St. Mary’s took this season one more step in the BCSL National divisional hunt. The Lady Gaels shared the title last season with Secaucus, but this year they took it out right.
St. Mary’s clinched the title outright on Feb. 19 as they defeated Weehawken, 60-50, on the road. The Lady Gaels had a tougher time than usual against the upstart Lady Indians. St. Mary’s led only 41-37 heading into the fourth quarter, but they kept Weehawken from pulling the upset in the fourth quarter.
St. Mary’s sophomore Martina Ellerbe was strong inside with 22 points to lead the Lady Gaels. Afreyea Tolbert and Shanice Hawkins added 17 and 13 points respectively.
The Lady Gaels finished undefeated in the league and had a 22-3 record heading into the state tournament.
Brittany Turner had a big night for Queen of Peace with 29 points while Stephanie Wallace was hitting big from the outside as the Lady Golden Griffins defeated Englewood on the road, 60-51. Wallace dropped three, three pointers for the Lady Golden Griffins who raised their record to 16-9 before the state tournament.
Queen of Peace led 30-20 at halftime and kept it going in the third quarter of the BCSL American game on Thursday night.
In a battle of South Bergenite teams, North Arlington took care of Becton at home, 65-48, on Saturday afternoon. While Lady Wildcats Jessica Knapp had a huge night with a game-high 27 points, the Vikings had a balanced offensive attack led by Tara Fisher with 24 points. Fisher also had 10 rebounds and five assists.
Becton started the game out well, but North Arlington finished it off. The Wildcats led 15-8 after the first quarter and 26-23 at halftime.
But the difference in the game came in the third quarter when the Lady Vikings pulled away and outscored Becton, 23-9.
North Arlington raised its record to 13-8 while Becton dropped their mark to 14-12.
A couple of days earlier, the Lady Vikings dominated Wood-Ridge on the road, 71-33. The combination of Fisher and Sinead Gallagher led North Arlington with 18 and 17 points respectively.
Lyndhurst won only its seventh game of the season with a 38-29 victory at Harrison on Feb. 19. The Lady Golden Bears led from the start with a 13-3 lead after the first quarter. Lyndhurst led only by two points heading into the fourth quarter. Tamara Ramos had a game-high 21 points in the BCSL National win. After a slow start to the season, the Lady Golden Bears have played well to end the season.
To prepare for the state tournament, Becton took on Pascack Valley, the Bergen County finalist, on Feb. 20. The Wildcats can take solace in that they played well in the first quarter and were only down 12-10, but reality took over in the second quarter. The Lady Wildcats found themselves down 25-12 at halftime. Becton fell 51-22. Senior forward Jessica Knapp notched 16 out of the 22 points for the Lady Wildcats in the independent contest.
