SP-F Girls Basketball Team Performs Strong in Opening Game

Down by as many as 17 points in the middle of the third quarter to a Plainfield team that will win many games this year and challenge for conference and county titles, a very young and inexperienced Scotch Plains-Fanwood girls' basketball squad could have packed it in.

To their credit, the Raiders didn't.

Although Scotch Plains may not be considered one of the best teams in Union County right now, the Raiders gave an opening day performance that proved that with time they might be able to play with anybody.

After a rough second quarter during which they made only one basket, Scotch Plains outscored Plainfield in the second half by two points before falling to the visiting Cardinals 42-35 in Union County Conference-Watchung Division play at Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School.

Trailing 34-17 at one point, the Raiders got back into the game by hanging around and continuing to work hard. A rebound here and a basket there and Scotch Plains pulled to within five at 40-35 with a minute to go.

The final two points junior forward and co-captain Aysia Peterson scored, coming in the paint, prompted the Raiders to call their last timeout with 49 seconds left.

Plainfield was able to pass the ball around until Scotch Plains finally committed a foul to stop the clock a bit too late with only 12.7 seconds remaining. Learning to foul earlier is a lesson the young Raiders will adjust to in time.

Standout Plainfield guard Chanel Johnson, one of the top returning seniors in Union County, iced the game with two free throws. She led all scorers with a 22-point performance that also included eight rebounds, three blocks, two assists and one steal.

Scotch Plains had its hands full trying to stop Johnson from going to the hoop – most of her baskets were made on layups – and preventing big senior forward Brittany Sutton from not only coming down with rebounds, but swatting shots away.

Peterson scored 10 points, including five in the fourth quarter.

"I think we played very well," Peterson said. "We started three juniors and two freshmen and I think we did a lot better than a lot of people thought we would do."

The first quarter was pretty even, with Scotch Plains only trailing 13-10 at the conclusion. However, Plainfield dominated the second quarter, with four players combining for nine points. Johnson scored three points and grabbed five rebounds in the period, while Sutton – who finished with three points – had two blocked shots.

The only Raider points came on the second three-pointer made by starting freshman guard Taylor Sebolao, who played extremely well. Not slowed down at all by a bloody nose that she came back from, Sebolao paced Scotch Plains with an impressive 13-point performance.

Plainfield quickly extended its nine-point halftime advantage by scoring the first three baskets of the second half to take a 28-13 lead. Johnson, senior forward Tiffany Frazier and sophomore guard Abdura Kearny hit shots, with Scotch Plains first-year head coach Jennifer Ryan calling a timeout soon after to settle things down.

"Our defense needs to be a little better," said Peterson, with both teams playing man-to-man until Scotch Plains switched to a 2-3 very late in the fourth quarter. "They were bigger than us, but we're still a strong team. We just need to work on our defense more."

A three-point shot from the right side by Raider starting junior guard Evie Klotz got the game under 10 for Scotch Plains, with the home team now trailing 40-31 with 2:45 left.

"If we had just about two more minutes we probably would have had the game," Peterson said. "We came back and played our hardest."

When you're working with a young team and that unit falls behind by a decent margin in its first game, sometimes that's when you find out what kind of girls you have playing for you.

"What I told them off the court was that we did not give up and that showed a lot of character," said Ryan, who was a standout player in high school at Plainfield before graduating in 1984. "Because we're young and we don't have a lot of varsity experience, we're still trying to figure out who our go-to person is."

Sebolao could be that player from the outside and was sort of that performer against Plainfield. After giving the Raiders a 2-0 lead with her first varsity free throws and points, she later in the first quarter connected on the first 3-point basket of her varsity career to give Scotch Plains its second advantage at 5-4.

A steal and a layup by Johnson gave Plainfield a 6-5 lead with 3:16 left in the opening stanza. The Cardinals never trailed again after that hoop.

Sebolao scored the first of her two 2-point baskets in the third quarter.

"I knew from the moment I saw her that she was going to be tough," Ryan said of Sebolao, who is also a soccer goalie and played a few games on the varsity this past season. "She's going to grow with this team very nicely. I'm very excited she's with us. She loves the game of basketball. She's funny, she's got a great personality and the kids love her and, again, she's going to realize how good she is and how much we need her. We need her to do that every night and that's a tough role for a freshman. I'm going to keep asking her for it."

A lot will be expected of every Raider player. As for a go-to person inside, that might be Peterson.

"One thing I keep telling Aysia through our scrimmages and practices is to work the ball every single time," Ryan said. "We want her to be an option every single time that we come down the floor. She's nodding to me, but I feel like I still have to convince her. I want her to get the ball every single time we go down the floor. She can score. She missed a lot of little shots. I want her to get to the basket. I don't want her to settle for little fade-away jump shots. I want her to be confident. Every single time facing the basket, I thought she passed the ball too much. I thought she could have taken the ball on the floor a little bit more 1-on-1. I told her, 'I'm staying on you because that's what I need you to do.'"

After 48 minutes of play that counted this time on the scoreboard, Scotch Plains can take a solid effort into its next game at Dayton of Springfield Dec. 28.

"We have to get it in their minds just who they are," Ryan said. "It's a learning experience every time we get on the floor. Take away that first half and we could beat this team."

Scotch Plains shot 4-for-24 in the first half – 3-for-10 in the first quarter and 1-for-14 in the second.

"Not a lot of teams can come back and stay in the game," Ryan said.

Scotch Plains shot 7-for-29 in the second half – 4-for-17 in the third quarter and 3-for-12 in the fourth.

"We stayed in the game, we were in the game, and maybe two possessions going our way it's a different ball game, so I'm happy with that," Ryan said.

NOTES: Plainfield shot 10-for-22 in the first half and 9-for-20 in the second.

Scotch Plains made 10-of-20 free throws and Plainfield 6-of-9.

Klotz and Kreyer had steals in the first quarter and Sebolao and Klotz grabbed a rebound each.

Sebolao, Peterson and Kreyer came up with steals in the second quarter, while Klotz and freshman forward-center Tara Sweeney had one block each.

Junior forward Erin Brown, off the bench, scored her only basket of the game in the third quarter and also had two rebounds in the period. She scored her basket off an offensive rebound. 

UNION COUNTY CONFERENCE-WATCHUNG DIVISION GAME

PLAINFIELD (1-0)                                         13         9        14        6 - 42

SCOTCH PLAINS (0-1)                                 10         3        11      11 - 35 

PLAINFIELD (42) – Chanel Johnson 9-0-4-22, Tiffany Frazier 2-0-0-4, Brittany Sutton 1-0-1-3, Abdura Kearny 2-0-1-5, Layla Tadros 2-0-0-4. Danielle Hooks 1-0-0-2.Totals: 18-0-6-42.

SCOTCH PLAINS (35) – Taylor Sebolao 2-2-3-13, Aysia Peterson 3-0-4-10, Evie Klotz 0-1-3-6, Renee Oliver 1-0-0-2, Erin Brown 1-0-0-2, Becca Kreyer 1-0-0-2.Totals: 8-3-10-35.  

2009-2010 SCOTCH PLAINS-FANWOOD RAIDERS

GIRLS' BASKETBALL: 

28-Lyndsey Douglas, senior guard (5-4)

14-Erin Brown, junior forward (5-8)

22-Evie Klotz, junior guard (5-6)

21-Becca Kreyer, junior guard (5-5)

24-Aysia Peterson, junior forward (5-11)

12-Linsey Phelan, junior guard (5-5)

5-Liz Gallo, sophomore guard/forward (5-7)

25-Renee Oliver, freshman forward/center (5-11)

20-Tara Sweeney, freshman forward/center (6-0)

23-Taylor Sebolao, freshman guard (5-7)

13-Christine Monroy, freshman guard (5-5)

15-Kelsey Meisch, freshman guard (5-6)

Captains: Evie Klotz, Aysia Peterson

Starters vs. Plainfield: Klotz, Kreyer, Peterson, Sebolao, Sweeney

Head coach: Jennifer Ryan, first year

Assistant coach: Robert Rafferty

Manager: Kevin Schimidt

Scorekeeper: Courtney Zayla 

2009-2010 SCHEDULE/results (0-1):

Dec. 18 (H) Plainfield 42, Scotch Plains 35

Dec. 28 at Dayton, 3 p.m., Joe Pepe Tournament

Dec. 30 Joe Pepe Tournament game at Dayton, TBA

Jan. 5 Westfield, 4 p.m.

Jan. 7 Bridgewater-Raritan, 4 p.m.

Jan 9 at Linden, 4 p.m.

Jan. 12 Hillside, 4 p.m.

Jan. 14 Summit, 4 p.m.

Jan. 16 New Providence, 1 p.m.

Jan. 23 at Rahway, 4 p.m.

Jan. 26 Elizabeth, 4 p.m.

Jan. 29 Union, 4 p.m.

Jan. 30 at Planifield, TBA

Feb. 2 at Westfield, 4 p.m.

Feb. 4 Linden, 4 p.m.

Feb. 6 at Summit, 1 p.m.

Feb. 9 Rahway, 4 p.m.

Feb. 11 at Elizabeth, 4 p.m.

Feb. 13 at Union, 10:30 a.m.

Feb. 16 at Johnson, 4 p.m.

Feb. 18 Watchung Hills, 4 p.m.