BERKELEY HEIGHTS, NJ- After trailing by a score of 15-5 with 1:28 left before finding a few more baskets to close the gap to four points at the end of the quarter. They fought to go into halftime trailing by one, 21-20. The Highlanders outscored Columbia, 23-16, in the second half to capture the victory by a final score of 43-37 Monday afternoon in Berkeley Heights.
“We always talk that a game is like a roller coaster ride, a lot of ups and downs,” Governor Livingston head coach Chris Eckert said. “It’s a matter of how you handle those downs. Even though it was 15-5, there was a lot of basketball to be played.”
In the second quarter, the Highlanders knocked down their free throws to keep within reach, before tying the game 18-18 with a three-point shot from sophomore Skylar Dowling with 1:45 left before halftime.
A big part of the team’s push in the second quarter was on the defensive side, getting the rebounds and preventing Columbia from getting second looks at the basket, which proved to be the difference with how the rest of the first half went.
“If we didn’t get stops in the defensive end, then we would’ve been in trouble, but we got some stops that led to some transitional offense,” Eckert said. “We hit threes off of it and we were able to get into a rhythm.”
As the third quarter started, Governor Livingston took the lead for the first time of the afternoon and never looked back as they continued to fight.
Senior Ally McGlynn and Dowling connected for back-to-back layups to put Governor Livingston up 24-21 with 6:26 left in the third quarter. The Cougars, led by junior Ashley Phillip and her team-leading 15 points, kept it close. She cashed in on a basket to cut the lead to 25-24, before Dowling drained a timely three-point shot to increase Governor Livingston’s lead to 28-24 with 2:41 left in the third quarter.
Full Coverage of Governor Livingston Highlanders Win Over Columbia HS Here
