Cranford Girls Fall to Roselle Catholic in County Semifinals (With VIDEO Highlights)

The Cranford girls' varsity basketball team has had their share of success the past two seasons against Roselle Catholic, handing the Lions their first loss each of the last two years, including one on a buzzer-beater early in the campaign.

But the Lions, led by Allison Skrec's 25 point effort, were on fire from the start and rolled to a 75-50 victory in front of a packed house at Roselle Catholic High School in Roselle in the Frank J. Cicarell Union County Tournament semifinals.

"I think Roselle Catholic had one of their best offensive games of the season," said Cranford head coach Jackie Huber. "They shot very well. Every time they drove to the basket, no matter where they were, it was going in. On defense we were just a little bit too lax, over-helping and not stepping in and taking the charge. Our defense was not as strong as it usually is."

"I think we could have done a lot better on defense," said junior Morgan Miller. "We had lapses where people weren't helping and by the first half we were down by 19. It's tough to come back from that."

Senior Jamie Webb led Cranford with 12 points, Morgan Miller had 11, and Danielle Gross nine points in the contest.

"You win some, you lose some," said Huber. "But when you do lose, you lose as a team. We can't dwell on the past, because when you dwell on the past you're not going to be successful in the future."

"Everyone has to look at it and see what we did wrong and then not dwell on it in the next game and just improve from analyzing it," Miller said.

Sometimes it's easy to forget there are three freshmen on this team who gained valuable experience playing under the tournament spotlight.

"You have to think about it, they are freshmen," said Huber. "There's a lot of people here, this is a big game for them, so there are going to be nerves there. We do have a lot to work with. I'm excited about the years to come."

Roselle Catholic, who improved to 21-2 overall, got off to a quick start with an impressive 19-point first quarter. They had 35 by halftime, while holding the Cougars to 16 at the break.

"We certainly didn't anticipate that wide of a margin, said Roselle Catholic head coach Joe Skrec. "Cranford did beat us here, and we've developed a really good rivalry with them. They've gotten us and we've gotten them. I was very optimistic that our team was going to play hard and really try to respond to this moment. We got some great offensive games from a lot of people."

Cranford, which came back from 17 points down against Roselle earlier this season only to lose by a bucket, played a much better third quarter but could never quite make the big run they needed to come back.

"The first thing I emphasized to the girls at halftime was that Cranford came back by 11 points on us in the fourth quarter, and they came back against Roselle," Skrec said. "That was the first thing we said at halftime. I give Cranford a lot of credit for the way they played in the second half, for the way they fought in the third quarter. Coach Huber can be proud of that effort."

Still, the Lions weren't taking anything for granted when it comes to the Cougars.

"I know Cranford made a very strong run in the states last year," Skrec said. "They lost a tough game last year in the county tournament and were able to regroup and rebound and I wouldn't be surprised to see them do something similar again this year."

R.C., ranked 15th in the most recent Top-20 poll, passed and moved with precision, and seem poised to defend their county championship. They'll have that chance on Friday night when they tackle red-hot Roselle at 7:30 p.m. in the UCT final. The Rams defeated Westfield to advance in the other semi-final game.

As for Cranford, they're ready to look ahead to the state tournament which begins next Monday March 1 when they'll host Warren Hills at 6 p.m. The boys' team will play the second game of a state doubleheader at 8 p.m. that same night.

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