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PISCATAWAY – The New Jersey girls basketball world was focused on Rutgers University early Saturday afternoon, with the New Providence and Glen Ridge high school teams in the spotlight in the NJSIAA Group 1 final at Jersey Mike’s Arena.
But the Pioneers have become quite accustomed to the state’s biggest hoops stages, and that might have proven to be their biggest advantage.
Junior three-year starter Annie Conover finished with 18 points and five rebounds, and senior four-year letterwinner Brenna Slattery added 11 points and five boards as the veteran duo put their experience and leadership to good use to help New Providence hold off a fourth-quarter charge from Glen Ridge in a 42-36 victory, the program’s fifth all-time and second in three seasons.
New Providence trailed by a point at halftime before posting a stellar third quarter and opened an 11-point lead in the opening minute for the fourth period. The Ridgers turned up the heat, however, closing to within two points with just over a minute remaining. Still, the Pioneers kept their wits and their composure, hitting some clutch free throws and not panicking on defense to close it out.
“We’re used to playing when the game’s close at the end, like in the Union County final and some of the sectional games we had,” said Slattery, who played key minutes in the Group 2 final two years ago, “so we’re definitely used to the environment and the fast pace and the stress, and we know how to stay composed and stay together no matter what the score is. We try not to focus on that, and it leads to us being more aggressive on defense and offense.”
Said Conover, who also had a big state final as a freshman in 2023, “We were down, losing at the half, but we didn’t get down on ourselves. We believed in ourselves and did what we had to and finished strong.”
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For New Providence coach Cap Pazdera, who has been at the helm since 2010 and has guided the green and gold for all five of the program’s championship, it was just another example of one of the things that sets this team apart.
“We’re like a bend-don’t-break,” said Pazdera, whose squad played a similar first three quarters in beating Glen Ridge in a regular-season meeting Jan. 18 before pulling away late for a 57-43 win. “We made a couple of bone-headed mistakes (near) the end, and maybe other teams cave to that and let it keep going, but we just get on to the next play like it never even happened. It’s been that way all year. We haven’t played perfectly, but we’ve played the right way at the right time and stuck together. There’s been no letdown, they just believed that they can win.”
Glen Ridge came out firing at the start, with senior Marjorie Boyle draining a quick 3 and then sinking another later in the quarter to respond to an 8-0 Conover run that included a pair of longballs of her own. Freshman Addy Fitzgerald also added a trey for the Pioneers in the period, and it was an 11-10 New Prov advantage after one.
The second quarter featured the teams, literally, taking turns putting up points, and the Ridgers led 20-19 at intermission. But after Riley O’Sullivan hit for Glen Ridge to start the third quarter, that’s when New Providence went to work, embarking on an 11-0 run. The charge featured six points from Conover, a big 3-pointer from Haley Kessler and a defense that forced eight third-quarter turnovers.
“The first half, we were giving them some shots we didn’t want to give them – like (Boyle) hit a couple of big 3s and then took the ball to the basket,” Pazdera said. “That was a big chunk of their points. We were doing a pretty good job, defensively, on the other girls. We just didn’t want to give up easy baskets, and I think we did a better job of that in the third quarter.”
New Providence led 32-24 headed to the final period, with a Megan Henn 3 increasing the advantage to 35-24 seconds in. But that’s when the pressure got turned up, as Glen Ridge set out on a 9-1 run to close it to 36-33 with 3:13 left, thanks, largely, to senior Katie Powers, who scored all nine, finishing with a team-high 13.
Slattery then hooked one in to make it 38-33, but Allison Snyder netted a pair and O’Sullivan hit a free throw to close it to 38-36 with 1:04 remaining. New Providence bore down again, though, as Caitlin Hood and Powers each fouled out for Glen Ridge and Conover hit a pair of free throws to seal it.
“We knew we had to come out strong and couldn’t just take it for granted because we had already beat them earlier in the season,” Conover said. “(We knew) it was going to be a battle, so we just had to do all the things that we could control.”
“It just came to our mind that we just had to really lock in and get the win,” Slattery said.
The triumph pushed New Providence’s record to 30-2, the winningest in program history. It’s also the second time in three years the Pioneers have hit all four of their big goals: winning the conference, county, section and state. Impressive, considering the talent that graduated the past two seasons, with a key group walking the graduation aisle last spring, including Grace Kinum, one of the program’s all-time great.
“I can’t tell you how proud I am of these kids,” said Pazdera, whose teams only losses came to Group 3 power Teaneck and Group 3 finalist Chatham. “When we lost last year (in the sectional finals), they could have just packed it in and said, ‘Eh. We’ll just be a .500 team,’ but they took on the challenge of trying to get back here and do special things this year, and they ran the table, which is incredible. This is the best season New Providence girls basketball has ever had.”
NEW PROVIDENCE (30-2) 11-8-13-10 — 42
GLEN RIDGE (23-9) 10-10-4-12 — 36
SCORING: NP — Conover 18, Slattery 11, Fitzgerald 7, Henn 3, Kessler 3; GR — Powers 13, Boyle 8, Hood 6, Snyder 5, O’Sullivan 3.
REBOUNDS: NP — Conover 5, Slattery 5, Henn 2, Fitzgerald 1, Kessler 1; GR — Snyder 7, O’Sullivan 6, Boyle 5, Hood 3, Powers 1.
Simeon Pincus has been covering NJ sports since 1997. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @SimeonPincus
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ Girls basketball: New Providence claims state Group 1 championship
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But the Pioneers have become quite accustomed to the state’s biggest hoops stages, and that might have proven to be their biggest advantage.
Junior three-year starter Annie Conover finished with 18 points and five rebounds, and senior four-year letterwinner Brenna Slattery added 11 points and five boards as the veteran duo put their experience and leadership to good use to help New Providence hold off a fourth-quarter charge from Glen Ridge in a 42-36 victory, the program’s fifth all-time and second in three seasons.
New Providence trailed by a point at halftime before posting a stellar third quarter and opened an 11-point lead in the opening minute for the fourth period. The Ridgers turned up the heat, however, closing to within two points with just over a minute remaining. Still, the Pioneers kept their wits and their composure, hitting some clutch free throws and not panicking on defense to close it out.
“We’re used to playing when the game’s close at the end, like in the Union County final and some of the sectional games we had,” said Slattery, who played key minutes in the Group 2 final two years ago, “so we’re definitely used to the environment and the fast pace and the stress, and we know how to stay composed and stay together no matter what the score is. We try not to focus on that, and it leads to us being more aggressive on defense and offense.”
Said Conover, who also had a big state final as a freshman in 2023, “We were down, losing at the half, but we didn’t get down on ourselves. We believed in ourselves and did what we had to and finished strong.”
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For New Providence coach Cap Pazdera, who has been at the helm since 2010 and has guided the green and gold for all five of the program’s championship, it was just another example of one of the things that sets this team apart.
“We’re like a bend-don’t-break,” said Pazdera, whose squad played a similar first three quarters in beating Glen Ridge in a regular-season meeting Jan. 18 before pulling away late for a 57-43 win. “We made a couple of bone-headed mistakes (near) the end, and maybe other teams cave to that and let it keep going, but we just get on to the next play like it never even happened. It’s been that way all year. We haven’t played perfectly, but we’ve played the right way at the right time and stuck together. There’s been no letdown, they just believed that they can win.”
Glen Ridge came out firing at the start, with senior Marjorie Boyle draining a quick 3 and then sinking another later in the quarter to respond to an 8-0 Conover run that included a pair of longballs of her own. Freshman Addy Fitzgerald also added a trey for the Pioneers in the period, and it was an 11-10 New Prov advantage after one.
The second quarter featured the teams, literally, taking turns putting up points, and the Ridgers led 20-19 at intermission. But after Riley O’Sullivan hit for Glen Ridge to start the third quarter, that’s when New Providence went to work, embarking on an 11-0 run. The charge featured six points from Conover, a big 3-pointer from Haley Kessler and a defense that forced eight third-quarter turnovers.
“The first half, we were giving them some shots we didn’t want to give them – like (Boyle) hit a couple of big 3s and then took the ball to the basket,” Pazdera said. “That was a big chunk of their points. We were doing a pretty good job, defensively, on the other girls. We just didn’t want to give up easy baskets, and I think we did a better job of that in the third quarter.”
New Providence led 32-24 headed to the final period, with a Megan Henn 3 increasing the advantage to 35-24 seconds in. But that’s when the pressure got turned up, as Glen Ridge set out on a 9-1 run to close it to 36-33 with 3:13 left, thanks, largely, to senior Katie Powers, who scored all nine, finishing with a team-high 13.
Slattery then hooked one in to make it 38-33, but Allison Snyder netted a pair and O’Sullivan hit a free throw to close it to 38-36 with 1:04 remaining. New Providence bore down again, though, as Caitlin Hood and Powers each fouled out for Glen Ridge and Conover hit a pair of free throws to seal it.
“We knew we had to come out strong and couldn’t just take it for granted because we had already beat them earlier in the season,” Conover said. “(We knew) it was going to be a battle, so we just had to do all the things that we could control.”
“It just came to our mind that we just had to really lock in and get the win,” Slattery said.
The triumph pushed New Providence’s record to 30-2, the winningest in program history. It’s also the second time in three years the Pioneers have hit all four of their big goals: winning the conference, county, section and state. Impressive, considering the talent that graduated the past two seasons, with a key group walking the graduation aisle last spring, including Grace Kinum, one of the program’s all-time great.
“I can’t tell you how proud I am of these kids,” said Pazdera, whose teams only losses came to Group 3 power Teaneck and Group 3 finalist Chatham. “When we lost last year (in the sectional finals), they could have just packed it in and said, ‘Eh. We’ll just be a .500 team,’ but they took on the challenge of trying to get back here and do special things this year, and they ran the table, which is incredible. This is the best season New Providence girls basketball has ever had.”
BOX SCORE
NEW PROVIDENCE (30-2) 11-8-13-10 — 42
GLEN RIDGE (23-9) 10-10-4-12 — 36
SCORING: NP — Conover 18, Slattery 11, Fitzgerald 7, Henn 3, Kessler 3; GR — Powers 13, Boyle 8, Hood 6, Snyder 5, O’Sullivan 3.
REBOUNDS: NP — Conover 5, Slattery 5, Henn 2, Fitzgerald 1, Kessler 1; GR — Snyder 7, O’Sullivan 6, Boyle 5, Hood 3, Powers 1.
Simeon Pincus has been covering NJ sports since 1997. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @SimeonPincus
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ Girls basketball: New Providence claims state Group 1 championship
Continue reading...
