. Morgan (Peacock) and Cassie (Lubanski) did a really great job defending her.”
While Peacock and Lubanski kept Rovatsos in check, Flynn busted Edison’s box-and-one with her outside shooting.
Flynn gave Bayonne its first of the lead at 15-13 with a 3-pointer late in the first quarter. It proved to be the first of five treys from the junior point guard. Flynn tied the game at 28-all with a 3-pointer in the opening moments of the third quarter. She gave the Bees their last lead of the game on a put-back to make it 34-32 with 5:08 left in the third.
Groom tied it with a layup and Tierra Johnson put the Eagles ahead for good with a pair of free throws with 4:24 left in the period. Johnson finished with 22 points, 17 coming in the second half after being limited by foul trouble in the opening half.
Flynn had 17 points and Luisa Montalvo added 13 in defeat as the Bees fell one win short of their first sectional title since 2007.
With the win Edison advances to face North 1, Group IV champs Paterson Kennedy in the Group IV semifinals at Union High School tomorrow at 7 p.m.
Tara Flynn (left) hit a season-high five 3-pointers and finished with 17 points.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bayonne Bees (27-4) | 15 |
10 |
17 |
11 |
53 |
| Edison Eagles (22-4) | 13 |
13 |
22 |
20 |
68 |
| Bayonne | Edison | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Bayonne: Rovatsos 6 rebounds; Kosakowski 5 assists, 4 rebounds; Montalvo 4 rebounds. Edison: Groom 21 rebounds; Gnaba 8 rebounds; Lubanski 7 rebounds, 5 assists; Johnson 7 rebounds; Keaton 7 rebounds; Peacock 4 assist. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||