Summit Girls Basketball Survives Late Union Run

UNION–On Thursday afternoon, the Summit girls basketball team found a way to beat Union 40-36 despite a tough "Triangle-and-Two" defense that heavily covered the Hilltoppers' top scorers, senior Emily Cristaldi (22 ppg) and sophomore Kate Martino (8 ppg).

Martino put Summit on top early when she grabbed the opening tip and drove for the layup with just five seconds off the clock. This would be Summit's only lead for the next 12 minutes, however.

Union's Enniyah Anderson and Kyarah Foushee played tight defense on Cristaldi and Martino throughout the game, forcing other Summit players to step up on offense. In the first quarter, Amanda Murphy and Cassie Hall each hit a jump shot, but Summit trailed 10-8 after eight minutes of play.

In the second quarter, Summit's Cristaldi became more involved offensively. At the 6:30 mark, she threw a cross-court pass to Kelly Osmulski, who hit the jumper to tie the game 10-10. Minutes later, trailing now by four, Cristaldi got a steal and an "and-one" layup to pull the Hilltoppers within one point.

With 3:45 remaining in the half, senior Michelle Burian hit a baseline 15-footer to put Summit ahead 15-14–the team's first lead since the opening play of the game. Osmulski and Hall each hit a jump shot as Summit went on a 9-0 run to end the first half, now leading 19-14.

"That run was huge for us," Summit head coach Brian Erickson said. "It gave us a chance to just calm down, get our bearings, and then play the way we know we can play. I think it's an honor that teams want to throw a Triangle-and-Two or Box-and-One at us. I have faith in all of our players and I know they can step up when they need to, like they did today."

Though she was heavily defended most of the afternoon, Summit's Cristaldi found a way to get open. Early in the third quarter, she shook off her defender and swished a long two-pointer from the top of the key to extend Summit's lead to 23-16. Later in the quarter, Cristaldi ran her defender through a solid Osmulski screen and drained another jumper. At the end of the third, Summit led 27-20.

Union would not give up, however, and made a run of their own in the final quarter. Despite two three-pointers from Cristaldi early in the fourth, Union's Enniyah Anderson and Chioma Moneme kept their team alive with a combined 11 fourth quarter points.

The Hilltoppers continued to show patience and composure on offense despite their shrinking lead. When Enniyah Anderson hit a three-pointer and then a runner in the lane to cut the Hilltopper lead to just one point, Summit responded with a 40-second offensive possession that resulted in a Cassie Hall layup.

With 17 seconds remaining, Summit led by just two points, 38-36. When Union's Ashley Foster missed the go-ahead three-pointer, Summit's Michelle Burian grabbed the rebound. Union immediately fouled, and with 4.8 seconds left on the clock, Burian headed to the foul line to shoot two. Calmly, the senior forward sank both free throws to make it a two possession game, 40-36. Union was unable to score on their final possession, and Summit won the nail-biter 40-36.

"I was so proud of Michelle today," Erickson said. "She was sick and unable to play for about a week, and since she's been back, she's had a spring in her step and scored the two biggest points of the game for us today."

"It's exciting, I'm definitely happy to be back," Burian said. "I was trying to push the nervousness out when I was at the line. I was just trying to focus, and I'm glad they went in and we were able to win."

"As a senior, I'm getting more excited as the season progresses because it's finally hitting me that there's only about a month left," Burian added.

The Hilltoppers had another well-balanced scoring effort on the afternoon. Cristaldi finished with a game-high 14 points and five steals. Burian added eight points, Hall contributed seven, and Osmulski scored six. For Coach Erickson and his team, Thursday's game was another clutch road win in a new conference.

"Union has a lot of talent," Erickson said. "They rebound and shoot the ball well. I expected this to be another tough road game, but we're finally done with this road stretch and our next four games are at home, which is going to be nice. Playing on the road is not easy in this conference."

Summit's next game is this Saturday at 1 p.m. against Scotch Plains High School.