The goal was to get back to the Hudson County Tournament final to defend its crown.
Standing in the way of No. 2 Secaucus was an unfamiliar foe – three-seed Hudson Catholic – who was playing in its first tournament semifinal game in program history.
Secaucus on the other hand, was playing in its eighth straight semifinal game and the Patriots were determined to get back to familiar stomping grounds—a third final appearance in four years.
The Patriots only needed three scorers on this night; one senior, one junior and one sophomore.
Amanda Ulrich, the junior, led the way.
Ulrich finished with a game-high 29 points to power the second-seeded Patriots to a 61-49 victory over Hudson Catholic, to advance to a second straight tournament final.
Last year, the Patriots defeated Marist, 76-50, to win their second title in three years.
“I think it always helps when you’ve been in the semifinals a bunch of years in a row,” Secaucus head coach John Sterling said. “I know the first few times we got there, we lost some heartbreakers, and it takes a while to get used to the atmosphere. We got off to a nice quick start, but they are such a good team and they bounced right back.”
Secaucus did indeed get off to a nice start.
The Patriots opened the game on a 6-0 run, however, Hudson Catholic answered with a 6-0 run of its own to tie the game midway through the opening quarter.
Tied at 8-8, Secaucus’ Damaris Rodriguez – the sophomore – drained consecutive 3-pointers, which was followed by an Ulrich lay in to extend the Patriots’ lead to eight points.
Secaucus continued its run in the second quarter.
Ulrich drained one of her three 3-pointers in the period to kick things off, and after Rodriguez sunk both free throws at the 3:58 mark, Lindsey Mack – the senior – put the finishing touches on an 8-0 run when she banked in a 3-pointer from beyond-the-arc.
Minutes later, Hudson Catholic responded with two 3-pointers of its own on back-to-back possessions, however, Ulrich stepped in and closed out the second quarter with two more 3-pointers to extend the Secaucus lead to 30-16 at the half.
“My back was in so much pain, but I knew I couldn’t let my teammates down,” Ulrich said of an injury suffered prior to hitting the 3-pointers. “So, I told myself to suck it up and ignore it because I needed to be there for my teammates.”
A 34-23 lead at the 5:55 mark of the third quarter quickly escalated to a 47-23 clinic.
The Patriots went on an incredible 13-0 run, as Ulrich and Mack scored four points apiece, and Rodriguez knocked in five points, which included one of her three 3-pointers of the game.
“I emphasized at halftime to keep running because if we get layups, that’s easy opportunities for us to stretch out the lead,” Sterling said. “For the whole part of the beginning of the second half, I thought we ran well and got easy opportunities.”
Hudson Catholic didn’t go away quietly.
The Hawks attempted a late come back early in the quarter, behind 11 points from Jaylee Sanchez, they went on a 12-0 run to cut Secaucus’ lead to 50-39.
“When they started to give us a little run, we got a little nervous and anxious and we started settling for quick jump shots,” Sterling said. “And that enabled them to get right back in it.”
Ulrich put an end to Hudson Catholic’s run with 3:18 to go in the game, when she scored her last field goal of the night.
Hudson Catholic’s leading scorer was freshman Zanai Jones, who finished with 16 points, followed by 14 from Sanchez, and six apiece from Dionna Lenardo and Jayden Watson.
Secaucus (23-1) will take on top-seed Lincoln in the final on Saturday at 5 p.m.
“We’re going to have to work really hard,” Sterling said. “We have a tough stretch this week because we are playing in our league conference tournament at the same time. So, we play tomorrow night in the championship of our league against Midland Park, and then we have to be ready to have a good practice on Friday and come back on Saturday. We’re going to have our work cut out for us, that’s for sure.”“We just wanted to come out and dominate,” Ulrich added. “I think as long as we play well and work together as a team, no one can stop us.”
