Things could not have gone better for the Newark Academy girls basketball team on Friday night at Livingston High School. Contrarily, things could not have gone much for the Lancers. The Lady Minutemen used a 30-5 first half barrage to put the game away early and then cruised to an easy 57-24 victory on opening night.
"I'm impressed, they did a really nice job," said Newark Academy head coach Liz Bona Beach. "They've been working really hard and you can see that they really wanted to get out here and get it done."
Newark Academy's defense and rebounding, along with a 22 point effort from senior Carly Gruenberg were the stories Friday night. The Lady Minutemen opened up with a 14-0 run to start the game, forcing the Lancers to miss their first six shots from the floor, while making six of their first 12. Livingston didn't get on the board till there was just 56 seconds remaining in the opening quarter.
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The Lady Minutemen took a 16-2 lead into the second quarter and exploded for a 14-3 third quarter run, including a 10-0 run to close out the second period.
"They did a really good job of hustling to the ball, getting on the ground for loose balls and just playing gutsy. They did a great job," said Livingston head coach Patty Kaes of Newark Academy.
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Livingston came out and knocked down two of its first three shots to start the second half, but could not hold Newark Academy's opportunistic offense at bay. The Lady Minutemen made a living on jumping the passing lanes for steals and easy layups. Newark Academy earned 17 steals in the contest, including 12 in the first half. Overall Livingston turned the ball over 20 times, which led to a boatload of points for Newark Academy. Starting point guard, Ashlyn Heller, had a game high eight steals to go along with her eight points. Gruenberg added six swipes.
"I think they have some instinct, I think they were cheating a little on defense and that's kind of how it happened too," Bona-Beach said. "They have a good eye. Ashlyn Heller, our point guard, has a very good eye."
Perhaps even a bigger problem for the Lancers on Friday was Newark Academy's dominance on the glass. They outrebounded the home team, 33-20, which included 14 offensive rebounds. Ahlia Bethea led all players with eight rebounds, while Gruenberg chipped in six boards.
"They were in good position and they boxed out like I've been screaming at them, so they really did a nice job," Bona-Beach said.
The Lancers had trouble getting to the basket and finding open players against Newark Academy's defense which went from a full court press to a zone throughout the game. Turnovers aside, Livingston was held to 29.4 percent shooting from the floor, while Newark Academy made 44.7 percent of its shots.
"It's not that we did anything wrong per se, it's just that it's our first time out for real against this type of intensity," Kaes said. "We weren't really expecting what we saw tonight as far as what they were going to be able to do to defend us."
Livingston was led by eight points from Gianna Vacarro, while both Catherine Callaghan and Sam Rothenberger were tied for the team lead in rebounds with three.
Newark Academy is now 1-0 and Livingston is 0-1. The Lady Minutemen don't play again till next year, on Jan. 5 against Nutley. Livingston plays again on Tuesday at home against Christ the King.
