Verona Routs Glen Ridge in Season Opener

After a few minutes of adjusting to Glen Ridge's tricky 2-3 match up zone, the Verona Hillbillies picked apart their Opening Day foe 44-22.

"We struggled for bit early and it took some time to get it going," said Verona head coach Eric McElroy.

After cracking the code, the Hillbillies stifled the Glen Ridge offense holding them to 13 points over the next 18-plus minutes.

Junior guard Brian Farrell scored a game-high 21 points, 17 in the second half, but also used his ability to get to the hoop to set up a few easy scores for his teammates.

"Brian Farrell is not the type of kid who's going to keep missing. Eventually, He's going to start making shots," said coach McElroy.

The Hillbillies also received generous contributions from the brothers Kaslander. Freshman Alex Kaslander was impressive in his Hillbillies debut while his brother, and captain, Bobby served as the team's main ballhandler.

Bobby's contributions were also huge on the defensive end as he blocked a couple shots and altered several others. The impressive Hillbillies defense turned Glen Ridge into an outside shooting team and pressured the ball whenever the opportunity presented itself.

Following the opening victory, coach McElroy  saw things he could improve going into next week's games.

"We need to cutdown on our mistakes and get some better shots," said the Verona coach.

With expectations only to rise following their impressive showing, the Hillbillies early returns look great.

VERONA BOX SCORE 

RECORDS

Glen Ridge (0-1), Verona (1-0)