Summit senior guard Kate Martino (center) is joined by happy teammates while holding up congratulatory flowers and a sign commemorating the big occasion after the standout 4-year Hilltopper backcourt ace reached the 1,000 point plateau while scoring a team-high 19 points during Tuesday night's important Union County Conference-Watchung Division showdown with a visiting Linden squad in the Summit gym. (Photos by JR Parachini)

Summit Guard Hits Milestone
In Key Win Vs. Strong Linden
By JR Parachini
For sidelinechatter.com

SUMMIT – Tuesday night’s Union County Conference-Watchung Division girls’ basketball clash between visiting Linden and host Summit was the kind of game you might expect to see in a couple of weeks when the Union County Tournament gets into full swing.

First Summit jumped out to a double-digit lead. Then Linden came right back in what seemed like no time to tie the game at intermission.

No lead was bigger than six points in a second half that included two ties in the fourth quarter.

Star players stepping up their performances in the most crucial times were senior guards Kate Martino of Summit and Shannon Wheeler of Linden.

Including three-point shots made, some missed, players fouling out and even one standout – Martino – reaching 1,000 career points, this division game had a little of everything.

In the end it was Summit that proved to be just a bit better on this night as the Hilltoppers, by scoring six of the game’s final nine points, were able to defeat Linden 49-46.

“I think we came out strong and then we let go a little bit and they made a run,” said Martino, who paced Summit with 19 points, which is six higher than her average. “I think we lost it on the floor a little bit and they took advantage of that, but we bounced back in the second half.”

Summit snapped Linden’s eight-game winning streak and improved to 10-4 overall and 6-3 in the Watchung Division. Linden, which last loss at Union exactly four weeks ago, fell to 12-4 overall and 7-3 in the Watchung.

Linden beat Summit 51-45 in Linden back on Jan. 5, so the teams ended up splitting their Watchung Division games.

Roselle Catholic, which is 13-4 overall and has won five straight, leads the Watchung Division with an 11-0 mark. The Lions only need to win one of their final three division games to clinch the title for the second straight season.

Summit, which captured the Watchung Division crown two years ago, also received a solid effort from senior guard Kelly Osmulski. Her only basket and points of the fourth quarter – coming inside off the glass after receiving a pass from senior guard Nicole Johnson – gave Summit the lead for good at 45-43 with 1:52 to go. Osmulski finished with 14 points, including 10 in the second half. She leads the team with a 15-point average.

Osmulski also got Summit going again in the second half when she scored the first two baskets of the third quarter - off assists from Martino and senior Olivia Galuppo – to put Summit in the lead at 25-21.

“Those were big shots and part of another outstanding performance by Osmulski,” seventh-year Summit head coach Brian Erickson said. “We’re going to miss all seven seniors.”

The best-case scenario worked out for Martino, who reached a grand scoring milestone during a big division victory.

“Kate makes decisions on the floor that people think about and they go, ‘maybe,’ and she’s already made that pass,” Erickson said. “She gives you the ball on the button, when you want it and where you want it.

“She makes passes nobody else will make. Her No. 1 thing is her decision-making skills, but she also defends as good if not better than anybody in this county.

“That’s why I think she’s one of the best pure point guards. She doesn’t care if she scores as you can see by her assists. She’s averaging six a game.”

“We came out in the second half the way we started,” Martino said. “We needed more energy and more intensity, so we picked it up.”

Wheeler scored Linden’s first 15 points and last six, while leading all scorers with a superb 27-point performance that included six three-pointers.

“She’s a good player,” Martino said.

“Is that all she scored? It seemed like she scored more than that,” Erickson said. “She’s such a player. I can’t say enough good things about her. Kate’s on her and sometimes we had two people on her.

“You can’t stop her, you can only hope to contain her and that’s what we tried to do.”

Wheeler’s final three-point attempt at the buzzer hit off the backboard. She kept Linden in the game, especially in the early going when the Tigers were struggling.

“She’s a good player and somebody, wherever she goes to college next year, will be lucky to have her,” second-year Linden head coach Paul Gorski said. “In that first half she carried us and that’s what good players do.”

Wheeler’s final basket, a two-point jumper from the right side, pulled Linden to within 48-46 with 10.3 seconds to go. Her last three-pointer produced the game’s final tie at 43-43 with 2:08 left.

Martino and Wheeler put on a show worthy of both being placed among the top six-to-seven players in the county.

Martino, a four-year starter, reached 1,000 points with 24 seconds left in the third quarter when she made the first of two free throws to give her 13 points at the time. Those important free throws – Martino made 11-of-15 fouls shots for the game – gave Summit a 37-33 lead going into the fourth quarter.

“It’s a great experience and a relief that it’s done with and now we have a whole season to play,” Martino said.

Martino made consecutive free throws to give Summit a 47-43 advantage with 25.1 seconds to go and then made one of two to increase the Hilltopper lead to 49-46 with 4.3 seconds remaining.

Summit ended the first quarter on a 7-0 run for a 15-6 cushion. Two free throws by Osmulski gave the Hilltoppers their biggest lead of 13 at 19-6.

A jumper by Amanda Murphy - who had a solid game with five points, eight rebounds and one blocked shot – increased Summit’s lead to 21-9.

“I thought our kids hit the boards well defensively,” Erickson said. “When Olivia (Galuppo) got into foul trouble for us, Amanda Murphy really stepped up and was steady the whole night. She clearly solidified that front line for us.”

Linden, to its credit, never quit and came right back with a 12-0 run to end the second quarter and tie the game at 21-21.

Wheeler began the surge with her second three-pointer, which she nailed from the left side, and then junior forward Jada Lewis produced back-to-back inside baskets for the first four of her 11 points. Senior Jada Johnson and sophomore point guard Na-Quasia Robinson earned assists on the two Lewis buckets. Junior reserve Maya Hall concluded the run with a steal and layup.

“We started putting a lot of pressure on the ball and a lot of pressure leads to a lot of transition points and the next thing you know it’s tied at halftime,” Gorski said.

The only lead Linden had was at 3-2 on a free throw by Wheeler.

After Linden got a free throw from Hall for the game’s third tie at 39-39, the Tigers were hit with a lane violation, preventing them from taking another lead.

Then Lewis had a chance to give Linden the lead again, but missed, with Nicole Johnson grabbing an important rebound.

“It’s tougher on the road,” Gorski said. “They jumped out on us early, but we came back and we still had chances to win in the fourth quarter.”

When Linden was behind 45-43, the Tigers had a good chance to tie the game, but the ball went off Lewis’s hands underneath.

“That two-on-one break with Jada and Emily (Nicole) when we were down two and didn’t score, that was the turning point of the game,” Gorski said.

Erickson said that his Hilltoppers had a similar dry spell in their 33-26 division home loss to Roselle Catholic Saturday.

“You go through droughts sometimes, but our girls still battled,” Erickson said. “I thought the biggest thing tonight was that they never (in the second half) got the lead. If they took the lead I felt that the pendulum was going to swing.

“At 21-21 we came out and scored right away and then even down at the end they had a chance to take the lead, but they were not able to.”

NOTES: Before the 37th annual Frank J. Cicarell Union County Tournament will be seeded next Wednesday – Feb. 8 – Summit is scheduled to play four more division games. The first three will be at home, starting with Thursday’s 7 p.m. game vs. Scotch Plains.

Then the Hilltoppers will host Plainfield Saturday at 1 p.m. and Westfield Monday at 4 p.m., which is a makeup game from the snow date of Jan. 21. Summit will then play at Westfield Tuesday at 4 p.m.

Summit’s final division game is scheduled at Roselle Feb. 9 at 4:30 p.m.

Linden will host its next three games, which are all division contests. The Tigers are home to Roselle Thursday at 4 p.m., will host Roselle Catholic Saturday at 1 p.m. and will remain home for a 4 p.m. game next Tuesday vs. Union.

Linden’s final division game is at Scotch Plains Feb. 9 at 7 p.m.

Roselle Catholic’s next game is at Linden Saturday. If the Lions win, then they capture the Watchung Division championship for the second straight season. RC won it last year with a 13-1 record, splitting with Roselle.

UNION COUNTY CONFERENCE-WATCHUNG DIVISION

GIRLS’ BASKETBALL GAME AT SUMMIT

LINDEN (12-4, 7-3) 6 15 12 13 - 46

SUMMIT (10-4, 6-3) 15 6 16 12 - 49  

LINDEN TIGERS (46):

3-Shannon Wheeler, senior, 3-6-3-27

20-Emily Nicole, sophomore, 1-0-1-3

24-Na-Quasia Robinson, sophomore, 0-0-0-0

13-Jada Johnson, senior, 1-0-0-2

23-Jada Lewis, junior, 5-0-1-11

4-Maya Hall, junior, 1-0-1-3

Starters: Nicole, Robinson,

Lewis, Johnson, Wheeler

Totals: 11-6-6-46

SUMMIT HILLTOPPERS (49):

11-Kate Martino, senior, 4-0-11-19

22-Nicole Johnson, senior, 3-0-3-9

14-Kelly Osmulski, senior, 6-0-2-14

10-Amanda Murphy, senior, 2-0-1-5

24-Olivia Galuppo, senior, 0-0-0-0

15-Ali Hoesly, senior, 1-0-0-2

Starters: Martino, Osmulski,

Johnson, Murphy, Galuppo

Totals: 16-0-17-49

Head coach Brian Erickson (far right) and the rest of the Summit girls basketball team all gather around the outstanding senior guard Kate Martino on her special night after the Hilltopper star reached the coveted 1,000-point plateau in hard-fought 49-46 victory over Linden.

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