The Montclair girls basketball team lost a key chance to make a move in the Super Essex Conference Colonial Division on Tuesday.
The Mounties were looking to sweep the division leaders, Verona, at home, but the Hillbillies had other ideas.
Montclair sophomore Anna O’Keefe hit a three-pointer to open the game and give the Mounties a 3-0 lead.
But after that, it was all an uphill climb for Montclair who would not lead again in the 43-33 defeat to Verona.Â
Mounties head coach Ed Connell said of the loss that the Hillbillies “are in the driver’s seat” as Montclair is two games behind Verona.
There are still a few weeks left in the regular season, but Montclair needs to not only take care of business on their end, but have other teams beat Verona. The Mounties were looking to win back-to-back SEC division titles. Montclair shared the 2022-23 SEC Independence championship with Irvington. Overall for this season, the Mounties dropped to 10-6.
After O’Keefe’s three-point shot to start the game, the Hillbillies went on a 10-0 run.
“We didn’t help ourselves out by starting out slow,” said Connell. “They are obviously a quality opponent, and their coach had an excellent game plan.”
After going down by 14, 32-18 to start the fourth quarter, the Mounties made a valiant run with the help of the full-court press. Montclair sliced the Verona lead to five, 32-27 with a little more than three minutes left in the game.
“When we were down 14, and cut it to five you are doing something right,” said Connell. “That is a great quality and I’m proud of that.”
Connell added he would like to see his team do what it did in the fourth quarter where they outscored Verona, 18-14.
“I’m just happy the way we battled back,” added the Montclair head coach. “We are just looking to do that for four quarters and that’s what we are struggling at.”
And after a steal in the Verona half of the court, Montclair had a chance to cut the Hillbillies lead to two or three points, but Mounties Savannah Seawell lost control of the ball. Montclair would never get closer.
While the full court press was working for Montclair, it still left gaps in the defense where Verona was able to get just enough to put them over the top.
Despite going scoreless in the first quarter, Seawell had a game-high 18 points even with getting into foul trouble in the first half and getting her third foul in the third quarter.
Connell admitted that their style of play on defense might lead to players getting into foul trouble.
“The way we play defense is intense and always on the line. That’s the way I coach,” added Connell. “So, every once in a while, you get in foul trouble. We need to be an excellent defensive team. She (Seawell) is learning how to do that. We did an excellent job of that.”
One of the Mounties top up-and-coming players is sophomore Anna O’Keefe who had 11 points including three, three-point buckets.
“She’s come a long way as a shooter,” said Connell of O’Keefe. “It’s a big ask of a sophomore but she’s excelled. The trajectory for her is huge and we are trying to incorporate more of that.”
Verona, from the start, were collapsing down on Seawell, and they were able to do it with a deep bench as the Hillbillies played 10 players. Verona’s Leah Haggerty led the Hillbillies with 13 points as seven different Verona players were on the scoresheet.
The second leading scorer for the Hillbillies was Julia Loudon with 11 points after she went scoreless in Montclair’s 35-34 win over Verona on Dec. 21. Loudon hit three 3-pointers all in the first half as Montclair found itself down 17-9 heading into the second half.
“They played a lot better, and their three-point shooting was a lot better,” said Connell about Verona in their second contest against them. “You have to tip your cap to them.”
Montclair Girls Basketball Schedule
Feb. 1 Livingston, 7 p.m.
Feb. 3 Nutley, 1 p.m.
Feb. 5 MKA, 7 p.m.
Feb. 8 Millburn, 7 p.m.
Feb. 10 Cedar Grove, 1 p.m.
Feb. 12 at Eastside, 4 p.m.
Feb. 13 West Side, 4 p.m.
Feb. 17 at West Essex, 11 a.m.