West Essex Hands Livingston Defeat

With a blink of an eye, the West Essex girls basketball team took a close game and turned it into a run away.

That was the case Saturday as the Knights went from holding a two-point lead over Livingston to seizing a commanding 20-6 advantage in a matter of just a couple of minutes.

The rest of the game had West Essex in overdrive as the Knights ran past the Lancers, 65-31 at home.

West Essex remained unbeaten at 10-0, while Livingston dropped to 1-9.

"They outplayed us in the first couple of minutes, but then we just got on a roll," West Essex coach Tom Kenny said.

What helped getting the roll started was West Essex's  balance of Jenna Sackman and Jackie Branco inside and Theresa Carnevale and Jennifer Weissbach on the perimeter.

Without Jamie Hawkins, who turned her ankle on Friday, Livingston could not control the paint as the Knights continuously fed Sackman under the basket.

Sackman led all scorers with 21 points, while Weissbach and Branco added 11 and 10 points, respectively, for the Knights. Becky Knopf led Livingston with eight points.

Carnevale helped jumpstart the Knights' offense, scoring eight points, including a pair of 3-pointers, on three consecutive trips down the court.

"She's our point guard, but we told her that if we are going to be successful that she needs to be more offensive with her game," Kenny said. "She's a great ball handler."

The junior guard also broke a school record in the game with 10 assists. The previous mark of nine was held by several players.

"It stung a little and we just tried to stay in the game," Knopf said.

Coming into the game, West Essex was looking to gain another win to help its seeding in the upcoming Essex County Tournament, but was also conscience of a potential letdown after Thursday's 50-37 win over Glen Ridge.

"If you are not smart, Livingston can take things away from you," Kenny said. "We were worried about a letdown after the big win over Glen Ridge."

Kenny said one of the team's first goals is to win the new Liberty Division of the Super Essex Conference. As of this week, the Knights were two games ahead of the rest of the pack in the division that includes Glen Ridge, West Orange, Irvington, Bloomfield and Caldwell.

Knopf said his team went to see West Essex play Cedar Grove, so the Lancers had an idea of what they would be up against.

"We knew the key players and tried to block them," Knopf said.