By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
Ali Geary may want to change her pre-game routine more often.
Rather than her normal arrival time for Montgomery High’s girls basketball game on Saturday, the junior guard had to rush in later than usual for the start of the Cougars’ Somerset County Tournament game against Bernards.
”I took the ACT so didn’t get to the school until about 20 minutes before the game, so there was not much time to warm up,” Geary said.
The change in routine didn’t seem to matter to Geary. She responded with a career-high 22 points as eighth-seeded Montgomery topped Bernards, 67-56, on Saturday. The Cougars advanced to the SCT quarterfinals, where they will meet top-seeded Gill-St. Bernard’s on Feb. 15.
”That was the best she has played all year,” Montgomery coach Megan Pisani said of Geary’s performance. “From scouting Bernards we put our whole game plan in and were looking to pass inside and use our size advantage. It turns out they couldn’t stop our 3-point shooter. And then after she hit a few shots they had to go man and then we got the ball inside to our bigger players.
”Not only was she great shooting the ball, but she had so many assists setting up plays. She just played an overall great game. She is one our shooters it helped her confidence. You could tell once she made her first one that she wanted the ball. It’s great for a shooter to have that mentality.”
Cameryn Benz added 17 points and Dana Schultes had 13 for the Cougars, who improved to 9-9 on the season. Since opening the season 1-5, the Cougars have been playing much better basketball.
”New people are stepping up and that has been helpful,” Pisani said. “It has been a few weeks now that we’re sharing the ball better and distributing the scoring. Since we started that we have come together as a team and that has been great to watch.”
Geary’s season-high before Saturday was 12 points. But on this particular day she was clicking offensively.
”It was my day,” Geary said. “I shot the first couple and was feeling good so I kept going. My teammates kept passing me the ball. We had the size on them so I was open a lot in the beginning.
”It was good day. I usually have big assists but it is always nice to score a lot. Coach tells me shoot.”
The win also helped ease the pain of a triple-overtime loss to Voorhees that came just two days earlier. But the Cougars were able to bounce back nicely from that loss.
”Voorhees was a tough loss,” Pisani said. “Being that it was a tough loss, I think they had more incentive to attack this game with a lot of energy and prove who we are. This was a county game so it was a good playoff atmosphere.”
Geary is just one part of a Montgomery team that has certainly come together this season. She’s one of the veterans on a team with a nice mix of experience and youth.
”I’ve been on varsity since my freshman year, but this year is the most I have played,” Geary said. “We’re meshing together now. We have had some coach changes since I have been here and this year it is coming together.
”We have two seniors but we also have a freshman (Caroline Hedde) on varsity and she is looking good. We’re excited for the rest of the season and the playoffs. That is what we have worked for the whole season.”
