Roxbury (3-3) 45 - 41 over Randolph (3-3) [1-5-07]

Roxbury starts ‘07 on the right path

Roxbury (3-3) 45 - 41 over Randolph (3-3) [1-5-07]

It does not matter which sport, which season, or the records, when Randolph and Roxbury get together, one of Morris County’s most heated rivalries comes alive. Randolph boys won 43-28 over the Gaels at Roxbury High School. The Rams used a solid opening quarter, up by 5 and outscored Roxbury in every quarter on the way to victory. Randolph up’d their record to 4-3.

The Girls teams played in Randolph. In a game where Roxbury controlled the pace of the game and controlled the ball for the majority of the battle, the Rams kept themselves in position to win. The Rams used a late third quarter barrage and played lead swap for a 7 minute spurt during the final two quarters. But, Roxbury finished with a 6-0 run during 2 minutes of the fourth frame to gain an eight point lead at 42-34. The Rams outscored Roxbury 8-3 during the final three minutes, but the lead proved to be too much. In the spirit of this rivalry, Randolph fought last second as Kathleen Naddaff added four points with less than 8 seconds to go.

Roxbury came out of the gate firing, opening to an 8-0 lead after 3 minutes had ticked off the clock. Freshman Cori Youngans opened the game with a steal and a lay-up. Sarah Gage added back to back buckets as part of that 8-0 opening run. And just as the Gaels fan base began to celebrate and imagine a blow out victory, the Rams found that little orange rim. Christine Tompeck took a nice pass from Candice Sphock grab the Rams their first. Seconds later, Shannon Fiscus turned a steal into 2 points. On the returning trip back down into Rams territory, Sphock grabbed an offensive rebound and cut the lead to 8-6 with a strong put back.

The Lady Gaels went scoreless for nearly two minutes before Gage (5 points in the opening quarter) hit the opening end of a one and one to stop the 6-0 Rams run and up the lead to 9-6. A free throw by Youngans and a basket from Erica Desmaind closed the scoring for the Gaels. Sphock was key for the Rams in the final minute of the first with a steal and basket to tie the game at 10. She also added another hoop with 16 seconds left to knot the game at 12.

The Lady Gaels used a swarming press and some great defense to stall the Rams. Sphock started the 2^nd as she ended the first, scoring the Rams first three points. But a 9-3 Roxbury run over the first 6 minutes of the second quarter up’d the Roxbury lead to 21-15. The Rams could only muster six points in this quarter, but a block by Naddaff at the buzzer helped keep the deficit to four, 22-18.

Randolph opened the second half with a strong third quarter, outscoring the Gales by 4. In a quarter that had 6 lead changes and ending in a 31-31 tie, Sphock was outstanding, dropping 8 points including the basket that gave the Rams their first lead of the game. Trailing by 1 (25-24), Naddaff sprawled out on the floor for a loose ball and immediately looked up court to hit Caroline Lisee. Lisee worked the ball up the court and hit Sphock for an easy lay-up and the lead. Naddaff added seven, with two blocks, for the quarter.

Roxbury open the final frame with a basket from Magdziak to retake the lead for good. Ironically, the Gaels only made two field goals in a quarter where they scored 14 points. The other 10 points came on free throws. Roxbury hit 10 of 18 free throws in fourth quarter and 14 of 23 in the game.

Roxbury slowed down the pace of the game around the 6 minute mark, once they gained a 35-32 lead. The Gaels used a quality passing game and excellent ball control to keep the ball out of the Rams possession. With the Gaels in the double bonus for most of the 4^th quarter, the plan worked well. Roxbury improved to 3-3 with the 45-41 victory.

Both teams left the game with a 3-3 record. Both schools have an important week coming up with the Rams facing Morristown and East Orange on their schedule. Roxbury has Columbia and Morris Knolls.

The Coaches notes: Both teams are 3-3 after a tough schedule in December and it does not get much easier for either team. It’s important for both teams to finish January above .500 if they want to be playing in the post season. These are two teams that right of the bubble for the Morris County Top 10. The Star Ledger has Randolph at 9. Both teams are capable of beating any team in the top 10. Come Morris County Tournament time, look for these two teams to be seeded 9-13. I would not want to be the higher ranked team facing either one of these two teams. Roxbury

ROXBURY (45): Beal 0-0-0-0, Campione 1-0-0-2, Davenport 0-0-0-0, Desmond 5-5-0-15, Gage 5-5-0-15, Magdziak 2-1-0-5, Younghans 1-3-1-8 Totals: 14-14-1-45

RANDOLPH (41): Egan 0-0-0-0, Fiscus 1-0-0-2, Lisee 0-0-0-0, Miniovich 0-2-0-2, Naddaff 4-7-0-15, Papalia 0-0-0-0, Sphock 7-3-1-20, Tompeck 1-0-0-2, Maughn 0-0-0-0 Totals: 13-12-1-41

	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final
Roxbury (3-3)	12	10	9	14	45
Randolph (3-3)	12	6	13	10	41