Summit Girls Basketball Defeats Dayton 47-34 at Hoops for Hope Night

SUMMIT–Another solid performance by the Summit girls basketball team resulted in a 47-34 win over Jonathan Dayton High School on Saturday's third-annual Hoops for Hope night. Both teams entered the game with a record of 9-1.

Summit came out firing early and went on an 11-0 run in the first quarter–an early lead that Dayton could not overcome. Coming off of a career-high 31-point performance in the Hilltoppers' previous game, senior Emily Cristaldi scored 10 points in the opening quarter on Saturday, including two three-pointers, a pull-up jumper, and a layup. Cristaldi also instigated two 3-on-1 fast breaks that resulted in layups by sophomores Kelly Osmulski and Nicole Johnson.

"We got out to a great start tonight, and that's what we need to do every game. The one time we didn't get an early lead, it hurt us," Summit head coach Brian Erickson said, referencing their only loss of the season against Roselle Catholic last week.

The second quarter was played fairly evenly; both teams fought hard on defense, scrambled for loose balls, and remained patient on offense. Summit's Cassie Hall opened the quarter with a nice turnaround jumper to make the score 18-9. Minutes later, she grabbed an offensive rebound and hit the put-back. At the half, Summit led 25-16.

"Cassie's leadership probably goes unnoticed as far as stats, but she had a bunch of rebounds tonight and scored a few big baskets," Erickson said.

Though Dayton outscored the Hilltoppers in the third quarter, Summit continued to play solidly on both offense and defense. With 1:30 remaining in the third, the Bulldogs had cut Summit's lead to just six points, 32-26. At the one-minute mark, however, Cristaldi drained another three-pointer, which abruptly halted Dayton's momentum. Entering the final quarter, Summit led 35-27.

"Emily started knocking down some jump shots, despite being heavily guarded the entire game," Erickson said. "She had another great night both offensively and defensively."

The Hilltoppers continued to play aggressive defense in the final quarter, holding Dayton scoreless for the first six minutes. In the end, four consecutive quarters of offensive execution and scrappy defense helped the Hilltoppers overcome the Bulldogs by a final score of 47-34.

"Kate (Martino), Nicole (Johnson), Kelly (Osmulski)–they all played great defense for us tonight, and that's what we expect from them every night," Erickson said.

Cristaldi had another impressive performance, scoring a game-high 27 points for the Hilltoppers. Hall contributed nine points and grabbed eight rebounds.

"We knew Summit was a top-notch team," Dayton head coach Dave Rennie said. "We were concerned about how we were going to defend Cristaldi and how to keep Hall off the boards."

With the win, Summit moves to 10-1 on the season. The Hilltoppers travel to Westfield High School this Tuesday to face the Blue Devils at 7 p.m.