CALDWELL-Tea Fiore provided her trademark smile, but she wasn’t looking to spend an inordinate amount of time talking about her career-high 31 points which helped pave the way in Caldwell’s decisive 59-35 victory over Johnson in Thursday’s independent action.
Instead, the Chiefs’ senior leader was more interested in emphasizing an entire team effort which was fully evident, including lockdown defense, strong rebounding and an ability to quickly solve Johnson’s zone ‘D’ with precision passing which led to open shots throughout a much-anticipated contest between undefeated teams representing Essex and Union counties.
“Our team chemistry showed itself again today as everyone did a good job sharing the ball, throwing the skip pass to an open teammate against their zone and defending at a high level at the other end,” said Fiore, who was highly-productive from the start with 13 first half points before an emphatic 15-point output in the third quarter when Caldwell expanded its lead to a commanding 49-30 advantage and the Chiefs were well on their way to win No. 15. “So many people were rebounding and producing assists and steals, and it all added up to a great team effort.
“We were looking forward to this game knowing that Johnson was undefeated and a good team, and we all responded in a big way!”
Among those also contributing to the impressive Caldwell victory were Tea’s sophomore sister Fallon, who had 6 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 7 steals, junior Addy Keenan, who despite being held to 4 points, was superb in other areas in a strong floor game with 6 rebounds, 8 assists and 4 steals.
Hard-working sophomore Aaliyah Rodriguez had 6 rebounds and valuable sophomore reserve Adriana Brown contributed 9 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists.
Johnson (14-1) showed different looks in its zone with either a 1-2-2 or more traditional 2-3 while looking to put pressure on the Chiefs; however, Caldwell’s response was emphatic for the most part.
“Teams have been playing a lot of zone against us because we’re strong on the drive and we’ve been working tirelessly in practice looking to get to the middle where we can then kick the ball out to our good outside shooters like Tea and Addy,” said Fallon Fiore. “What helps our team so much is the fact we’re the same team as last year and we’re so used to working together every day, supporting each other, and concentrating on planning for the next opponent whoever it is.
“We’re always looking for the best pass that is there whoever gets the ball. Today it was Tea who had the hot hand and she really got into a groove out there hitting her shots.”
Tea Fiore sank three of her four 3-pointers during the third quarter, including the first three points of the second half as the Chiefs took off on an 8-2 run, including a second Fiore ‘tri-fecta’ in the quarter’s first two minutes.
“I definitely felt good shooting from the outside today and my teammates kept finding me,” said the veteran Chief standout. “And, if there was an opening to drive to the basket, I looked to take advantage of that as well.”
Johnson, which also returns its entire team this season, and has five senior starters, showed its own prowess rebounding the ball as both Jordanna Tarentino (13 points, 9 rebounds) and Julia Lettini (9 points, 8 rebounds) were effective at times inside, but the Crusaders were cool from the perimeter for the most part and saw Caldwell also score in transition with enough authority to fully complement the 3-ball delivered by Tea Fiore.
