Girls basketball: All-GMC Piscataway Lady Chiefs Holiday Showcase off to festive start

PISCATAWAY – For the first time in 13 seasons, Piscataway High School is hosting a varsity girls basketball holiday tournament.

And for the first time this season, Piscataway’s girls basketball team posted a victory, as it won the nightcap on the first day of the Chiefs Holiday Showcase.

Behind a game-high 21 points from Alyssa Rice, 14 points and seven steals from Makaya Williams, and a double-double from Courtney Edmundo, Piscataway cruised to a 61-37 victory over Woodbridge.

The Barrons, who trailed by seven points with about three minutes left in the third quarter, suffered their first loss of the season, while Piscataway improved to 1-3. Woodbridge was ranked seventh in the GMC pre-season Top 10.

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A layup by Woodbridge’s Alyssa Pollock brought the Barrons to within 31-25 with 5:50 left in the third quarter, but the Chiefs ended the stanza with a 13-2 spree, a run which included points from four Piscataway players: Sarae Croley-Battle (4), Yzabelle Hernandez (4), Edmundo (3) and Jayla McNeill (2). Piscataway outscored Woodbridge 15-4 in the third quarter.

“We play our best basketball when we’re sharing the ball,” said Piscataway head coach Chris Puder, whose club led 18-6 after eight minutes. “We got in a bit of a lull on offense when we were taking shots after just one pass. The light bulb went off at some point in the third quarter and we saw what we can do when we share the ball. Our girls now have seen we can do it, and finishing a full game the way we did I think is really going to help us.”

Despite the first-quarter deficit, Woodbridge battled back and turned in a 17-11 second quarter to trail by just six points at intermission. Aliyah Folarin and Layla Mercado netted eight points apiece for the Barrons.

Piscataway’s Edmundo finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

No. 3 Colonia holds off Spotswood

Colonia, ranked third in the GMC preseason Top 10, ended a two-game losing streak with a 49-38 victory over Spotswood, which suffered its first setback of the season.

The Patriots stretched a 13-point, halftime lead to a 17-point advantage after three quarter. But Spotswood started the final quarter on an 11-0 run, and a layup from Gabby Hill pulled the Chargers to within 37-31.

Colonia’s high-flying and high-scoring Taylor Derkack sank nine of her game-high 28 points in the final five minutes to help the Patriots secure the victory.

Derkack, the reigning Home News Basketball Player of the Year, who’s approaching 1,500 career points, sank 13-of-18 free throws, including 7-of-10 from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter. She scored nine of her game-high points total in the opening eight minutes.

Colonia’s Mya Patino sank nine points, including 4-of-6 free throws. Colonia outscored Spotswood 24-8 from the foul line.

Lizzie Calandruccio poured in a team-leading 19 points, including three three-point field goals, for Spotswood.

“It’s no secret we can struggle in the half-court set,” Colonia coach Sandi Chiera said. “We weren’t making shots, and we panicked a little bit there early in the fourth quarter, but were able to settle down and do what we needed to do.

“We pride ourselves on out-hustling teams and being gritty and tough on defense. Spotswood’s a great offensive team, a great shooting team, a team with multiple scoring threats that’s hard to keep down for an entire game.”

Old Bridge handles Edison

Old Bridge opened the three-day Lady Chiefs Holiday Showcase Tuesday with a 48-37 victory against Edison with its second win of the young season, and it required an early wakeup call.

“We met at school at 7:30 for pre-game shooting,” said Old Bridge coach Alec Alspach, whose fifth-ranked club improved to 2-3. “A 10 o’clock game the day after Christmas is kind of rough, but the girls looked like they were ready.”

No Knight was more ready for the morning contest than Adriana Misciagna, who posted a double-double with season-high totals in points (21) and rebounds (11). She and her teammates exhibited good footwork in the paint and consistently made strong moves around the basket.

“Adriana is a rising junior with an increasing varsity role,” Alspach said. “We work a lot on our ball fakes and head fakes.”

Misciagna netted 13 points in the first half, including 10 in the second quarter, to help Old Bridge carry a 31-18 lead into intermission. She went 5-for-8 from the foul line in the first half.

Old Bridge’s Abigail Jazmin finished with 10 points, five steals, four blocked shots and four rebounds.

For Edison, ranked sixth in the preseason Top 10, Olivia Smart (17 points) and Ghelsey Go (16 points) combined for 33 of their teams 37 points. Go sank four 3-point field goals, while Smart (3-for-4 from the stripe) did most of her damage with strong moves in the lane.

Looking festive

The Spotswood coaching staff was clearly in the holiday spirit as the trio sported blue and gold holiday sweaters adorned with snowflakes, Christmas tree and lightning bolts. “Chargers” was written on the sleeve of the sweaters.

“We talked about doing something like this last year during the tournament at Monroe,” said assistant coach Cara Sasso.

Head coach Vin Vizzi and assistant Brian Osofsky completed the sweater-wearing trio on the Spotswood Chargers’ bench. “We decided to give it a shot this season,” Sasso said.

“They’re the holiday sweaters for the (Los Angeles) Chargers,” Vizzi said.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ Girls basketball: Piscataway Lady Chiefs Holiday Showcase underway