The Summit Lady Hilltoppers chose the finals of the Millburn Holiday Tournament to play some of their best basketball of the season in defeating the favored GL team 52-36. Summit roared out to a 12-1 lead in the first quarter on 6-8 shooting led by Danielle Scott's 4-4. Two baskets near the end of the quarter by GL closed the lead to 7, but Summit came out strong in the second quarter with balanced scoring from Megan Osmulski, Alex Reid and Danielle Allocco who all contributed a bucket in the quarter. GL made a drive with 20 seconds remaining to narrow Summit's lead, but Summit drove down the court and got a shot off that missed, but from the left side junior Katelyn Allocco swooped in and elevated above the defenders to grab the ball in mid air and lay it in at the buzzer, preserving Summit's 7 point lead. The defensive stars of the quarter were Shannon Murphy and Reid, who shut down GL's two scoring stars in holding GL to only 16 points in the half. In the second half GL began to raise the pressure, bringing three girls to the half court line to trap the ball, and with Murphy out GL's forward began to score underneath. But a key 3 pointer by Megan Osmulski seemed to ease the pressure, and a nice drive by Jenna Wilson, who did a great job bringing the ball up against pressure, kept Summit's lead, but only by 4. The crowd settled in to what looked to be a tense fourth quarter. The first turning point came when GL's point guard, who had been hounded by Reid all game, drew her 5th foul and left the game when she charged into Danielle Allocco. The second came when GL's strong forward went up for a three but came down hard on her ankle, leaving the game. Summit's Danielle Scott and sister Melissa Scott took over, scoring 9 and 4 respectively. Melissa Scott hit all of her 4 pressure free throws in the quarter, and other key free throws from Danielle Allocco and Megan Osmulski increased the lead. The final 2 minutes saw Summit hold the ball away from GL's pressure and a huge cheer erupted from the Summit contingent as the buzzer sounded. Danielle Scott played her best all around game, blocking shots, making steals and rebounding with a vengeance, and finished the night scoring 24 points. Scott and Reid were named to the all tournament team.
| Player | FG | 3PT | FTM | POINTS | | Danielle Scott | 11 | 0 | 2 | 24 | | Meghan Osmulski | 0 | 1 | 4 | 7 | | Katelyn Allocco | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | | Danielle Allocco | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | | Mellisa Scott | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | | Jenna Wilson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | | Shannon Murphy | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | | Alex Reid | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | | Deanna Nelson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | Game Totals | 18 | 1 | 13 | 52 |
(reporting by John Reid)
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