BERKELEY HEIGHTS, NJ – The Arthur L. Johnson HS Crusaders girls varsity basketball team won a close battle over the Governor Livingston HS Highlanders girls varsity basketball team by a final score of 46-41 Tuesday night in Berkeley Heights. Throughout the evening, both teams kept it close in the entirety of the 32 minutes of play.
Both teams came into the game with identical 2-0 records in conference play and a chance at taking the lead in the Union County Conference Mountain Division.
The teams battled through the first four minutes exchanging points, with Governor Livingston leading 7-6 with 1:45 left in the first eight minutes of play.
The Crusaders answered with a 6-0 run to close out the quarter, with senior Sabrina Parin connecting on a shot and junior Shelby Lynes draining two free throws, but junior Danielle Hartzler played a huge part for the Crusaders in scoring most of the points.
She hit 3 three-pointers in the quarter alone, with her third one being a buzzer-beater to extend Johnson’s lead to 13-7 after the first quarter. Hartzler finished leading the team with 16 points and four 3-point baskets on the evening.
“We play a lot of tough teams and, in my opinion, conference games matter the most,” Hartzler said. “It’s important for us to go 3-0 in the conference, especially that Governor Livingston was 2-0 [coming into the game], so we put them behind, it was a really big win.”
