Girls basketball: Watchung Hills outlasts Ridge to take control of Skyland Raritan race

BERNARDS TOWNSHIP – The sports cliché of a game being ‘a lot closer than the final score indicates’ is a great way to describe Tuesday’s meeting between the Watchung Hills and Ridge high school girls basketball team. Mostly because the final score was, literally, the evening’s biggest gap on the scoreboard.

The teams fought from the opening whistle to the final horn, never relenting, never ceasing to fight, and never losing sight of the magnitude of the Skyland Conference Raritan Division meeting. In the end, it was Watchung Hills that came away with a 55-47 win in a game that featured 14 lead changes and where no team led by more than five points until Ridge started fouling with 38 seconds remaining.

Senior Gianna Lobazzo paced Watchung Hills with 15 points and classmate and captain Morgan Groff added 14 points, including shooting 6-for-6 from the free-throw line down the stretch to secure the win. Ava Lobazzo contributed 10 points, while Liv Holliday chipped in 10 rebounds and Claire Gillenwater notched seven as the Warriors dominated the boards by a 37-18 margin.

“Everything’s on the line for us, including the conference championship,” said Groff, whose team improved to 10-4 overall and 7-0 in the Raritan Division. “I feel like I played my last three years for this.”

“The last time we played them it was close, and we had to rally late to win that game, as well, so it was kind of the same thing here,” said Watchung Hills coach Reese Kirchofer, whose club beat Ridge 46-44 on Dec. 20. “I give my kids so much credit.”

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With star senior guard Julia Puglisi down since last week with a knee injury that might have ended her season, and then losing classmate and key bench piece Kendall Lee to an ankle injury over the weekend, Watchung Hills was certainly shorthanded. But with a roster that relies on everyone doing their part – 10 different players saw the floor Tuesday, with eight scoring points – it’s been next-player up, and it’s paid off.

“We’re missing a couple of people, and kids really stepped up. Claire Gillenwater came in and gave us a lot of run; we had Fran (Mannino), who hasn’t had many minutes but came in and did some things; and then at the end, the captain does the job on the free throws. Really, so many people contributed in a positive way.”

The teams battled for the better part of four quarters, with neither able to gain a sustained upper hand. Watchung Hills had a couple of opportunities to pull away, but Ridge fought back each time, led by senior Nancy Puthenpurayil, who tallied a game-high 16 points, and freshman Sophia Georgiades, who notched 12 points.

Ridge carried a 39-38 lead into the final stanza, with neither team scoring for the first two minutes of the period, before Ava Lobazzo sunk a pair of buckets to give Watchung Hills a 42-39 lead with 4:01 remaining.

The Red Devils (6-7) fought back again, taking a 43-42 advantage on an Emma Landes basket and two Georgiades free throws, but Ridge would not lead again, as Watchung Hills scored five straight points to go up 47-43 with 2:20 left, and a 49-45 lead with 1:28 remaining, before Groff went to work on the free-throw line.

“We dug in when we had to,” Kirchofer said. “And that’s the sign of a team that’s playing together, has some seniors, and they’re buying into what we’re doing.”

The night wasn’t without its negative for Watchung Hills, which shot just 2-for-21 from 3-point land, with first-quarter treys from Gillenwater and Ava Lobazzo the only makes. But the Warriors also went 8-for-10 from the free-throw line, including the 6-for-6 by Groff, which were all on 1 and 1s, and all in the final 30 seconds of the game. Ridge, meanwhile, shot 5-for-16 from 3-point territory, with Puthenpurayil sinking three of them.

“It tough not making 3-pointers, it’s kind of what I do and I haven’t been doing it the past three games,” Groff said. “So, I’m just trying to use what they’re giving me. If they’re not giving me the 3, I’m driving or going to the basket. And that worked out for me at the end, especially, and I was able to make foul shots, and that’s what I’ve kind of been practicing.”

“It’s been the opposite of (tonight) -- we’ve missed our free throws all year, but hit our 3s at certain times,” Kirchofer said. “But they were very good at the end, they handled themselves. We’ve been in a couple games that have been close where we had to run some clock, and I was really proud of them the way they handled it tonight, and knocking down the free throws.”

WHAT IT MEANS

Watchung Hills improved to 7-0 in the Raritan Division, opening a two-game lead over Ridge, which the Warriors have now beaten twice. Watchung Hills has three division games remaining.

WHAT’S NEXT

Watchung Hills looks to solidify its hold on the Raritan Division with a game against Immaculata on Thursday, before a Saturday trip to Hillsborough, a team the Warriors beat last weekend.

Ridge takes on North Hunterdon on Thursday, before a rematch with Pingry on Saturday of a game the Red Devils lost in the consolation round of their holiday tournament.

BOX SCORE

WATCHUNG HILLS (10-4) 14-14-8-17--55

RIDGE (6-7) 13-13-13-8--47

SCORING: WH--G. Lobozzo 15, Groff 14, A. Lobazzo 10, Gillenwater 5, Mannino 4, Holliday 3, Allgor 2, Squizziato 2; R--Puthenpurayil 16, Georgiandes 12, Landes 6, Byrne 5, Gengo 5, M. Zhang 2.

REBOUNDS: WH: WH--Holliday 10, Gillenwater 7, A. Lobazzo 6, Squizziato 6, Groff 4, Allgor 2, G. Lobazzo 1, Mannino 1; R--Landes 7, Gengo 3, Georgiandes 2, Byrne 2, Puthenpurayil 2, Donohoe 2.

Simeon Pincus has been covering NJ sports since 1997. He can be reached at CNGirlsHoops@aol.com. Follow him on Twitter @SimeonPincus

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ Girls basketball: Watchung Hills tops Ridge to control division