Away vs. Parsippany 12/22/2006
(Won 53-48) In an amazing display of guts and determination the Lady Hilltoppers came back from a 17-6 first quarter deficit and pulled out a miraculous 4th quarter comeback in beating Parsippany 53-48 in Parsippany tonight. As the under-“womaned” squad took the court for their pre-game warm-ups, the Summit squad numbered only 7. Parsippany used its home court advantage and some tentative defensive play by Summit to take a huge first quarter lead. But Summit chipped away, receiving balanced scoring from all 7 players in the second quarter and narrowed the gap to 8 on two clutch free throws by Melissa Scott. In the second half the girls did not take the floor until 15 seconds before the buzzer to start the half, but the long session with the coach must have been worthwhile because Summit came out much tougher on defense, sporting both zone and press looks to confuse Parsippany. Danielle Allocco, starting at guard, had a good quarter hitting on 2-3 from the field and adding a foul shot for 5 in the quarter. With a minute left in the third, Alex Reid hit a twenty foot jumper to tie the score….Summit had come all the way back! But just as quickly, Parsippany used their height advantage to get two easy lay-ups, one with 1 second left, to take a 4 point lead into the fourth quarter. The defense did not let up however and created some turnovers as the lady Hilltoppers began to wear away the stamina of Parsippany. Katelyn Allocco and Jenna Wilson were all over the backcourt creating havoc and coming up with key steals. Alex Reid fed Shannon Murphy for two of her three huge buckets underneath in the quarter, which tied the game at the 2:29 mark. Summit began finding Danielle Scott underneath, and she began to draw fouls. Scott hit her next 5 free throws in a row, the last with 1:50 remaining for a three point lead. Some clutch rebounding by Scott and Murphy limited Parsippany to one shot. With Parsippany racing the ball upcourt, Jenna Wilson stepped into the passing lane, deflected the ball, and drove the length of the court for a great lay up with a defender all over her and a 5 point lead, which Summit held onto till the end. Captain Scott had 15 for the game, Danielle Allocco shot 5-8 from the field to finish with 13, and Shannon Murphy shot a remarkable 5-6 from the field and finished with 11.