Lady Cutters Fall in Semifinal

The season came to an end for the Fair Lawn girls basketball team, but they didn’t go down without a fight.

The No. 16 Cutters, considered a Cinderella team after knocking off top-seeded North Bergen and No. 8 Ridgewood to reach Friday night’s semifinal, fell to Paterson Kennedy, 68-48, on the road. But the double-digit difference in no way diminishes Fair Lawn’s gutsy performance against a bigger, stronger Lady Knights squad, seeded fourth (21-7).

“The girls played their hearts out, right to the end,” said Fair Lawn head coach Chris Lovermi. “I couldn’t be prouder of what they’ve done and how they stayed tough all season.”

Facing an intense Knights’ full press from the get-go, the Cutters struggled to get in under the boards and were forced to take shots from the outside in the opening half. But they never slowed the pace, and came out after the break energized and confident.

“The team put a lot of time and effort into this season, and the last week has been exciting,” said Lovermi. “They weren’t about to give up, no matter who they faced.”

Kristina Nieves, who has been the mainstay for the Cutters all season, finished with an impressive 18 points, including a pair of buckets where she effectively drew fouls. Diminutive guard Regina Tillar was fearless in barreling through traffic and posted 12 points, including six in the final stanza for Fair Lawn, which finished at 12-17 on the season.

“[Nieves and Tillar] were outstanding tonight but every girl put in a team effort,” said Lovermi.

Other contributors were Sam Lebowitz who hit a pair of three-pointers and Francis Urbina and Jen Calabrese who hung tough in the paint.

Nieves and a few other players left the locker room in tears, but Lovermi said it wasn’t necessarily for the loss.

“Every team except for the final champ has its season end this way,” he said. “But there has been so much emotion and passion during this tournament, crying isn’t such a bad thing.”

Fair Lawn athletic director Cory Robinson said the entire school was proud of what the Cutters accomplished.

“They had a slow start and came together for some great games in this tournament, so we couldn’t be more pleased,” he said.