Cougars come up short against University 

By J.C. Baumuller
Managing Editor
Published March 19, 2008

After a competitive first quarter Cresskill was unable to keep up with the
powerful University High School team and lost 79-47.
"Coming in to the game [I told the team that] they are 15-, 16- and
17-year-old girls, just like we are," said Cresskill coach Jen Rilli. "It's
not automatically going to happen for them and we wanted to make it as
difficult for them as we could. We wanted to hang in there and do what we
could."
The Cougars were the better team in the first quarter, outscoring the Lady
Phoenix 19-15. University coach Felicia Oliver admitted her team was "flat"
and Cresskill took advantage.
"Our first half was great," said Rilli. "We came out strong. We were a
little more under control."
But the smothering full-court pressure of the University squad clearly wore
Cresskill down. By halftime University had taken charge to grab a
seven-point lead, 38-31. From the five-minute mark of the second quarter to
the beginning of the fourth quarter the Cougars scored but two points, both
on free throws. They did not score in the third quarter.
"I thought we were pumped up coming out of the locker room only down seven,"
said Rilli, "but we didn't score a point in the third quarter. Obviously
that was a problem."
During the same time period the Lady Phoenix scored 31 points to blow the
game wide open.
"We let them get the best of us in the second half," said Rilli. "We turned
the ball over way too many times and they converted every time. We dug
ourselves a nice hole."
Ten different girls scored points for University, including 27 by junior
point guard Nadirah McKenith. Colleen Ahearn and Floriana Borova each scored
12 for the Cougars. Ahearn also snagged 10 rebounds and blocked four shots.
Carly Cerone added 11 points and nine rebounds. All three are underclassmen
- Ahearn is a junior and Borova and Cerone are sophomores.
"These girls are true athletes," said Rilli. "They want the ball in their
hands when it comes down to the wire. They are competitors. Every day we
came out they proved more and more that they should be the ones on the
court."
Rilli took time to reflect on the year the Cougars had.
"We had an unbelievable season," she said. "We won the league. We won the
state section. These girls worked hard every single day - practice, games,
everything. They deserved to be in a game like this and they went out
fighting. Despite the turnovers they gave it their best shot."
E-mail: baumuller@northjersey. com or call 201-894-6702