CLARK, NJ- After a slow start in the first half, the Arthur L. Johnson High School Crusaders girls varsity basketball team found themselves trailing 27-24 and needed a spark to give themselves a chance to avoid a third straight loss. Senior Amy Wysocki began the third quarter with a three-point shot that trimmed Dickinson’s lead to one point and that would be the start of Johnson’s comeback on the afternoon.
The Crusaders, who came up short against South Plainfield on Wednesday, embarked on a 15-4 scoring run for the rest of the quarter, as they took control in the second half, defeating the Dickinson High School (Jersey City) Rams by a final score of 61-50 in the Crusader Classic Christmas Tournament Consolation Match Thursday afternoon in Clark.
Wysocki would score the first seven points of the quarter, a quick 7-0 scoring run that put Johnson ahead 31-28 just a little more than two and a half minutes in the third quarter. Dickinson got a basket that got them to within 31-30, but that was the closest they would get towards getting back in the game before the Crusaders overwhelmed the Rams on offense.
After Johnson led Dickinson 31-30, they continued to pour it on the offense. Rosenmeier connected for a shot, before Wysocki, and seniors Shelby Lynes and Hartzler fueled the Crusaders, increasing the lead to 37-30 with 3:02 left in the third quarter. It was a completely different game from the Crusaders, who initially struggled to gain momentum and chances on the Rams during the first 16 minutes of the game.
“We really stepped it up, they were out-hustling us in the first half and we realized at halftime, we needed to pick it up,” Wysocki said.
Hartzler powered Johnson behind the arc with two three-point shots on two straight Crusaders possessions to give her team a 43-32 lead. After the Crusaders struck on offense, they held a 46-32 lead heading into the fourth quarter. The Crusaders outscored the Rams 22-5 in the quarter alone.
In total, Wysocki scored 11 of her 23 points in the third quarter for the Crusaders.
“The hustle was there [in the third quarter] and we played as a team and we were working together and I think it showed,” Wysocki said.
Another major part towards getting through the comeback was slowing down key players from Dickinson, including senior Jada Camacho, who scored nine of her 13 points in the first half. She was held to no points in the third quarter.
“[Dickinson] had a good guard that we had to stop,” Johnson head coach Joe Marino said. “She was penetrating [in the zone], so what we did was, we had to mark her the whole time and try to take her out of the game and they did a great job of doing that.”
Dickinson’s only two baskets of the third quarter came from Woods and senior Emily Ruiz, as the Crusaders defense locked down, preventing any major chances the Rams had of adding points coming out of halftime, especially holding Camacho scoreless the entire eight minutes of the third quarter.
“Our girls knew that once they took her out, they were going to have to go to other people to try and score on us,” Marino added.
In the fourth quarter, Johnson increased their lead to 51-36 with 5:56 left, courtesy of a free throw shot from Rosenmeier, Hartzler and junior Victoria Zatko. Dickinson would trim the lead to 51-43 with a quick 7-0 scoring run that lasted a little more than a minute, but Johnson would able to slow them down and get back in the game on offense.
Freshman Chelsea Kessock connected for two free throws, while Wysocki and Hartzler continued to lead the offense in the final quarter, sealing the deal on a victory for the Crusaders.
Hartzler finished with 13 points, while Rosenmeier finished with eight points for Johnson.
The teams battled through a tight first half, with Johnson taking an 8-7 lead over Dickinson. The Rams leaped out to a 5-0 start before Wysocki and Rosenmeier combined to score all eight of the first quarter points.
The second quarter saw a variety of players get a piece of the action from both sides. For Johnson, senior Kellie Bonaccorso drained two three-point shots, while Lynes added one of her own.
For Dickinson, Camacho and senior Adiva Woods combined for 13 of Dickinson’s 20 second quarter points. The Rams led the Crusaders 27-24 at halftime, before the Crusaders broke the game open in the second half to capture their second win of the season.
On the Crusaders’ schedule, they see four conference games in their first five games in the month of January (Oak Knoll, at Governor Livingston, Scotch Plains-Fanwood, Summit), with their only conference game so far, a 56-35 win over Rahway HS on Tuesday, December 19, 2017.
“These [out-of-conference] games are a way for us to get ready for our conference games so we can win the conference again like we did last year,” Hartzler said, looking ahead to the upcoming schedule.
As the Crusaders move on in their schedule throughout the rest of the season, the team remains focused on coming together and working towards victories as one whole team.
“We have to keep the momentum going. We have to roll with it and stay together,” Marino said, looking ahead to the schedule for the rest of the season. “If we’re staying together, good things will happen.”
The Johnson Crusaders (2-3) return to action when they take on Oak Knoll HS on Saturday, January 6, 2018 at 2:30 p.m.
“It’s all about keeping our energy up at practice. We have to work hard,” Wysocki said. “We have a lot of time off, so that’s going to give us time to recuperate and think about what we have to do next. We have a conference game against Oak Knoll. Our goal is to win the conference.”
The Dickinson Rams (2-3) return to action when they take on McNair HS on the road on Tuesday, January 2, 2018 at 4:30 p.m.
