Record Sports / Staff Writer, @chrisiseman
CRESSKILL — The hesitancy faded away.
Erin McQuillen limited her shots from the arc in the first half, knowing Midland Park had a size advantage and potentially could block her attempts. But the Cresskill senior guard also knew that if the Cougars were going to pull off a comeback, she needed to shoot.
“In the second half, I realized there was enough space for me to shoot, and if we were going to win this game, I had to shoot threes,” McQuillen said. “I had to shoot open shots.”
So she did, at exactly the right time.
McQuillen drained a game-tying three-pointer with 1:19 remaining and sophomore Courtney Madison made the go-ahead basket with eight seconds left to lift Cresskill to a 48-43 comeback victory over Midland Park in an NJIC Patriot Division game on Tuesday.
McQuillen finished with a game-high 22 points, Julia Malty scored 11 (including three triples) and Madison added 10 for the Cougars (6-1).
“The big thing is it builds confidence for us,” coach Mike McCourt said. “And that’s what we need right now at the beginning of the year.”
Sofia Hansen was strong in the paint for the Panthers to finish with 14 points, while Chloe Kasbarian scored 12, including one three.
This was a big win for Cresskill, since it lost to Midland Park (4-3) three times last season, including the North 1, Group 1 semifinals.
“That was amazing,” Madison said. “They’re a good team, but obviously we’re a good team also. We just showed it there. It feels great.”
Midland Park started the second half up, 23-18, and its lead swelled to nine points when Emma Lein got a steal and made a fast-break layup.
“We put up a fight. We weren’t going to let them pull the lead to 20 points, so we just kept fighting,” McQuillen said.
McQuillen hit a three from the right wing at the 1:22 mark to make it a five-point game. After Hansen scored at the other end, McQuillen drained five big free throws to make it a two-point game going into the fourth.
Morgan Ress then made two straight baskets to put the Panthers up, 41-35. But Maltby responded with a three and Madison scored to make it a one-point game.
Kasbarian drained two foul shots to put the Panthers up three with 1:55 left, but then McQuillen delivered for Cresskill. Her three from the right wing tied the game at 43.
Madison’s basket with eight seconds remaining gave the Cougars the lead for good.
McQuillen made two foul shots and Sydnie Martin made another in the final seconds to seal the gutsy victory.
“I think that’s important, that they understand that if you get behind five, six, seven points, you’ve got to fight,” McCourt said. “That’s exactly what they did. They fought back.”
Email: iseman@northjersey.com
