Lady Pioneers Doubled Up the Success this Season

In a season of eerie duplications that caused this season to be almost a carbon copy of last season, it was only fitting that one final re-occurrence signaled the end of the New Providence girls’ varsity basketball team’s season.

, in the NJSIAA Tournament of Champions first round last Wednesday; the loss was a repeat of last year’s conclusion, when the Lady Pioneers lost to St. John Vianney in the same round.

The ultimate setback comes at the expense of the high school careers of seniors and .  The pair had quite the successful run at New Providence, bringing home three sectional titles, two Group 1 state titles and four conference titles in their four seasons.

“You get players like [Cresencia] and Laura once in a blue moon, and I was lucky enough to have them both at the same time in the same four-year period,” New Providence coach Cap Pazdera said.  “The things that they’ve accomplished over the last four years… you can’t beat that.”

The Lady Pioneers won a North Jersey Section 2, Group 1 sectional title and a Group 1 state championship in the 2009-10 season, and Pazdera’s sixth foray at the helm had more than a few moments of déjà vu.

New Providence won more than 20 games again, but like last year, , with a Union County championship being the only achievement Pazdera, Gregory and Cresencia hadn’t been able to capture in their seasons together.

Despite the county tournament hindrance, the Lady Pioneers entered the sectional tournament looking to defend their crown.  , Gregory pointed out the similarities between her junior and senior seasons.

"We were all talking about it before," Gregory said.  "[Last year], everything came together in the last game at University. I mean, we came off a county loss, too in the state tournament, came off a run defeating a couple of weak teams, but we're planning on doing the same thing this year [in winning the state title]."

The plan came to fruition, as the Lady Pioneers matched up against University in the sectional final for the second straight season, after Gregory hit a tying free throw with seven seconds left and drained a go-ahead 3-pointer in the extra period.

The Lady Pioneers had also beaten University 48-45 in regulation the previous year, but in Gregory’s opinion, this year’s win gave New Providence validation against its naysayers and detractors.

“Year after year, everyone’s telling us we’re nothing because we’re not getting past the Union County tournament, everybody underestimates us and they’re like ‘oh, they’re not really a great team,’ but if we beat University, a state-ranked team, two years in a row, I don’t know what else we have to prove,” she said.

The Lady Pioneers had moved up to the Mountain Division in the Union County Conference this year, which meant tougher competition, and had lost several key contributors. But they still were repeat sectional champions and had a shot at claiming a second straight Group 1 state title as well if they could get through the public state semifinals.

Pazdera admittedly wasn’t sure how much gas the Lady Pioneers would have left in the tank after the marathon struggle against University. But they prevailed only two days later with a stalwart defensive effort before , advancing the team to the Tournament of Champions.

New Providence set the Tournament of Champions record with 35 turnovers against St. John Vianney last year in a 55-33 loss. While the Lady Pioneers were more careful with the ball on Wednesday, the team still couldn’t consistently create offense against the Lady Lancers’ swarming defense.

Without a true ball-handling ace that could create off the dribble, New Providence had relied on its motion-based offense all season long, using frequent passes to get the defense out of position and create open looks.

The strategy had propelled the Lady Pioneers to a 16-4 record going into the Union County tournament, with Gregory scoring in double figures in 15 of those games, sophomore doing the same in 14 of those games and Cresencia tallying double figures in seven games.

But St. John Vianney closed off the passing lanes better than any team had all season against the Lady Pioneers, and it left New Providence searching for answers as the Lady Lancers drained shots and the deficit grew.

“The run-and-jump [defense] that [the Lady Lancers] run to perfection, if [we’re] not quick with [our] passes, if [we] don’t recognize where the double team’s coming from and then where the helper is, it’s tough, [we] turn the ball over a lot,” Pazdera said. 

Despite her high school career coming to an end in blowout fashion at the hands of St. John Vianney, Gregory wouldn’t allow it to put a damper on all the Lady Pioneers had accomplished in her time at New Providence.

“All the reporters have been telling me how accomplished we are so I feel that way,” Gregory said.  “Not a lot of people can come back and say ‘oh yeah, we’re Group 1 state championships back-to-back, or three state sectional, four division titles, and so on.’  These schools [like St. John Vianney], they’re here every single year, they know they’re going to come here, they know they’re going to get that ring on their finger.  We have to fight for it.”

The senior forward fought back tears as she said how much her teammates and Pazdera, who she referred to as her “second Dad,” meant to her, and Cresencia called it the “ideal senior year.”

“I couldn’t have asked for not only a better season but a better group of people to share it with,” Cresencia said.  “Especially the coaches, they’re the best coaching staff in my mind because… they kept us focused no matter what situation we were in all season, and it was a blast.”

This fall, Gregory will play Divison 3 basketball at Muhlenberg College and Cresencia will play Divison 3 basketball at Connecticut College.