By Justin Feil, The Packet Group
The New Egypt girls basketball team had come back from a bigger deficit in the regular-season finale, but its comeback Monday against Highland Park will be more memorable.
Led by a trio of seniors and one huge basket from junior Julie Ciak, the top-seeded Warriors came back from an 11-point second-half deficit to capture their first Central Jersey Group I championship, 47-38.
”It feels so good,” said Haley Anderson, the senior guard who scored a game-high 22 points. “I knew that we would pull it together and come back. I had no doubt that we could do it. We’re such a close team that we’re able to pick each other up and get it done.”
It took a stirring comeback that began in the final ticks of the third quarter, then the momentum snowballed as top-seeded New Egypt turned up the pressure in the final quarter to pull away from third-seeded Highland Park and erase the pain of last year’s South Jersey I semifinal loss to Paulsboro. They have not lost to a Group I team this year.
”It definitely is tough to win the first one,” said New Egypt head coach Matt Brogan after improving to 20-8 heading into Wednesday’s scheduled state Group I semifinal against Haddon Township. “This is the first sectional championship in New Egypt history for basketball.
”Last year forged a bond,” he said. “I could see in their eyes as juniors and sophomores that they were hurt. Girls basketball is just getting its feet here, and it made them work hard. It made them work harder and really want it this year.”
The Warriors followed the lead of seniors Anderson, Emily Bausher who had 19 points, and Morgan Knigge who had 10 rebounds and three blocks. The trio had been a part of the program when they went 3-17 as freshmen.
”It feels like we’ve worked so hard,” said Knigge, the Warriors’ 6-foot-1 center. “To get to this point, it just feels great.”
Knigge had helped the Warriors earn their title shot when she scored all 10 of her points in the second half to help New Egypt pull away from Keyport in Saturday’s sectional semifinals. She also had 10 in the quarterfinals win over Riverside.
”We had a lot of returners coming back from last year,” Knigge said. “We wanted to build off where we left off last year.”
The Warriors fell behind Highland Park, 5-0, and Anderson was on the bench soon after turning the ball over twice in the early going. She bounced back in a big way, just like the Warriors.
”Haley is a special player,” Brogan said, “It doesn’t matter what happens for 30 minutes, if you meet her in the last two, she’s there. That’s where she was again tonight.”
In the first half, New Egypt had 14 turnovers to fall behind, 24-17, at the half. The 24 points allowed matched what they had allowed in the entire Keyport semifinal game, but defending turnovers and their resulting transition was difficult.
”That was our main thing at halftime — we just focused on taking care of the ball,” Anderson said. “We knew we had to do that if we wanted to win the game in the end.”
Things got worse before they got better. Highland Park scored six of the first eight points of the second half to hold a 30-19 lead midway through the third quarter. Down 11, however, the Warriors never doubted they could turn it around.
”Knowing that I’m a senior, I just knew I didn’t want to end like that,” Anderson said. “I knew I had to step up if I wanted to make it all the way.”
Anderson scored five unanswered points, but Highland followed a well-called timeout with the next four points and still led, 34-24, with six seconds left in the third quarter. Bausher got free for the second time in the game on a backdoor lob with four seconds left to cut it the New Egypt deficit to eight points going into the fourth quarter.
Bausher’s basket seemed innocent enough except that it triggered a 12-2 run. Bausher scored the first seven, and Anderson’s layup made it a one-point game with 5:50 left. After an Owls basket, Ciak, who was hampered with foul trouble in the first half, drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the key for the first tie of the game since the first quarter. She and Cortney Natalicchio are the lone juniors in the starting lineup, while Bridgette Buckalew played big minutes off the bench Monday.
”We were down 11, and for Julie to come up and hit that 3 and tie the game, it’s 0-0 again, and that’s when the girls knew it was theirs,” Brogan said. “That’s when they knew they could get it. It did change momentum. I think it a lot of the wind out of their sails, it fired everyone in the gym up and fired the girls up to play better D, and they finished the job.”
Said Knigge: “When we just started going on the run, we could feel each other meshing. We kept building momentum. That’s when we felt great.”
After a Highland Park free throw gave them a one-point lead, New Egypt took its first lead since 6-5 on Anderson’s putback with 2:46 left. Knigge followed with a blocked shot and after a steal, Bausher upped the edge to 40-37 on a runner in the lane. Highland never could get as close as Anderson connected on 7-of-8 free throws in the final 1:11.
”I’ve never been a great foul shooter before,” Anderson said, “but I just had a lot of confidence this game. I knew as a senior I was going to step it up and win it for everyone.”
Said Brogan: “She’ll make every important foul shot she goes to the line for. She did it against Allentown in a tight game. She did it tonight in a tight game. She’s done it all season.”
Anderson helped to complete quite a turnaround for the Warriors program in four short seasons. Each year, they have climbed since that 3-17 season, and it culminated when New Egypt went two steps further than its semifinal appearance a year ago by winning its first sectional.
”It was a lot better than last year,” Anderson said. “We were home, we had a lot more confidence than we had last year, and we just knew we could get it done.”

