|
|
 |
To the casual observer, this high school basketball game was no thing of beauty. The contest featured a whopping 52 total fouls, innumerable whistles and only three baskets combined in the fourth quarter. But for the Pequannock girls' basketball team, and especially its two seniors, this victory over league sports rival DePaul might as well have been a Picasso.
|
The Panthers ended a five-game losing streak with the victory, but seemed mainly concerned that they maintained another streak. The win made it seven years in a row that Pequannock won on girls' basketball Senior Night. What made this one special was that the two seniors played a role in the win, because even a few weeks ago that was hardly a sure thing.
Forward Amanda Quinn, who missed the early part of the season with a knee injury, contributed five points and helped the Panthers dominate the boards in the first and second quarters as they built a 13-point lead. DePaul didn't give up, and took over the game in the late second quarter and into the third. The Spartans erased the deficit and took a four-point lead of their own.
That's when the other senior found her game. Noelle Ramirez was a key member of the Panthers in the past, but had not played a basketball game this year. Ramirez is a star softball player headed to Dartmouth and sat out in order to protect an injury. But in the second half, she began to get into her rhythm, scoring four points and contributing several assists, rebounds and steals as well. The Panthers regained the lead, then held on during the foul-filled fourth quarter to post the win.
"We were diving for loose balls that we might not have if it wasn't Senior Night," noted Pequannock coach Peggy Bionde. "That shows the respect these younger kids have for these two seniors."
Bionde praised Ramirez's devotion to her team even though she could not play throughout the year. "She comes to practice all the time, and her experience really helps the younger players," Bionde said. "It was nice to see her out there."
Pequannock will wrap up its regular season and then prepare for a New Jersey state playoff game on Monday, March 2, at Glen Rock. Ramirez will stay on the bench, rooting on Quinn and her younger teammates as they try to extend the high school basketball season a little further. -- Paul Mencher for Jersey Sports Now
|
