The girls’ basketball team wrapped up their second consecutive conference championship with an emphatic 58-47 victory over Bound Brook. With the victory, the team secured a second consecutive 10-0 record in conference play, an accomplishment that everyone involved with the team is proud of. Junior Caroline Baratta had an outstanding game in the victory, scoring 28 points and making nine field goals. Seniors Maddie Fairhurst, Sam Mottes and Sara Whelan scored seven, ten and nine points, respectively in the victory. Mottes made several key free throws down the stretch to help seal the victory for the team.
Three nights after the victory over Bound Brook, Fairhurst, Mottes, Whelan and fellow senior Jill Talamini were all honored as part of the team’s annual “senior night” prior to their game against Ridge High School. Bernards looked well on their way to a huge victory after gaining a 12-point lead midway through the third quarter. However, Ridge rallied throughout the fourth quarter, and they eventually tied the game with a clutch three-point basket that came with five seconds on the clock. This basket sent the game to overtime, and the four-minute overtime period was an excellent defensive display for both teams. Bernards only allowed Ridge to score two points, and they themselves were held to just two points until Whelan scored with ten seconds left in the overtime period to put Bernards up 62-60, which was the final score of the game.
After the win over Ridge, Bernards hosted Union Catholic in a game that ended with a loss for the Mountaineers. However, the result of the game was not significant compared to the cause it contributed to. This game was the team’s annual “Gold Out” game to raise awareness and money for childhood cancer, specifically honoring the late Campbell Hoyt. Head coach Sandy Whelan established the game during her tenure as Watchung Hills’ basketball coach, and she brought the tradition over to Bernards when she began coaching the girls’ team. Prior to tip-off, Whelan addressed the crowd in honor of Hoyt.
“We’ll play basketball today because that’s what we do,” she said. “I’m grateful that my players are healthy and that (Union Catholic’s) players are healthy and they can go out there and play with all their hearts. Our opponents are not cancer. So we’re going to go out there and battle, knowing that our battle is easy today.”
After the Union Catholic game, the team began their run to the state championship on March 1 with an emphatic 58-21 win over Metuchen. Fairhurst led all scorers with 22 points and also added 12 rebounds, and Baratta added 14 points in the winning effort. Mottes pulled down six rebounds and recorded four steals in one of the strongest defensive performances the team has put in all season.
The win over Metuchen allowed Bernards to move on to the second round of the State Tournament, where they faced Manasquan in a difficult away matchup. They lost this game by a score of 70-50, bringing their 2015-16 season to an end. Although the team didn’t win the state tournament, it was still a very strong season that saw the team bring home yet another championship.
