Uribe Nets 14 Points in Quarterfinal Win
By Mike Ready
Long Branch – It’s never easy to beat a division opponent twice in a season and almost impossible to do it three times; but that’s exactly what Saint John Vianney did Saturday afternoon by downing ninth-seeded Holmdel 74-35 in a Shore Conference Tournament quarterfinal game at Long Branch High School.
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The top-seeded Lancers (21-3, 14-0) took the lead at 4:17 of the first quarter and never looked back. They led 15-11 after one quarter and by 15 points, 37-22, at the half.
Saint John Vianney always seems to get better as the game rolls on, and Saturday was no different.
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“We came out a little slow and they really came at us,” sophomore guard Emily Uribe said. “We pretty familiar with each other being in the same division and they came out as strong as they could against us; we have to expect that. We need to really focus on the first three minutes of every quarter and we did that today.”
Uribe led Saint John Vianney in scoring with 14 points, seven in the pivotal second quarter when the Lancers took control of the game. She finished with two 3-pointers, four rebounds and three steals.One of the many strong points on this talented Lancer team is their depth and there’s no drop off in production no matter who’s in the lineup. When one facet of their game is off, they have plenty of weapons to attack from a different angle.
Known for their array of 3-point shooters, the Lancers went to a bigger lineup for much of the second half and had tremendous success working the ball inside to both freshman center/forward Kim Evans and sophomore forward Zoe Pero.
Evans finished with 10 points – eight in the second half – and Pero scored all of her seven points in the second half. Pero grabbed six boards – three off the offensive glass – and Evans added four rebounds and a blocked shot; three of Evans boards were offensive.
“We were kind of rushing our outside shots so we worked on getting it inside in the second half,” Uribe said. “Sometimes we get too comfortable going outside with the ball, so we’ve been working on getting the ball down low. We had the advantage today with Kim and Zoe; they played great.”
The Lancers had nine players in the scoring column, four in double figures; Uribe’s 14, Jackie Gallagher with 12 points (three 3-pointers), Evans’ 10 points and senior forward Katie Beriont added 11 points. Beriont grabbed five rebounds and Kelly Campbell pulled down seven boards, had three steals and added nine points.
The lead was stretched to 32 points by the end of the third quarter, and reached as high as 39 points by games end.
Junior guard Mia Ehling led the Hornets (14-10, 4-7) with 14 points, six steals and two rebounds.
With the win, Saint John Vianney moves on to play fifth seeded Manasquan (18-5, 9-5), a 45-31 winner over sixth seeded Neptune , Tuesday 6:00 p.m. at Brick Memorial High School.
The Lancers have beaten the Warriors twice this season, but Manasquan is a much-improved team with the midseason addition of first team All-State guard Marina Mabrey. Mabrey, a transfer from Point Beach, has transitioned into the Warrior system extremely well and they’re a much stronger team than the Lancers saw last month; it should be a very competitive rematch.
“We’re playing really well right now, but it’s going to get harder and harder as we move on,” Uribe said. “We just have to remember that every team is going to bring their best against us and we have to do the same.”
