A repeat as Morris County Champs is looking to be imminent for the West Morris Highlanders after a 51-27 win over the Morris Knolls Eagles in the quarterfinals of the tournament. Dominant performances from both Alisa Greco and Shayna Ericksen of West Morris gave the Eagles little chance to gain momentum as they combined for 42 points. The Highlanders will play Pequannock next week at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison in a semifinal game.

After winning the tipoff from Ericksen, Julia Scanlon acted as the playmaker right from the beginning. She distributed the ball back to Ericksen who drove to the hoop for the layup. After a couple turnovers from each team, the next basket was from Ericksen again to help West Morris get out to an early lead. Scanlon followed with a layup after weaving through traffic in the paint before Knolls called an early timeout to regain composure. Afterwards, Jen Jarvis was able to sink a basket for two to final get some points on the board. The shots really began to rain in the last two minutes as Heather Rivardo had two points and Kristen Randolph had one for Morris Knolls while West Morris counted on baskets from Ericksen, Scanlon, and Greco to end the quarter at 15-6 in favor of the Highlanders.

The second quarter consisted of excellent defense by Jess Poole and Greco for West Morris. Each had a steal, while the rest of the team did a great job preventing the Eagles from completing passes by forcing turnovers and blocking the ball. Ericksen had 8 of her 30 points in this quarter, while Keri Bongo and Jarvis each had a basket for the Eagles. Right before the end of the half however, Greco was able to get open, set her feet and nail a three point shot as the buzzer rang, finishing the half at 28-10.

The Eagles were able to reach within 12 of the Highlanders in the third quarter, but it ended up being a short burst of momentum as West Morris’ defense proved to be too much. The fourth quarter opened up with almost a minute of Knolls possession before Mary Ninivaggi drained a three point field goal. West Morris quickly followed with two Ericksen layups and a Greco three point play from a layup and a foul shot. Mary Cabarle was able to sink a layup off of an assist from Carly Shello. The game closed out with a foul shot by Kelsey Wade of the Eagles, but it was just too late for Morris Knolls.

Unfortunately for the Eagles, too many things were going right for the Highlanders. West Morris’s dominant display prevented Knolls from getting any real chances to add some points to the board. The Eagles will hope to seek revenge on the Highlanders this Tuesday as the girls will face a regular season conference matchup at Morris Knolls High School.