Northern Burlington County Regional High School girls’ basketball coach Terry Jennings was looking for a home playoff win against Central Regional on Saturday.
What her team gave her was something just short of absolute perfection a beautiful 54-30 triumph which featured an exquisite first half that was the high school basketball equivalent of the Mona Lisa.
By:Sean Moylan
NBC’s renaissance as a team started with the win over Williamstown. But versus Central, Danielle Walder and Krystle Hatton introduced a higher form of art. Northern played so well during the first half that leads and points almost became secondary elements of the game. Instead, one’s focus was drawn to Northern Burlington’s uncanny ball movement, it’s brilliant shot selection, its rhythm, its impenetrable defense and its poise.
With first-game nerves out of the way, Krystle Hatton was able to continuously glide to the basket and score easy buckets off of passes by Melissa Coover, Erin Walton and Danielle Walder.
When the Golden Eagles connected on a couple of long-range bombs in the first quarter, NBC extended its defense and effectively shut down Central Regional’s perimeter shooters. By the end of the first quarter, Northern had a 22-10 lead and Hatton had 6 of her 14 points.
"Last game I wasn’t quite focused. This game I was focused. I was ready. I did my routine before the game," said Hatton, who came out loose, happy and with a burst of energy.
Once again, Northern Burlington’s Danielle Walder had an incredible game. When Central Regional tried to press and trap the Greyhounds in the first quarter, Walder and Walton had no problem moving the ball past the half-court line.
Later when the Golden Eagles had the audacity to steal the ball from Walder, she grabbed it right back and put in a lay-up. Walder scored 10 of her 15 points in the first half.
Walder had numerous steals that led directly to scores. She also played a big part in stopping Central Regional’s outside shooting.
"Coming into this game, our coach said they (the Golden Eagles) had played Pemberton and the score was in the 70’s and that they shot the lights out," Walder noted. "So we came in with the mindset that they a very good shooting team. So when they hit their shots, we had to step up and try to prevent them from shooting our lights out."
After a first half where it couldn’t miss, NBC settled down and shot 49 percent for the game. Even so, the game became a mere formality to everyone in the building except the Northern Burlington coaches and players.
"You know you go into halftime and I kind of want to be stern with them and say that’s only 16 minutes," Northern Burlington Coach Terry Jennings said. "We have another 16 minutes and they’re not going to go away."
NBC’s Erica Davis showed a tremendous amount of dignity and class in the contest. With Hatton running the floor so well in the first half, Jennings played Krysta Sensbach more at center. Despite being an outstanding player, Davis happily assumed the role of cheerleader when she went to the bench. This type of unselfish behavior was a key component in NBC’s success.
The whole team used an unselfish style of play. As a result, late in the fourth quarter, players like Chantel Franklin, Tiffany Binn and Kourtney Gibbs were given their chance to shine.
"We’re very lucky," Jennings noted. "We have height. We have outside shooters. We have a deep bench.
"Our girls they played excellent defense. They did a great job."
