Dan Reardon was beginning to think that he was simply snake-bit, that he just wasn’t lucky enough to win the big game in the HCIAA playoffs. The long-time North Bergen High School girls’ basketball coach had brought his Bruin team to the HCIAA finals in three of the previous four years, only to fall each time to either Marist or Bayonne.
“I was saying to myself that we can get to the finals, but we can’t win the big one,” Reardon said. “All these doubts started to run through my head that maybe I was doing something wrong. Last year, we won 20 games, broke a lot of school records, and had nothing to show for it. We got them there and couldn’t complete the deal.”
In those previous appearances in the championship game, a play here or there might have changed the Bruins’ fate.
“I was thinking about one play, one call that could have gone either way,” Reardon said. “It always comes down to one or two plays. That’s a credit to the league. Top to bottom, the competition is always so fierce.”
So when the Bruins first knocked off defending HCIAA Coviello champion Bayonne in the semifinals (at Bayonne, no less, which is a brutally tough place to play) to advance to face Marist in the finals at Yanitelli Center, Reardon knew that his team had a chance to rid themselves of all the prior demons from previous years in consecutive games.
“We needed things to go just right,” Reardon said. “We needed to get the breaks, have a little luck. I knew we had the talent. We lost to Bayonne and Marist in the regular season, so we wanted to beat the teams that beat us. If we could do that, then that would be rewarding.”
However, knocking off Marist was not going to be an easy feat. After all, the Lady Knights of Marist rolled through the HCIAA regular season without a loss. They had perhaps the best all-around player in the county in senior Angela Fitzgerald. Defeating heavily favored Marist wouldn’t be an upset of “Hoosiers<.i>” proportion – but it would be pretty darn close.
But Reardon just had a sense.
“I could feel it in my gut that it could happen,” Reardon said. “We worked so hard to get back there again after losing last year. I just felt like we needed a little luck.”
As well as some solid play from his lone senior, guard Vanessa Quiroga, who was on the Bruins for two of the three previous setbacks in the county finale. Quiroga was about to enjoy her finest moment as a North Bergen basketball player.
“She played big time,” Reardon said. “It was almost as if she knew that this was her last shot at it. It was a special game for her. She willed us to the win.”
Quiroga had 19 points, shooting 7-of-11 from the floor, including making all three of her 3-point attempts. She also made two key free throws in overtime, giving the Bruins a 52-51 upset win over Marist to secure the school’s first-ever girls’ basketball HCIAA title, earning the game’s MVP honors.
“There’s another banner that hangs in the gym that says, ‘1974 County Champs,’ but I don’t know what that is for,” said Reardon, who has been the head coach for the last 15 years. “So I guess it’s safe to say that this is the first one in 30 years. Whatever, it’s like I’m still on a cloud. I’m trying to be humble and all, but we worked an awful lot since we lost last year to Bayonne. The kids worked hard, playing a lot of games over the summer together. All that work came down to one minute and we finally got the breaks.”
It also helped that the Bruins had 6-3 freshman center Lauren Jimenez arrive at the right time. Jimenez has been a force all year long and she added 17 points, 16 rebounds and five blocked shots in the title game.
“How can you figure this out?” Reardon said. “We had chances in the past and didn’t get them. Now, we get the chance and make the most of it. We beat the two teams that beat us in the regular season. That’s really rewarding. We finally got the monkey off our backs.”
Monday morning, two days after finally reaching the pinnacle, Reardon’s team approached him and said that there was a different feel when they came to school.
“They said that they feel like champions,” Reardon said. “I told them that the feeling was new to me, too. But it’s a nice feeling.” – Jim Hague CAPTION CAPTION FOR SB3 BRUIN POWER – The 2003-2004 HCIAA Coviello Division girls’ basketball champions, the Bruins of North Bergen, stand in front of the school’s marquee that proudly proclaims their first-ever league title. From left are: head coach Dan Reardon, team manager Tom Mongelli, assistant coach Yael Martinez, Karina McGuire, Stephanie Villate, Berenice Alvarez, Luz Corotorreal (holding trophy), Victoria Henao, Cassandra Chenet, Lauren Jimenez, Adriana Riano, Natalie Castro. Not pictured is Vanessa Quiroga.