Girls Basketball Suffers First Loss to Roselle Catholic

ROSELLE–'s girls basketball team lost its first game of the season 69-46 to a talented Roselle Catholic team Wednesday night. The Roselle Catholic Lions jumped out to an 11-2 lead in the first quarter and never looked back. The Hilltoppers battled all game long but could not hit their perimeter shots and had no answer for a dominating performance by the Lion's star player, Melissa Tobey who poured in a game high 34 points.

"Their coach always does a good job with this team and we took one on the chin tonight," said Summit Head coach Brian Erickson. "They were very good and we just could not get the ball to drop in for us."

Kelly Osmulski and Kate Martino led the Hilltoppers with 15 points each, followed by Nicole Johnson's 6 points. Ali Hoesly also hit some free-throws and a few buckets down the stretch while Kate Chase came off the bench to hit a bucket and grab a rebound.

"We just have to move forward after this game," said point guard Kate Martino. "We know what we need to work on in practice to get better."

Summit saw a 29-20 deficit at the half explode into a 47-29 lead at the end of the third quarter. The Hilltoppers got into foul trouble early and it allowed the Lions to get to the free-throw line often. Olivia Galuppo and Kelly Osmulski fouled out of the game in the fourth quarter.

Roselle Catholic played aggressive defense and used their quickness to drive to the basket to score uncontested layups, especially by Melissa Tobey.

"Jasmine Sondhi and Christina Ciaravalli stepped in and did a nice job helping us when we got into foul trouble tonight," Erickson said. "However, it is hard to win when you can't score.  It's still early in the season. We'll get better."

The Hilltoppers now get ready for the annual Hackettstown Holiday Tournament which begins on December 29 at 1 p.m.. The second game is on December 30 at 4:45 p.m.