Greeley Girls Get Solid Team Effort to Advance in Playoffs

Horace Greeley's girls basketball team used a timely fourth-quarter spurt to pull away from a feisty Suffern squad in a Class AA first-round game.

Quakers guard Jackie Brett converted three foul shots after a being fouled on a 3-point attempt with 5:12 left in the fourth quarter. Those crucial free throws stretched Greeley's lead to eight points and the Quakers went on to win 65-50.

With the win, the Quakers now advance to the quarterfinals this Tuesday, where they will host the Clarkstown North/Ursuline winner.

Horace Greeley didn't have anybody that had an individual performance quite like Suffern's center Christa Baccas, who ended up with 16 points, 18 rebounds and six blocks, but collectively everybody chipped in and did their job. The Quakers had four girls in double figures, led by Brett's team-high 15 points, and another with eight. They had good penetration from their guards, strong outside shooting and a defensive intensity that bothered the Mounties.

Greeley's balance and depth were definitely the keys to its opening round victory, especially in the second half.

"This year we've had seven different leading scorers so nobody cares who scores the basketball," said Horace Greeley coach John Alkalay. "The word coming into today's game was that both teams were evenly matched so it was huge that a lot of our players stepped up today."

Horace Greeley's junior forward Yanna Jackson was able to stabilize the paint for the Quakers and keep the Mounties' bigs, Kristin Schmidt and Baccas, from controlling the paint. Jackson came through with timely blocks, key rebounds and a lot of hustle plays that didn't register in the stat sheet but definitely were needed. Jackson finished the game with eight points, 11 rebounds and six blocks.

"I wanted to stay out of foul trouble and really deny their post players as much as possible," Jackson said. "We did a really good job defensively as a team and we didn't let their shooters get too many open looks."

Jefferson was the only other Suffern player to score in double figures as she finished with 15 points. Greeley's Nicole Berg hit four 3-pointers for her 12 points.