Trailing by seven points with less than three minutes to go in Friday night’s match-up against Middlesex, the Metuchen High School girls basketball team finished the contest with a 15-2 run to upend the Blue Jays, 42-36.
Momentum turned in Metuchen’s favor after Middlesex was called for a technical foul with 2:31 left in the fourth quarter. Led by Jenna Oyler’s 21 points, including a three-pointer that spearheaded the 15-2 run that ended the game, Metuchen handed Middlesex its first GMC Blue Division loss and improved to 5-4 in league play.
“After the technical was called, Middlesex just got taken out of the game mentally,” Metuchen head coach Val Gazda said. “Jenna took a lot of the responsibility on her shoulders and really played a great game. Middlesex pressed us quite a bit, and Jenna is our primary ball-handler. She handled the pressure and got to the foul line, where she went 9 for 11.”
Metuchen improved to 9-5 on the season and moved into fourth place in the division thanks to knocking off the top two teams in consecutive games.
Before upsetting Middlesex, Metuchen knocked off second-place Highland Park, 48-44.
“Our last two wins were big wins for us,” Gazda said. “The top teams in the league are at least eight deep, and we show just six each game. Obviously, depth is something we lack, but we’ve been able to make up for a lack of depth with a strong physical and mental makeup. We knew going into the games against Middlesex and Highland Park that we’d have to be A-1. To avenge an 11-point loss to Middlesex the second time around was pretty special for our team.”
The Bulldogs will look to gain further ground on the top teams in the Blue Division when it squares off against the likes of division rivals South River and John F. Kennedy.
Despite beating South River earlier in the season, tonight’s game will be in South River against a team that would love nothing more than to knock off one of the division’s heavy hitters.
“South River is in a rebuilding year, and we have the advantage of experience,” Gazda said. “It’s never easy going on the road in this division, and any team can be beaten on the road.”
Gazda is well aware of the dangers JFK can pose. Kennedy knocked the Bulldogs off earlier this season, but this week’s game will be played at Metuchen on Feb. 4.
“Kennedy will be tough again,” Gazda said. “They apply full-court pressure, and that really got to us in our first meeting. Their pressure got us fatigued, and that was a factor last time around. We’ll need to do a better job handling the pressure and keeping our energy up the entire game.
“I think we’re more composed at this point in the season, and composure is an area we’ve definitely improved upon,” she added. “This will be key for us heading into the last month of the season.”