St. Peter’s Bounces Back
by Ray Floriani
JERSEY CITY, N.J. – A few days following their first loss at home to Manhattan, St. Peter’s women’s team bounced back for a 76-68 win over Iona College. The victory put St. Peter’s at 5-2 in the MAAC. The Peahens are the MAAC’s surprise team currently in third place. In pre-season polls they were picked eighth.
“This is a team with great chemistry and a great attitude,” St. Peter’s coach Stephanie DeWolfe said. “They are a team that really believes in themselves.”
St. Peter’s did it again with a good defensive effort, though the offense really started to click in the second half. The opening half pleased the Yanitelli Center faithful as St. Peter’s put together a good 20 minutes to take a 38-29 lead into the break. Iona went on a run early in the second half and took a lead.
“That’s something we have to work on, matching or exceeding the intensity we had when we come out the second half,” DeWolfe said of Iona’s start to the second half.
Any lost intensity was soon found. The Peahens went on a 20-7 run from the 16 to 8-minute mark to regain the lead and build it.
The three-guard combination was a key factor for St. Peter’s. Johnell Burts had 9 points and 7 assists while Tania Kennedy and Natasha Morris both added 14 points apiece. Kennedy, an outstanding defender, added 5 steals.
“Kennedy is great pressuring the ball,” DeWolfe said of her 5-3 junior. “We work on ball pressure a great deal. We are getting better but just not where we want to be.”
When the guards were not doing the damage, 6-2 forward Lauma Reke was. She finished with a game-high 16 points and 12 rebounds.
“Lauma is a post player but she has the ability to step out and hit an outside shot,” DeWolfe said. “We’re a tough team to prepare for. We have an inside presence (Reke) and our guards can all create. They feed off one another.”
St. Peter’s held Iona to 38 percent shooting (24 of 62). “They are tough to play,” DeWolfe said of the Lady Gaels. “They have athleticism at the wing and a good post presence.”
Tiara Harden (14 points) and Jessica Smith (15) are the wings that did the damage. Anna McLean, the 6-2 center though, struggled through a 6-point outing on 3 of 9 shooting and had 3 turnovers.
Iona is now 4-3 in the MAAC (10-8 overall). St. Peter’s improved their season record to 13-5.
Nearby School to Close?
Before heading to St. Peter’s the evening began about six miles down the road. Kennedy Boulevard, the main thoroughfare of St. Peter’s, takes you southbound through Jersey City and into Bayonne. Veer off to the right you pick up Avenue A and after traveling a mile or so, arrive at Holy Family Academy.
The school’s website tells you about its start in 1925 by the Sisters of St. Joseph, who wanted to establish a catholic institution in Bayonne. After beginning as a co-ed school, Holy Family went to an all-girls enrollment in the late Forties. The school site also heralds the 500th win recently attained by head basketball coach Pat Longo, who has directed the Falcons for three decades. Unfortunately, the also site tells of financial trouble.
There are planned fundraisers, meetings and general pleas to save the school. A small school of just over 200 girls, Holy Family is facing the financial crunch many parochial and/or private schools do these days and may have to close its doors.
On this January evening the assignment is to officiate a junior varsity basketball game. Walking in the building you see signs, mostly made by students, urging the school not to close. “My mom graduated in 1986, why can’t I graduate in 2010?” was on one of the many signs greeting a visitor.
The gym is decidedly old school. Call it “quaint” yet very neat and well-lit. Banners celebrating championships not only in basketball but softball, soccer and other sports, line the walls as well. The Holy Family JV uses the small gym to their advantage with a full-court press. They pull away early and dominate Memorial of West New York in a twenty-something point rout. Longo’s varsity team played and won earlier, but she stayed for the JV contest and even went to the score table to run the time on a stopwatch when the scoreboard clock malfunctioned in the second quarter.
The ESPN truck will not pull up on Avenue A, nor will there be a ranking in USA Today. Holy Family is simply a very good program who has won their share of titles and accolades over the years. They are a group of players who are well-coached, competitive and fundamentally sound. There is still hope for the small school revered by its student body, alumni and community.
The challenge is tough, but impartiality is put aside as hope is that this fine institution can continue, survive the crisis and move forward. The young ladies passing through the doors of Holy Family Academy are not just winners on the basketball court, but in the game of life.
