Danielle Gilchrist slouched on the end of the empty bench, with sweat dripping from her face. She was in deep thought after a devastating loss.
"We could have worked harder on defense and we couldn’t capitalize on their mistakes," she said. "We just lost our drive."
Although it’s been a tough season for the Raiders and the 63-48 loss stung, Englewood has plenty to hang their hat on. Like playing better in the second half of the season.
"We’ve come a long way since the start of the season and once we got past the disciplinary issues we’ve played well," said coach Lynne Gladstone. "We’re so quick on the court, but we have yet to understand how to use all of our assets."
Englewood started the game vigorously on defense with lunges and dives to try and poke away Husky passes, but the Raiders zone defense had a huge hole in the middle.
Dumont exploited this weak point by launching all of its attacks through the center, igniting an 11-0 run, with various contributors, to open the game.
"We were able to swing the ball until someone got a good shot attempt," said Jaclyn McClinton. "It was a matter of being patient."
After an Englewood timeout to discuss their lack of offense and defensive gaps, the Raider shooters came alive. Klarissa Perry, Christina Jones and Gilchrist answered the call by providing all the offensive power of the first quarter, mostly with passes stretching the length of the court to an open girl underneath.
At the end of the first quarter the score read 23-14, in Dumont’s favor.
The Raiders continued to connect with passes that stretched the length of the court, while the home team found themselves in an offensive drought.
"We just looked for the open person, were pumped and thought we could win," said Jones.
At the 6:30 mark Englewood came within four points, 24-20, which would be the closest they would come throughout the night.
With the Raiders poised to come all the way back, Leigha Moat took over the game by dominating inside. Englewood had no answer and every offensive rebound Moat snagged was followed by a trip to the foul line. All of her six points in the quarter came from the charity stripe, but she missed many "and-one" opportunities.
"I was feeling really good, but it’s almost frustrating because I know I could have scored more points," said Moat. "But overall I felt good."
The Raiders found themselves scrambling for offense after Dumont took away the long pass. The Huskies countered with center Colleen O’Neill playing back during every visiting inbound situation. Englewood’s execution broke down leaving head coach Lynne Gladstone frustrated.
"We didn’t execute and we always revert to schoolyard basketball," said Gladstone. "This has been the hardest thing to try and learn - that transition to learn how to make cuts and read defenses."
The Huskies pulled away and led with a sizeable, 36-24 advantage at the half.
It was more Moat to open the second half, who began the Husky scoring with an open lay-up. But instead of the Raiders just throwing in the towel and folding, they came out firing.
Jones once again was in the middle of the offensive attack and she enlisted other members of the team. Six different Raiders found their way onto the scorecard with jumpers.
"We came out of the half thinking we could win if we just played better defense," said Gilchrist.
Once again, as it looked like the Raiders were cooking up a possible comeback, Moat and Jasmine Rosa halted the run by playing smart.
"We had to start driving again and beating our girl to take high percentage shots," said Rosa. "Our goal every game is to have at least three main scoring threats on the floor."
Heading into the final quarter the Raiders trailed 51-40.
Along with the smart play, Dumont dominated the boards and just out-muscled Englewood, appearing unstoppable at times.
"They just played harder than us inside," said Prince Anne Vincent.
The Huskies also confused the visiting team on defense with different looks and plays.
"We’re always changing things up to try and score," said Moat. "It makes us hard to defend."
Dumont milked the clock to hold onto the win and punch their ticket into the state tournament. But head coach Dave Cieplicki was disappointed with his team since he felt the game was a lot closer than he had expected.
"We missed a lot of chances and at times we weren’t disciplined," said Cieplicki. "The last time we played them we won by 30, I thought we could do that again tonight."
Nevertheless the Huskies have a chance to prove that they are a complete basketball team, as already they righted last year’s disappointment and now have a chance to prove themselves by competing with the state’s best.
Meanwhile, the Raiders will look to bounce back from this loss, regain their drive and finish out the season strong.
