The Montclair High School girls basketball players were anything but all smiles after they dropped a division game at Irvington.
But they still can look back and say that they were SEC Independence Division co-champions with Irvington, which beat them, 40-31, on the road on Feb. 7.
Montclair defeated Irvington, 44-31, on Jan. 10 at home and held the upper hand when it faced the Blue Knights on Tuesday.
Coming into the game the Mounties (14-8, 12-2 in the division) were already guaranteed a share of the Independence title, but could have won the outright title.
For one of Montclair’s seniors, Elsa Taylor-Lillquist, it was a nice feeling winning at least a share of the Independence championship after a 2021-22 season in which the Mounties didn’t start playing games until January, a month after the start of the season, because of a COVID shutdown.
“It feels great,” Taylor-Lillquist said. “It was just nice to play every day. Last season, it was disappointing, because we were playing our best basketball at the end of the season.”
The Mounties finished with a 5-9 record last year but defeated Bloomfield and Livingston in the last two games of the season.
Montclair missed out on the state playoffs, but will be in the mix when the state tournament starts on Feb. 21.
For another senior, guard Rece Anton, it was great to bring home the title and help upcoming players. “It is great to accomplish something,” Anton said. “And to help build something for the future.”
Mounties head coach Ed Connell said it is satisfying to win a share of the division after a difficult 2021-22 season. “It’s impressive, and the seniors deserve it,” Connell said. “It’s been a tough couple of years, starting late last year and the year before not playing before crowds.”
In the loss to Irvington, Montclair came out slow, possibly since this was the second game of a back-to-back scenario. The Mounties lost 46-38 to a quality Bloomfield team on Feb. 6.
“I thought we played well against Bloomfield,” Connell said. “I don’t think we were sharp (against Irvington), and I think we just had a bad day.”
Montclair was down 16-3 after the first quarter as it struggled against Irvington’s full-court press. The Mountie defense in the end could not stop Irvington point guard Janasia Wilson, who had a game-high 23 points.
Unlike the first game between the schools, the Blue Knights’ defense
better controlled Montclair’s top inside players. In the first game, sophomore Savannah Seawell and Taylor-Lillquist combined for 31 points, with 17 from Seawell. The second time around, the pair combined for 23 points, with Seawell dropping 15 points to lead the Mounties.
After that cold first quarter, Montclair cut the Irvington lead to five points, 18-13, after a bucket from sophomore Eva Brennan before the end of the first half.
But the Mounties had four trips down the floor at the end of the second quarter and beginning of the third quarter but could not make it a one-possession game.
Montclair did not give up, as it cut the Blue Knights’ lead to two, 22-20, as Anton hit two free throws with four minutes remaining in the third quarter.
The Mounties, though, hit a scoring drought the rest of the third quarter, as Irvington would go on an 11-0 run before Taylor-Lillquist hit one of two free throws to end the quarter behind, 31-21.
Montclair could not come from behind in the fourth quarter.
Connell was hoping to get at least one home game in the North 1 Group 4 section. Recently, Montclair was the fourth seed in power points, with the top eight garnering a home game in the first round.