Piners put a scare in St. John Vianney in SCT play

Piners put a scare in St. John Vianney in SCT play

JERRY WOLKOWITZ Middletown South’s Nicole Baldessari and Lakewood’s Lakiea Peace battle for control of a loose ball during the Eagles’ second-round loss in the Shore Conference Tournament in Lakewood on Friday.

By Mike White

Staff Writer

Respect. It is all Lakewood High School girls’ basketball coach Dennis Adams wanted this season for his team.

Seeded No. 14 in the Shore Conference Tournament despite winning the Class B South title, Adams felt his troops were slighted.

Lakewood proved many skeptics wrong this past week with its performance in the tournament. The Lady Piners won a first-round game against Middletown South and then followed the win by putting a scare into No. 3 seed St. John Vianney, Holmdel, in the Round of 16.

St. John Vianney hung on for a 52-40 victory, but not before the Lady Piners forced the Lancers to deliver key baskets in the second half.

"We were looking forward to playing them," Adams said. "We knew it would be a big challenge for us but we felt this team was ready to take that step. We’ve had a great season and are playing well.

"Playing St. John Vianney close for the majority of the game showed that we can play with the established programs in the Shore Conference," he added.

After falling behind 11-2 at the end of the first quarter, Lakewood got untracked and combined solid rebounding and accurate perimeter shooting to close within two points.

Junior guard Nicole Huderwitz drained a three-pointer to pull the Lady Piners to within 15-13 with less than two minutes remaining before halftime.

Huderwitz, Lakewood’s best three-point shooter, finished with a team-high 12 points as the Piners fell to 17-4 overall.

"She is a very good perimeter shooter," Adams said. "She has a quick release and is very confident."

Huderwitz, who connected on four treys, is second in the Shore Conference in three-pointers with 49.

Lakewood did a fine job on the boards. Senior Shakeema Martin collected 10 rebounds, while teammates Lakeia Peace and Melissa Tanner finished with nine and seven, respectively.

"We did a solid job of limiting second-shot opportunities for them," Adams said. "When you compete against a program like that, rebounding is a key. I think what kept us in the game was defensive intensity. We did a good job of taking them out of their primary offense. We came up with a good game plan against them and executed it well."

Martin contributed six points. Tanner finished with eight, and Linette Johnson and Peace chipped in with five apiece.

In the second half, Lakewood’s defense had difficulty containing the Lancers’ Shannon Coyle, who scored all of her game-high 14 points in the final two quarters.

"They were running a pick-and-roll play which left Coyle open to drive to the basket," Adams said. "She stepped up big for them in the second half."

Lakewood used a balanced scoring attack to knock off Middletown South, 56-44, in a first-round SCT matchup. The Lady Piners had three players finish with double figures.

Huderwitz paced Lakewood with 16 points, including three three-pointers. Martin added 14 points, while Peace had 13 and Johnson, eight.

"It was a team effort," Adams said. "We had a number of players step up and contribute at both ends of the floor. We were looking forward to playing Middletown South. We knew it would be a tough game, but we believed if we played consistently at both ends of the floor, we could win."

Jackson falls in first round of SCT

Despite a 23-point effort from Rebecca McGuire, Jackson fell to Wall High School, 63-48, last Thursday in a first-round SCT contest. McGuire connected on four three-pointers for the Lady Jags, who fell to 13-7 overall. Jenn Murray added nine points for Jackson.