Girls basketball
By: Jim Green
The clock is now officially ticking on the Lawrence High School girls basketball team’s bid to return to the state tournament.
The Cardinals let slip away a golden opportunity to clinch a spot in the tournament Monday night on their home floor against Montgomery. Lawrence, which entered the game needing one win to be guaranteed a .500 record at the tournament’s Saturday cutoff date, opened a nine-point lead with two minutes left in the third quarter.
That’s when it fell apart.
Montgomery’s press defense spurred a 17-2 run that carried the Cougars to a 48-42 win. Lawrence dropped to 7-7 and is now faced with the prospect of having to win its eighth game against either Hamilton (10-3) today or West Windsor-Plainsboro South (8-4) on Saturday.
"They (the Cardinals) weren’t talking about it (the state tournament) much," Lawrence coach Gregg Zenerovitz said. "I’m sure the people around them might be talking."
That talk might have gotten into the Cardinals’ heads late against Montgomery, as sloppy offensive play and missed defensive assignments contributed to the Cougars’ game-closing run.
"I think it was the little things that hurt us," Zenerovitz said.
Senior forward Tiffany Lewis, who finished with a game-high 18 points, appeared least affected by the pressure. Lewis netted seven points six on offensive putbacks as the Cardinals outscored Montgomery 9-5 through the first six minutes of the third quarter, expanding their five-point halftime lead to nine.
But Montgomery finished the quarter with eight unanswered points to pull within one. Junior forward Theresa Gregory connected on a layup early in the fourth to put the Cardinals back up by three, but Montgomery rattled off another nine straight points to go ahead 43-37.
Lawrence forward Jerilyn Krawczyk, a junior, followed a missed jumper by Lewis with a basket that cut Montgomery’s edge back to four points with 1:45 remaining. Cardinals senior Tashema Whittaker then nailed a 3-pointer from the left arc that cut the lead to one point and brought the home crowd to its feet.
"I never thought we were out of the game," Zenerovitz said. "We kept playing. That (Whittaker’s 3-pointer) was a big moment. The game could have gone either way."
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, it went Montgomery’s way. After the Cougars’ Kristina Adams made 1-of-2 free throws, Lawrence went back on offense with 48 seconds left, needing two points to tie.
But a missed shot and a turnover on Lawrence’s next two possessions allowed Montgomery to hold on.
"They (the Cougars) are a very good team," Zenerovitz said. "They play tough."
One bright spot was the play of Lewis, who led the Cardinals in scoring for the second time in four games. Lewis is third on the team in scoring at 9.4 points per game.
"She (Lewis) has been hustling her tail off," Zenerovitz said. "She’s been huge for us. She’s had a good few weeks. Now it’s expected of her."
Whittaker, who netted 11 points, was the only other Cardinal in double-figures. The point guard was coming off a 14-point effort in Lawrence’s 49-30 win over Princeton on Thursday and is averaging a team-best 14.9 points a contest.
Gregory, who tallied eight points against Montgomery, led Lawrence with 18 against Princeton. She is second on the team in scoring at 13.5 points a game.
The Cardinals hope to have Lewis, Whittaker and Gregory all playing their best when they take on Hamilton tonight at 7 p.m. If Lawrence is unable to upset the powerful Hornets, it will be forced into a must-win situation against West Windsor-Plainsboro South.
"We’ll focus on Hamilton," Zenerovitz said. "Then we’ll think about West Windsor-Plainsboro South. We’re going to bring that same effort in both games."

