Lady Piners knock off Jaguars to reach Classic final

By Mike White
Staff Writer

VERONICA YANKOWSKI Lakewood’s Nicole Huderwitz dribles around Jackson’s Katie Batiuk during Friday’s game in Jackson.

Lakewood High School girls’ basketball coach Dennis Adams readily admitted his team would have found a way to lose this game a year ago.

A habit of making mental errors in waning moments plagued the Lady Piners throughout the 2001-2002 season. Adams estimated the miscues cost his squad six or seven victories.

What a difference a year makes.

Lakewood showed poise in the closing minutes of the game to hold on for a 48-42 victory over host Jackson High School last Friday in the semifinals of the Jaguar Classic.

The Lady Piners squared off against Hamilton East, a 48-47 winner over Roxbury in the other semifinal, in the championship game last Saturday.

The last time Lakewood advanced to the finals of the Jaguar Classic was five years ago.

"I thought we handled ourselves much better down the stretch against Jackson," said Adams, now in his sixth year as coach. "We took care of the ball and didn’t throw it away; however, I think that we need to improve our free-throw shooting a bit at the end of the game. I was getting a little nervous with all the missed free throws."

Lakewood made just two of 10 foul shots in the final 1:44 of the game. The poor shooting from the charity stripe didn’t come back to haunt the Piners, however.

Lakewood led 45-42 with 39 seconds left when junior forward Lakeia Peace missed two free throws. But teammate Melissa Tanner snatched the rebound and converted the putback to give Lakewood a 47-42 cushion.

The Jags’ next possession resulted in a turnover, and then Jackson was forced to foul in order to stop the clock. Keyana Barnard made one of two free throws for the final margin of victory.

"I thought we came together as a team for this game," Lakewood senior guard Nicole Huderwitz said. "We knew Jackson would be a tough team. They are very physical and aggressive, but our game plan was to keep defensive pressure on the ball and make sure we did a good job of rebounding."

Senior forward Shakeema Martin led Lakewood with a game-high 16 points. Martin, who grabbed a total of 11 rebounds, scored six points in the fourth quarter as Lakewood outscored Jackson by a slim 15-12 margin.

Adams praised the boardwork of the 5-foot-9 Martin.

"I feel she is one of the top rebounders in the Shore Conference," Adams said. "She did a spectacular job of rebounding for us today. She is a good jumper and manages to find good positions. Her rebounding was one of the keys to the win."

Peace finished with 10 points while Huderwitz, Tanner and Barnard each chipped in with six apiece.

"The difference was a combination of controlling the boards and applying pressure to their ball-handlers," Martin said. "I think we caused them to create a good number of turnovers. We just tried to remain focused throughout the game. We knew if we could play well in the final minutes of the game, we would put ourselves in a position to win."

For Jackson, which held a 22-19 edge at halftime, senior forward Rebecca McGuire scored 13 points. Seniors Katie Batiuk, Danielle Gressey and Jenn Murray each contributed with seven points apiece.

Jackson met Roxbury last Saturday in the consolation game.

"We’re showing more confidence then we did last year," Adams said. "We need to keep doing that. A win like this no doubt will give us a boost. If we play to our potential in the finals, we have a chance to come away with a victory. The key is being prepared to play and limit our mistakes."