Girls basketball: Somerville survives Bound Brook to advance to county quarters
SOMERVILLE — It is said beating a team three times in a season is among the most difficult things to do in sports. The Somerville High School girls basketball team got first-hand experience Saturday on just how hard that can be.
But the Pioneers took nothing for granted against Bound Brook in the second round of the Somerset County Tournament, a club they’d already defeated twice in Skyland Conference Mountain Division play this season. And though the 10th-seeded Crusaders pushed seventh-seeded Somerville to the brink Saturday, in the end, the Pioneers’ confidence and ability to make big plays when it mattered most made the difference.
Sophomore guard Kaylee Lauber finished with 14 points, and senior forward Emily Kolodziej added 10 points and four rebounds, sealing the game with two clutch free throws, and Somerville withstood a fierce third-quarter Bound Brook run that turned a 10-point Pioneers lead into a four-point deficit to begin the final frame, advancing with a 49-47 victory.
“We’re confident in how we play basketball, but you can never really take any game for granted,” said Kolodziej, who sunk a pair from the stripe with 6.1 seconds remaining to make it a 49-45 game, before Jamayia McCleod dropped in a shot for Bound Brook at the buzzer to provide the final margin. “Complacency is a big killer in high school basketball, especially in the county tournament. It’s hard to beat a team three times, so I’m really proud of all the girls.”
“We’ve had these close games where we’ve had to find a way to win, and good teams find ways to win and bad teams find ways to lose,” said Somerville coach Matt Melesurgo, whose team will visit second-seeded Gill St. Bernard’s in Tuesday’s quarterfinals. “We’ve lucked out where we’ve made a big stop, we got a rebound, we made two clutch free throws — little things throughout the game that night not happen for the first three quarters, that we found a way to do when it really matters.”
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It took both teams a bit to find their rhythm in the contest, which began at 10 a.m. Saturday. The game was scoreless for the first 5:09 before Kari LaCanna dropped one in off an offensive rebound for Somerville (20-3). Lily Taylor, who finished with nine points, followed with a 3-pointer for the Pioneers, before Charlotte Taylor’s free throw made it 6-0 with 1:00 remaining. McCleod then scored three and Jayden Campbell added a bucket for Bound Brook (13-8) and it was a 6-5 contest after one period.
The teams found their groove from the start of the second period, battling back-and-forth, with Somerville holding a 22-17 advantage at halftime. The Pioneers increased their lead to 31-21 with 5:23 left in the second half on a 3-pointer from Kelsey Butler, before Bound Brook came to life, embarking on a 17-3 run to close out the quarter, including eight points from McCleod, who finished with a game-high 20 points to go with eight rebounds.
But Somerville, which trailed 38-34 headed into the final stanza, stepped up in the fourth, despite Bound Brook maintaining the pressure. Somerville, which never led by more than four points in the final quarter, took the lead for good on two free throws from Charlotte Taylor with 2:20 remaining, with Lauber and Kolodziej closing it out to secure the Pioneers’ 20th victory — the first time since 2020 they’ve reached the mark.
“Coach (Melesurgo) has been really good about regulating us and keeping us focused on the game play,” Kolodziej said. “He knows what we need to do and he (reminds us) where our strong suits are and where we need to pick it up, so credit to him. We just gave it our best effort and found a way to win.”
“The first two times we played them, it was a similar first quarter where we were missing shots, they were missing shots, and the first one that could break the ice was going to pull through,” said Melesurgo, whose team beat his alma mater 36-28 early and then 40-27 nine days ago enroute to a 10-0 divisional record. “The second time, when we played them here, it was more back and forth, the kind of style we need to play and want to play. They’re a good team, we’re a good team, and at some point, it was going to click offensively, and whoever was able to hang on and make the last run (was going to win). Luckily, it was us. We’re so familiar with them, they’re so familiar with us, it’s like just throw the ball out and see what happens. The third time is mayhem, and it really was (today).”
BOX SCORE
BOUND BROOK (13-8) 5-12-21-9--47
SOMERVILLE (20-3) 6-16-12-15--49
SCORING: BB—McCleod 20, Thiessen 17, Campbell 5, Cooper 3, Spiran 2, Baker 2; S—Lauber 14, Kolodziej 10, L. Taylor 9, Miller 6, C. Taylor 5, Butler 3, LaCanna 2.
REBOUNDS: BB—McCleod 8, Thiessen 5, Spiran 2, Cooper 2, Campbell 2, Polakiewicz 1, Baker 1, Spiran 1; S—Miller 4, Kolodziej 4, Lauber 3, Taylor 3, DeSarno 3, C. Taylor 2, LaCanna 2, Butler 1.
Simeon Pincus has been covering NJ sports since 1997. He can be reached at CNGirlsHoops@aol.com. Follow him on Twitter @SimeonPincus
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ Girls basketball: Somerville survives Bound Brook to advance in SCT
