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Girls Basketball: Somerville overcomes second-half rally, tops Voorhees in OT

Simeon Pincus
Bridgewater Courier News

The whole one-game-at-a-time mentality is all well and good, but there’s no way the Somerville High School girls basketball team didn’t have Tuesday night’s meeting with Voorhees circled on its calendar in bright red ink.

The Pioneers lost just six times last year, and while the focus from opening night has been on the game in front of them and not exorcising the demons of a year ago, considering three of those loses came to the Vikings, including in the NJSIAA North 2 Group III final, and this one certainly as much extra juice as an early-season contest could carry.

Voorhees, meanwhile, was looking to serve notice that rumors of its demise have been greatly exaggerated after graduating eight seniors, and the Vikings certainly got that message across, fighting back from a 15-point second-quarter deficit to take a fourth-quarter lead. But in the end Somerville got its revenge, led by Melody Van Ness, who scored 10 of her game-high 27 points in overtime, accounting for all but three of her team’s points in the extra session as the Pioneers prevailed 58-55 to stay undefeated, dealing Voorhees its first loss.

“It’s a team that knows how to find its way to win,” Somerville coach Matt Melesurgo said of his club. “We’re just doing it, finding ways. The little hustle plays that worked out, balls going into the stands where we’re diving into the stands, those are the plays. So when things aren’t going great, I think those plays make up for the difference and those are the plays that have to happen in order for us to be successful.”

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It’s the hustle that certainly came in handy at the end of regulation. Somerville led by 19 at halftime, before Voorhees outscored the Pioneers 16-6 in the third quarter and tied it 1:12 into the fourth on a pair of Caitlin Reilly free throws. The Vikings went ahead 36 seconds later on a jumper by Lauren Wagner, who scored all 14 of her points after halftime, tying Allie Best for the team lead for the game.

“We didn’t play our game and we lost our focus (in the third),” Van Ness said. “We came in with a mindset and in the third quarter it wasn’t there. We played their game, and when we okay their game, they get us.”

But Van Ness turned in a hustle play with 31 seconds remaining, diving to steal an inbounds pass and dropping it in to tie it. Van Ness rediscovered her shooting groove in overtime, beginning things with a 3-pointer, expressing a little bit of emotion with a little fist pump as the ball sank through the net.

“Once I hit that shot, I knew we were going to win,” Van Ness said. “When we go ahead in overtime, like we did last game (against Watchung Hills), it’s just a feeling. I knew we were going to pull it out.”

“It shows a lot of championship characteristics,” said Melesurgo, whose team improved to 6-0 as Voorhees fell to 5-1. “It’s one of those thing you can’t describe, you can’t put on the board, you can’t put it in the game plan, it is just what it is. It’s just overcoming. Down two or three, losing composure, you could be down 10 points before you know it. But somehow we just fight through.”

Nyasia Thomas chipped in 15 points in the victory, while Meghan Douglass grabbed seven rebounds and blocked three shots. Beatriz Tomale contributed 12 points, all in the first half.

Best and Wagner led Voorhees with 14 points each, with Hailey Conroy adding 12 points.

“We had a four-point lead with 1:40 left and we had the ball tied at the end with the shot,” Voorhees coach Carman Cook said. “You hate to lose, but you love the heart and desire. This is Somerville’s place and they wanted to win, and good for them, it was a great crowd. This is why we coach, this is why we come to games. I thought we were on the short end of the score, but not the game.”

Simeon Pincus can be reached atCNGirlsHoops@aol.com. Follow him on Twitter @SimeonPincus and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SimeonPincusCN

 

 

 

Somerville's Nyasia Thomas drives during Tuesday night's overtime victory over Voorhees