Face Immaculata for sixth straight year
By: Rudy Brandl
BRIDGEWATER It’s definitely been a season of ups and downs for the Hillsborough High girls, but somehow they’ve once again found a way to advance to the Somerset County Basketball Tournament championship game.
The third-seeded Lady Raiders (13-9) moved into tonight’s SCT finals with Monday night’s 33-29 semifinal triumph over second-ranked Bridgewater-Raritan.
For the sixth consecutive year, Hillsborough will face Immaculata. The HHS girls won the crown in 1998, but No. 1 seed Immaculata (20-2) has taken the title the last four seasons and will be heavily favored in tonight’s contest.
Hillsborough’s sixth straight appearance in the county finals may be considered a surprise, especially since Jim Reese’s girls had to get past a Bridgewater team that had swept them during the regular season en route to the Delaware Division title. The Panthers scored more than 50 points in both previous victories, but the Lady Raiders put on some serious defensive clamps Monday night.
"I don’t know if any of them feels as good as this," Reese said afterward, referring to his string of SCT semifinal victories. "It wasn’t pretty. Nobody ever went on a run so we had to muscle through it, hang in there and play hard."
"This is a big thing for us," added HHS junior guard Allison Kutch, who led all scorers with 15 points. "We weren’t going to let them beat us a third time. We had to step up and get revenge on our rivals."
The Lady Raiders led for all but 1:03 of the contest but couldn’t pull away. Every time Bridgewater attempted to rally, the HHS defense wouldn’t let it happen. Hillsborough mixed a tight man-to-man and effective zone to keep Bridgewater well below its usual offensive productivity.
The key was defending talented B-R junior forward Melanie Gibbons, who had averaged 19 points in the previous two meetings. Hillsborough sophomore Erin Poulter did most of the dirty work holding Gibbons to six points.
"Erin did a tremendous job in the man-to-man," Reese said. "It’s not always her (Gibbons’) first shot, but her second and third shots. We concentrated on boxing her out instead of trying to block her shot."
"That was the biggest thing," Kutch added. "We had to play defense and hold down Gibbons."
Hillsborough bolted to an 8-2 lead but B-R fought back to tie the game before the Lady Raiders scored another seven in a row to move ahead 15-8. Bridgewater surged again midway through the second quarter and enjoyed its last lead of the night at 16-15 with 2:06 remaining in the first half. The score was tied at 16-16 at the break.
Carolyn McNamara opened the third quarter with a fast break layup but Bridgewater answered with Beth Avery’s jumper from the right baseline. Kutch knocked down a wild runner from the left side of the lane to put the HHS girls in front to stay at 20-18 with 3:56 to play in the quarter.
Kutch drained a huge 3-pointer from the left corner to give Hillsborough a 25-21 edge at the end of three quarters.
Neither team could find any offensive rhythm all night, especially in the second half. Hillsborough managed only two field goals in the fourth quarter while Bridgewater was limited to one until the final 37 seconds.
Hillsborough was challenged to preserve the lead, especially after junior Jess Rainey fouled out with 3:36 to play. The Lady Raiders were clinging to a 28-25 lead at the time and had to weather Bridgewater’s press without their most experienced ball handler.
McNamara and Kutch played well and Christine Rash provided key minutes off the bench. Poulter continued to do a fine job on the boards and finished with 10 rebounds, including an offensive carom that led to a pair of clinching free throws with 28.2 seconds to play.
"I’m really proud of them," Reese said. "Jess was out of the game and we had a lot of young kids out there all night."
Those youngsters will be tested again tonight in the sixth straight SCT championship meeting between Hillsborough and Immaculata.
"It’s nice to have the opportunity to play for the championship," Reese said. "I always look forward to the county tournament and the kids enjoy the spotlight. We’ll give it our best shot."

