Led again by senior center Lauren Jimenez, who scored 29 points and hauled down 15 rebounds, North Bergen High School won the Hudson County Interscholastic Athletic Association Coviello Division girls’ basketball championship Saturday night with a resounding 61-46 victory over Bayonne at Yanitelli Center on the campus of St. Peter’s College.
The win enabled the Bruins (22-3) to capture their third HCIAA Coviello title in the last four years after never having won a true county title before then.
The victory also enabled the Bruins to gain a sense of revenge, because it was Bayonne who defeated the Bruins in last year’s HCIAA Coviello title game. The two schools have met in each of the last three championship games, with North Bergen winning two of the three.
Tall order
Jimenez, the 6-foot-4 dominating center who has already signed a national letter of intent to attend James Madison University in the fall, once again came through with a huge performance in a big game.
Two years ago, Jimenez had 30 points and 20 rebounds in defeating Bayonne in the title game. Jimenez was 11-of-12 from the floor in that game.
Saturday night, it looked like a repeat performance, as Jimenez made 12 of her 13 field goal attempts.
“It really is remarkable the way Lauren plays big in big games,” North Bergen head coach Dan Reardon said. “She has this penchant of stepping up in big games. She missed only one shot. It was really a mirror image of two years ago.”
Once again, Jimenez, the school’s all-time leading girls’ basketball scorer, was named the game’s Most Valuable Player, like she was in each of the three Bruin HCIAA title victories.
The Bruins jumped out to an early 25-13 first quarter lead, with Jimenez doing most of the damage, scoring 18 points in the quarter. Unlike a year ago, when Bayonne had All-State standout Christy Altamirano to try to hold Jimenez in check, the Bees had no answer for the towering Bruin this time, as Jimenez was scoring at will.
“I always felt like the championship was always ours,” Jimenez said. “Last year was a misstep, a mishap. It shouldn’t have happened last year. This was more like it.”
The Bruins’ two other senior leaders also contributed. Guard Cassandra Chenet had 15 points, seven rebounds and four assists, while Cynthia Rivera contributed eight points.
“Chenet is really the key to this team,” Reardon said. “When she plays well, we play well. But when all three kids score, we’re a tough match-up.”
But Reardon credited all his seniors, like Lauren Uribe, who came into the game early on and contributed with two points and grabbed three rebounds.
“I was happy for her,” Reardon said. “She just came here at the wrong time. At any other time, she would have been a key player for us. But with the other Lauren here, this Lauren couldn’t get much playing time. But it was good to have her here for practices, because she’s tall (5-11) and works hard.”
The team
The other seniors are Jelena Ilic, Lisbeth de Marchena and Corrina Apodaca, the younger sister of Rick Apodaca, the all-time leading boys’ basketball scorer in Hudson County history who starred at North Bergen and Hofstra University.
“Those seven seniors work so hard, but only three get the attention and the accolades,” Reardon said. “These seven kids support each other so much and practice just as hard as anyone. They’re all so important to this success.”
There was one thing different about this year’s team than the other two HCIAA title winners. This team went undefeated in Hudson County play, winning all 17 of their league games.
“We went undefeated in the league and I don’t remember the last time that has happened for any team,” Reardon said. “It’s a good accomplishment. We beat Bayonne twice, Marist twice, a good Lincoln team. It’s really remarkable.”
The Bruins, currently ranked No. 9 in the entire state, will now move on to the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 1, Group IV playoffs, where they will face Paterson Kennedy in their first game this week.
Jim Hague can be reached via e-mail at either OGSMAR@aol.com or jhague@hudsonreporter.com