Foul Trouble Foils Lady Pioneers In UCIAC Semifinal

After forward Laura Gregory went to the bench with foul trouble late in the third, the Lady Pioneers went from rolling to reeling in a hurry.

New Providence led by six at the time, but without its forward, the Lady Pioneers were helpless to stop Governor Livingston from ending the game on a 21-8 run to seize victory 47-37 last night.

The semifinal loss eliminates No. 2 seed New Providence from the UCIAC girls’ varsity basketball tournament.  It is the Lady Pioneers’ third loss to No. 3 seed Governor Livingston this season.

“Not going to lie, it hurts,” New Providence coach Cap Pazdera said. “I don’t want to blame it on the refs, but some of those calls were questionable. However, the calls didn't lose this game for us.  We didn't hold up our end to finish the game strong and come out with a victory."

By the time Gregory reentered the game, with 4:59 left in the fourth, the Highlanders had taken the lead 35-32 after an 11-1 run.

The forward immediately tried to turn the tide, and appeared to have a shot at tying the game after her runner found the bottom of the net and drew a whistle.

Unfortunately for New Providence, the referee signaled that the whistle was meant for Gregory; it was the senior’s fifth foul, putting her on the bench permanently and coercing frustrated groans from New Providence fans; she finished with 15 points.

“The refs really killed us this game,” Gregory said. “That was ridiculous.  I can handle myself getting three or four fouls and not fouling out, and that was just ridiculous.  I shouldn’t have even gotten to four fouls, those were horrible calls.”

Without Gregory, the Lady Pioneers couldn’t find an offensive spark. Kaitlin Cresencia had 13 points, but found the lane obstructed in the fourth quarter.

“All five of us out there, we are so used to playing with each other and knowing each other’s strengths that when any one of us goes missing, it hurts all five of us,” Cresencia said.

Gregory had combined with Cresencia to provide most of the offense for the Lady Pioneers, as sharp-shooters and were not so sharp in this one, combining to go 1-for-17 from the field.

Gregory scored nine of the Lady Pioneers’ 19 first-half points to help New Providence take a four-point lead at halftime.

New Providence then came out in the third quarter and traded baskets with the Highlanders until Gregory’s temporary departure with 1:03 left in the third began the Lady Pioneers’ downfall.

After a 2:28-long sequence in which the Highlanders hit a 3-pointer to tie the score, took the lead and drew the charge that removed Gregory from play, Pazdera said he could see the Lady Pioneers’ heads start to hang.

“I just told them, ‘the game’s not over.’” Pazdera said.  “'We still got five minutes to play, we battled and outfought them for three quarters.  To give up now and put our heads down is ridiculous.’”

New Providence did battle until the end, but the desperation shots just weren’t falling.  Guard Jess Pacheco finally got one to go down with 1:07 left to cut it down to four, but Governor Livingston’s Alyssa Polimeni (20 points) went 8-for-10 from the foul line over the final 1:55 to ice the game.

New Providence must now get ready to defend its state championship, as the state tournament starts on Tuesday.

Pazdera didn’t think the county tournament loss would hinder the Lady Pioneers moving forward.

“Fortunately, we’ve been here before. The last three years we lost in the first round [of the UCIAC tournament], and they’ve all been disappointing losses,” he said.  “Not as disappointing as this one, but we’re definitely going to rebound, you can count on that.  They’re going to be pumped up and ready to go once Tuesday starts.”

New Providence will host Newark Arts in the first round of the state tournament on Tuesday at 6 p.m.