Cougars End Three-Game Losing Streak

UPDATE (1:04 p.m.) The Cranford-Cardinal McCarrick game set for tonight has been canceled. Click here for additional sports cancelations.

Coach Ryan Huber has one thing in mind this week and that's getting his team primed and ready for the state tournament.

To that end, the Cougars pleased their coach, providing a sharp effort in defeating visiting Roselle Catholic 46-36 on Tuesday even though senior star Will Green was on the bench nursing a sprained ankle.

Cranford was once again paced by sophomore Chris Gross, who had 17 points and 10 rebounds. Junior guard Sean Trotter chipped in with 14 points, three assists and three rebounds, and Kendall Grier had eight points, five rebounds, four assists, and two steals to give the Cougars everything they needed on both ends of the floor.

"We did a nice job," said Huber. "We spread them out a little bit offensively, we gave the ball up when we needed to. We knocked down some big shots."

"We played well, we played good defense," Trotter said. "That's a good team we're playing against. We came out hot and beat them throughout the game."

The win broke a three-game losing streak.

"We had a couple of losses in close games," said Gross. "This gets us off the losing streak. Now we're feeling confident and we have to keep winning."

Gross, who earned his seventh double-double of the season, had 11 of his 17 points in the first half, when Cranford took a 25-18 lead into the break. That came after a commanding 14-5 second quarter outburst.

"Chris is a tremendous players, he's got a great upside," said Huber. "Hopefully we'll be watching him on TV someday."

Defensively, the Cougars held 6-6 Lions star Jameel Warney to just nine points and nine rebounds, only the second time he's been held under 10 points this season.

"We knew we had the big kid coming in averaging 20 a game," said Gross. "My only goal was to stop him. We did that. He didn't really score much at all, so that was pretty much number one coming in."

Roselle Catholic outscored the Cougars 10-7 in the third, but Cranford turned up the heat in the fourth quarter by scoring 14 of the combined 22 points to give them their 13th win over eight losses. The Lions fell to 14-7.

"We had some tough losses in games we probably should have won," Trotter said. "We just have to come out and be confident, try and get our confidence back beating these teams before states and getting a win in the states."

"Our biggest thing is that we need to play a full 32 minutes, This has probably been our best game of the year. We did it without arguably one of our top players in Will Green. We're losing 17 points and 13 rebounds. This game we were able to win."

After Thursday's game against Cardinal McCarrick, the Cougars will look towards Monday and a date with Warren Hills. Game time is set for 8 p.m., directly after the girls' state contest.

"Cardinal McCarrick is a very good program," Huber said. "They're one of the top teams in Middlesex County, 17-3 record. It's going to be a very big test for us."

"I think we're a very good team," Trotter noted. "When we come out to play, we can beat pretty much anyone."