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Sports

Summit Girls Basketball Rolls Past Roselle Park

The Hilltoppers move to 18-2, their best record since the 1999-2000 season.

ROSELLE PARK–An outmatched 2-17 Roselle Park girls basketball team had their hands full when they welcomed the 17-2 Hilltoppers into their gymnasium on Tuesday afternoon.

Roselle Park's shooting guard Gabby Clauer helped keep the score respectable by scoring 18 points for the Panthers, but Summit was able to win the game easily, 52-35.

Senior Cassie Hall put the Hilltoppers on the board just 30 seconds into the game with a 12-foot jump shot. Hall also played solid defense in the opening quarter, making two steals that resulted in layups by Kelly Osmulski and Emily Cristaldi.

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Despite Clauer's nine first quarter points for the Panthers, three-pointers by Summit's Kate Martino and Emily Cristaldi gave the Hilltoppers a comfortable lead at the end of the first quarter, 22-11.

With the early lead, Summit was able to rest some of its starters, who had just played a tough Union County Tournament game the night before. As a result, younger Hilltoppers such as Olivia Galuppo, Amanda Murphy, and Ali Hoesly saw plenty of minutes and gained valuable on-court experience.

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"We played at such a high level last night and to have that amount of energy the next day is really hard," Summit head coach Brian Erickson said. "I wanted to give my starters a rest today and give other girls some time on the court. Luckily we got out to a pretty good lead early in the game and were able to do that."

With three minutes remaining in the first half, Hoesly drove the baseline and hit the layup to make the score 26-16. Summit's Cristaldi helped her team reach a 33-20 halftime lead with a baseline three-pointer and another long-range two before the second quarter came to a close.

In an effort to contain Roselle Catholic's Clauer, who already had 12 points in the game, Summit went to a Box-and-One defense in the second half. Persistent defensive pressure by Ali Hoesly and Michelle Burian limited Gabby Clauer to just six more points for the Panthers.

"Gabby can flat out shoot the ball," Erickson said. "She is a very good player and it was clear we needed to put someone on her in order to slow her down."

The Hilltoppers continued to score, however. In the third quarter, Cristaldi drove hard in the lane and left a nice pass for Martino to complete the play. Two minutes later, Cristaldi threw a one-handed pass to Hall for the jumper. Hall returned the favor when she hit Cristaldi for the long-range two to extend Summit's lead to 46-26 near the end of the third.

Martino opened the fourth quarter with a spectacular drive and layup that involved skillful dribbling as she weaved her way through three Roselle Park defenders. A minute later, Osmulski hit Amanda Murphy for the 10-foot jumper. As the final buzzer sounded, Summit improved their record to 18-2 with the 52-35 win.

"I knew the girls would be tired today, but they played well and gave a good effort, so we're happy with the win," Erickson said.

Cristaldi led all scorers with 24 points and a handful of assists on the afternoon. Martino chipped in 11 points for the Hilltoppers. Osmulski and Hall scored seven and six, respectively.

Summit will likely have a much more difficult game on Thursday night when they take on Westfield in the Union County Tournament quarterfinals. The game will be held at Roselle Catholic High School at 7:30 p.m.

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