BY SHAWN LAYTON
Staff Writer
METUCHEN — The Metuchen High School girls basketball team played perhaps its best game of the season but fell just short of upsetting the top team in the Greater Middlesex Conference Blue Division, the Cardinal McCarrick Eagles, in a 43-42 loss in Metuchen Thursday night.
It was a converted inbounds play that did the trick for McCarrick as the winning shot just beat the final buzzer after Metuchen had taken the lead with two seconds on the clock.
“It was a barnburner,” Metuchen head coach Elizabeth Clark said. “Our game plan going in was to slow them down because they’ve been just blowing teams out. We played hard, but it was a real heartbreaker to lose at the end like that.”
Senior Kristen Edmonds led the Bulldogs with 27 points and eight steals, while freshman Lauren Zarantanello led McCarrick with 21 as the Eagles remained unbeaten in the Blue Division at 8-0.
“Kristen’s confidence is up and she’s just quicker than everybody else.” Clark said. “She could average more points, but her assists are up from three a game last year to eight a game this year. She’s getting her teammates involved.”
The two teams will meet again at Cardinal McCarrick Feb. 9. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
“I do believe the game was a turning point for us,” Clark said. “It didn’t help to be snowed out this weekend, but hopefully the momentum will carry into this week when the schedule resumes. The team really showed me they wanted to win against Cardinal McCarrick and the gym was unbelievable.”
The momentum certainly carried into the next game because Metuchen breezed past JFK with a 50-27 win. Edmonds scored 20, one shy of her season average of 21 per game, and freshman center Caitlin Walker snatched 10 rebounds and scored four.
Junior Lauren Pisano scored seven and Katie Rosini finished with nine points.
“Lauren and Katie played well against Cardinal McCarrick and it carried over into the JFK game,” Clark said. “Katie has been doing a great job on defense and Lauren had some big rebounds in the McCarrick game.”
Metuchen will resume play this week when the team travels to South River for the second of two scheduled meetings. The Bulldogs won the first meeting by a bucket.
“We had a bad game against South River,” Clark said. “We let them come back on us.”
After the South River game, Metuchen will host Middlesex for a 7 p.m. meeting Friday night. Middlesex outscored the Bulldogs by 11 when the two teams met earlier in the season.
“We will have to be tougher on the boards against Middlesex,” Clark said. “They were able to get a lot of second shots in the first one, and we will need to do a better job of boxing out. Boxing out has been a nightmare. We will do it for a quarter and then relapse, and what we need to do is box out for every shot for all four quarters.”
The Bulldogs are currently 5-6 on the season with all eyes on the Feb. 5 cutoff date for eligibility in the state tournament.
“The state may extend the date because of the recent cancellations,” Clark said. “That remains to be seen so we have to be ready.”
it carried over into the JFK game,” Clark said. “Katie has been doing a great job on defense and Lauren had some big rebounds in the McCarrick game.”
Metuchen will resume play this week when the team travels to South River for the second of two scheduled meetings. The Bulldogs won the first meeting by a bucket.
“We had a bad game against South River,” Clark said. “We let them come back on us.”
After the South River game, Metuchen will host Middlesex for a 7 p.m. meeting Friday night. Middlesex outscored the Bulldogs by 11 when the two teams met earlier in the season.
“We will have to be tougher on the boards against Middlesex,” Clark said. “They were able to get a lot of second shots in the first one, and we will need to do a better job of boxing out. Boxing out has been a nightmare. We will do it for a quarter and then relapse, and what we need to do is box out for every shot for all four quarters.”
The Bulldogs are currently 5-6 on the season with all eyes on the Feb. 5 cutoff date for eligibility in the state tournament.
“The state may extend the date because of the recent cancellations,” Clark said. “That remains to be seen so we have to be ready.”