Nineteen More Turnovers Amount to Second-Straight Loss For Pioneers

The Pioneers had just capped a 20-3 streak, and with a 39-31 lead with 4:45 left in the third, they looked poised to run away from Jonathan Dayton last night.

An eight-point fourth quarter later, and the New Providence boys’ varsity basketball team was looking at its first losing streak of the season.

The Bulldogs outscored the Pioneers 29-16 in the remaining 12:45, and went on to win 60-55 in front of a house jammed with boisterous Dayton devotees.

“Momentum swings very fast,” New Providence coach Art Cattano said. “We had a couple good spurts there. They’re a good team, they’re going to make runs. I kept telling our kids when we got the lead, ‘we’ve gotta get tougher, we’ve gotta get tougher, we’ve gotta get tougher.’”

The Pioneers (12-3) had been creating and converting in transition all game, but sloppiness once again caught up to them; after turning it over 22 times in Tuesday’s overtime loss to Roselle, the Pioneers coughed the ball up 19 times last night. 

“We’ve just got to make smarter plays,” senior center Jack Cole said. “We’re trying to rush, we’re panicking a little bit. We’ve got to get in practice and practice pressing against each other so we can get in this situation more. The turnovers are definitely killing us.”

Cole scored 22 points over the first three quarters, but the Bulldogs (12-2) put the 6-foot-7 center in the freezer in the fourth. Cole scored zero points in the final period, and had no help from his cohorts down the stretch.

“I thought he gave up a couple of shots; even at the very end, he had it underneath the basket and he’s thinking that we need two 3s, [but] I just want us to score, I don’t care,” Cattano said. “He kept us going the first three quarters, somebody else has got to pick it up too, he can’t do it all.”

Forward Dave Barletta gave New Providence its last lead.  Barletta hit a free throw with 17.5 seconds left in the third to make it 47-46. Guard Joey Meyers started off the fourth by finishing a drive with finesse to extend the lead to three, but Dayton went on a 10-0 run to make it 56-49 with 1:53 left and New Providence had no answer.

The Pioneers slippery hands, careless passes and hesitant demeanor bogged down their half-court offense over the final seven minutes; they only could muster one field goal during that stretch, making it impossible to swing the momentum back in their direction.

“I think it’s just been these last two games, they’ve played some tough zones against us and we weren’t really accustomed to it,” Meyers said. “[They grabbed momentum] off our turnovers. It was the same way with them, when we were able to steal the ball and get down the court, we scored a bunch of points in a row.”

Dayton had built a 28-19 lead halfway through the second quarter, but the Pioneers heated up and didn’t waste opportunities.

The Pioneers closed the half on a 7-0 run, giving Dayton a taste of the firepower they would display in the next quarter.  

Cole then came out and hit a 3-pointer to give the Pioneers the lead early in the third. Dayton briefly retook the lead before Meyers' terrific on-ball defense led to several fast-break opportunities, including one when the guard engaged a Dayton ball handler, forcefully ripped the ball from his hands and spun away in one motion, broke for the basket and lobbed an alley-oop to Cole.

Meyers followed that with another steal that he took back strong for a foul-drawing basket. Barletta then forced Dayton to turn the ball over again. The forward tipped the loose ball to himself in stride and hit Justin Singer for another foul-drawing finish; New Providence had an eight-point lead 3:15 into the third before it all unraveled.  

After starting out 8-0, New Providence has lost three of its last seven games. The Pioneers now look up at Dayton in the North Jersey Section 2 Group 1 conference.

“We’re going to be looking forward,” Meyers said. “We want to get some wins, we want to stay in contention for the conference [and] we hope that we can somehow [still win the conference].”

The Pioneers will have a chance to end their two-game losing streak when they host Oratory Prep tonight. The game is at 7 p.m. in New Providence.