STEVEN BASSIN/STAFF

Sayreville unable to slow down Trenton in season-ending loss in girls’ basketball

The Sayreville War Memorial High School girls’ basketball team’s 2019-2020 season came to a close on March 3 in Sayreville.

Sayreville fell to Trenton Central High School in the first round of the NJSIAA Central Jersey, Group 4 Tournament.

Sayreville could not slow down Trenton’s dynamic duo of Ishuana Hunter and Leianya Messenat, who combined for 52 points to lead the Tornadoes to a 68-56 victory over the host Bombers in the state sectional tournament.

“Trenton is a very athletic team,” said Sayreville coach Janet Cook. “Ishuana (Hunter) and Leianya (Messenat) are phenomenal athletes. We knew trying to keep them in check would be a tough situation for us. Once we got down, we had to go to a man-to-man defense and ended up going bucket for bucket with them.”

Junior Stephanie Van Note recorded a team-high 21 points in the contest for Sayreville.

Van Note scored all of the team’s 11 points in the first quarter, which included a coast-to- coast layup in the finals seconds to tie the game at 11-11 going into the second period.

Trenton ended the first half on a 15-7 surge and took a 33-26 lead into halftime.

Sophomore Brooke Holland scored 11 of her 20 points in the second half for the Bombers and finished with eight rebounds.

Sayreville finished the season for the second straight year with a record of 17-10.

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