They were the eighth seed in the Non-Public North A and got the top seed in the second round of the section. Morris Catholic, who was considered the best team by many in the state, and were undefeated at the time.

While the contest started out like it was supposed with the Lady Golden Griffins succumbing to the Morris Catholic press, Queen of Peace finally got their act in gear and stayed with the top team in the state.

"We went in there nice and loose," said Golden Griffins head coach Mike Isabella. "We called an early timeout, but we practiced with the boys team the full court press and they stepped it up…It was a real life lesson and they proved that they belonged."

After falling behind 21-9 after the first quarter, Queen of Peace stayed with the Lady Crusaders the rest of the way. The Lady Golden Griffins actually outscored Morris Catholic in the second quarter, 18-14, and were only down by eight at halftime.

Queen of Peace would get a moral victory out of a 62-48 loss on the road on Feb. 28.

While Queen of Peace played tough, the Crusaders still had enough to get past them. "We played them tough and we won some respect," said Isabella.

Brittany Turner led the Golden Griffins with 16 points while Samantha Murphy and Julio Candio-Sekel added a dozen and 11 points respectively.

Queen of Peace finished with a 17-10 record and Turner was named to the first team All BCSL American while both Candio-Sekel and Stephanie Wallace garnered All-American second team honors.

"She (Turner) is aggressive to the basket," said Isabella about his leading scorer who will be playing basketball at Felician College in Rutherford next season. "She can jump with the best and attack the press."

While the Golden Griffins were seven games over .500, Isabella believes that it could have been better if they had senior center Christine Fernandez, an inside threat, who suffered an ACL injury in the pre-season, that ended her senior season prematurely.

Isabella, who replaced Tom Ferreiro just before the state of the season, will have a full off-season to work with the 2008-09 team, but he will be without six seniors who are graduating including Turner, Candio-Sekel and Wallace. "We’re going to be a different type of team," said Isabella.

Looking back at the season, Isabella points to the victories over River Dell and the win in the first round of the state tournament versus Oak Knoll. "It’s always good to beat River Dell and I thought that we should have beaten them at their place," said Isabella. "It’s always good to get a state win."

In terms of Wallace, "She can dribble to the basket and see the floor," said Isabella. "She can even get a three when you need it."

For Candio-Sekel, "She is like a coach on the floor and has always played the other team’s best player on defense," said Isabella.

For the season Turner led the team in scoring with 18 points per game while Wallace added 11 and Candio-Sekel added 11 and 10 points respectively. Next season, Isabella will be banking on Murphy and Nicole Duarte who averaged five and two points each a game. Other sophomores expected to step up next season include Janine Amado, Danielle Kearns, Dana Thomas, Chelsea Len and Shannon McCormack.