Saturday, 4:00PM @ Hopewell Valley. Hopewell defeated Middletown North 52-48 today.
HOPEWELL VALLEY
259 Pennington-Titusville Road
Pennington, NJ
Google Maps - Hopewell Valley HS - Click Me!
Hopewell Valley Game Results - Click Me!
Hopewell Valley Roster - Click Me!
Hopewell Valley Player Stats - Click Me!
Hopewell Valley Key Players Interview - Click Me!
Freehold Boro moves on in state tourney
The basketball Camerin Spahn so effortlessly manipulated in seemingly whatever way she wanted looked to meet the requirements issued in the state regulations. But, in her possession, the Freehold Boro senior gave the impression it actually could have been made of crystal.
Spahn dictated the destiny of her teammates with acute awareness off the dribble, anticipating their whereabouts before they even materialized as if she were a fortune teller. Her resolve to repeatedly steer into the lane from the outset and create out of it was not some mystical happenstance but rather a credit to her intuition as much as her elusiveness.
Kim Dana can flash to the arc through a variety of routes. Sara Cobb has her comfort zone along the baseline. Spahn has known that a long time considering the playing roots of the three seniors can be traced all the way back to when they were first introduced to the game.
But, Spahn can get everyone involved as much as she wants, it still boils down to recipients converting and Freehold Boro had no issue in that regard.
Spahn engineered a fluid, efficient offense that shot 55 percent from the floor and balanced it just as easily as she orchestrated it in fueling Freehold Boro to a 58-34 victory over Somerville in the quarterfinals of the NJSIAA Central Jersey, Group 3 tournament in Freehold on Thursday.
“Kim, Sara and myself have been together since we were little,” Spahn said. “This is everything we’ve worked toward.”
Finality is a powerful force. The next loss will bring the trio’s run to a close but based on how well Freehold Boro (21-5) executed, that may not come for awhile.
Right from the outset, Spahn was intent on blazing a path to the basket. When she wasn’t converting on those drives, she was facilitating. She kicked out twice to set up Dana for two of her five 3-pointers. The second, with just under a minute showing in the first quarter, staked the Colonials to a 14-5 lead.
“She established out energy,” Dana said. “We know she is trying to get us open and we have to make sure we capitalizing on everything.”
After accounting for six points and opening up space along the arc in the first eight minutes, Spahn worked Rebecca Cobb into the shooting rotation. She found her with a pass on three different occasions, including twice in the high post where the 6-0 sophomore forward, who deposited a game-high 19 points, drained jumpers and revealed another layer in her rapidly expanding arsenal. She erupted for nine points in the second quarter.
“It’s really important to have a game away from the blocks,” said Rebecca, the younger sister of Sara. “It opens up the lane a little more and lets cutters go back door.”
Cobb shot 9 of 14 from the field, embodying exactly what was at the heart of Freehold Boro’s showing. The Colonials not only went 26 for 47 shooting, they got scoring contributions from six different sources and operated without a single turnover during the middle two quarters.
Spahn complemented her seven assists and six rebounds with 12 points, Dana went 5 for 8 from behind the arc en route to scoring 15 and Sara Cobb added eight points to go with her five rebounds.
“From the get go, all five of them have had the green light to shoot,” Freehold Boro coach Jen Brzucki said. “They’ve thrived on that and become more responsible with it.”
Spahn backed a layup by sophomore Sophia Duffy with one of her own to widen the margin to 29-14 and slipped a pass to Rebecca Cobb, who beat the halftime buzzer with a lay in to send the Colonial into the break with a 31-17 lead.
Dana picked up where Spahn left off in the third quarter with three assists. She found Sara Cobb for a baseline jumper then connected with Rebecca Cobb that led to a layup and padded the cushion to 46-35.
Kelly McCurry topped Somerville (15-10) with 12 points while Katy Loughlin and Bridget Douglas finished with eight apiece. Senior guard Caroline Barberi handed out five assists and came up with six steals.
Gregg Lerner covers girls basketball for MSG Varsity. Follow him on Twitter: @gregglerner