Cougars Girls Hold Off Late Lions Rally

It's clear that if the Columbia girls basketball team is going to have a good season, it'll have to start on the defensive end. On Tuesday night at South Orange Middle School, the Cougar defense flexed its muscle late in the fourth quarter to secure a 40-33 win over Mt. St. Dominic.

After holding the visitors to just four third-quarter points, Charity Scipio's lay-up plus the foul put the Cougars up by 11 early on in the fourth quarter. Just when it looked like Columbia was going to run away with it, Mt. St. Dominic put together an 11-1 run over the next five plus minutes, closing within one point, with Columbia clinging to a 34-33 lead with just over two minutes remaining.

With all of the momentum on Mt. St. Dominic's side, the Cougars shutout the Lions for the remainder of the game, forcing them to go 0-for-4 from the floor with two turnovers in the final two minutes. On the other side of the ball, Gabby Jackson and Alana Ferruggiaro nailed some big throws in the final 42 seconds of regulation to ice Columbia's second consecutive win.

"They closed really well," said CHS head coach Johanna Wright of her team. "The last two minutes of the game were crucial. They really hit some big shots on the free throw line."

Overall it was a very defensive contest, with the Lions forcing Columbia into 23 turnovers, 13 of which came in the first half. The Lions frustrated Columbia's ball handlers all game long with the half court trap, picking up 10 steals in the contest.

"It's just calming them down because they're young. Remember most of these girls played junior varsity last year," Wright said. "They're being baptized right now, they're in the fire."

While Mt. St. Dominic turned the ball over only 15 times, it was the shot selections that Columbia's defense forced them into that made the difference. The Lions fell in love with three pointers and long jump shots in this one, with the visitors missing 10 three-point baskets and numerous long range shots, making just 26.7 percent of their shots all game long.

"They were running the flex and in the flex you're looking for the back door. So we completely shut that down, we were just meeting and switching on defense," Wright said. "We didn't allow the easy lob in so that left a kid open. We'd rather invite that outside shot than have the easy lay up."

On the other hand, despite the turnovers, the Cougars made the most of their shot opportunities, knocking down 51.7 percent from the floor.

The squads went into the break tied at 18, but the Columbia defense suffocated the Lions in the third quarter. The visitors did not make a field goal until there was just 2:38 left in the third (more than six minutes) and missed their first six shots of the third quarter.

The opening half was back and forth, with neither team really able to pull away. The Cougars trailed by as many as four and led by as many as four in the first two quarters.

Jackson went scoreless in the first quarter and then finished off the game with 16 points, to add to her 11 rebounds for her second straight double-double.

"On the offense, she's still trying to get her team involved in the game," Wright said of her star player. "She realizes they're young and to her credit she's still trying to bring everyone along."

Ferruggiaro scored 10 points for Columbia. Charity Scipio and Kyrsten Van Natta both pulled down five boards, helping Columbia win the rebound battle, 28-15. No Lion player scored in double figures, as junior Mallory Shickora led the way with nine points.

"Mt. St. Dominic is a great team," Wright said. "They've got shooters. They've got girls who know how to handle that ball and they came to give it all they had. We came out on top, so we're very fortunate."

The Cougars, who improved to 2-1, are in action again on Monday at Hunterdon Central, kicking off a stretch of four straight road games.