By DAVE O’SULLIVAN
Staff Writer
WILLIAMSTOWN — Junior guard Alivia Mauz said the game plan for Williamstown against Egg Harbor Township in the South Jersey Group 4 semifinals on Wednesday night was to get off to a fast start.
Things couldn’t have gone any better early on for the top-seeded Braves, who raced out to a 20-6 lead over the No. 4 Eagles and never looked back, cruising to a 71-35 victory in the Bunting Family Pharmacy Game of the Week. The win puts Williamstown into Friday night’s championship game against No. 2 Lenape, a 41-20 winner over third-seeded Cherokee in the other semifinal.
This will be the first championship game appearance under current coach Jaime Land, and the first time the Braves have even made it past the sectional quarterfinals in more than a decade.
“The plan was to come out with fire and I think we finally did that. Usually we don’t get going until the third or fourth quarter, but tonight we started from the beginning. That was the best first half I’ve ever seen us play. It was electric, from the fans to the people on the bench — everyone played a part,” said Land. “I feel like we set the tone right away and pushed the ball, and that’s something I’ve been wanting them to do, and we’re finally doing it. We’re finally clicking. We’re playing our best basketball right now, which is good. I have high hopes for this team. I don’t think a lot of people thought that we should have been the No. 1 seed, and I actually don’t think a lot of people think we can win the sectionals, so I want to prove them wrong. If we’re playing the type of game I think we can play, I think we can beat anybody.”
Mauz and senior forward Iriona Gravley — who has more than 1,400 career points and almost 1,000 rebounds — were completely dominant in the first half, as Gravley scored 10 points while Mauz three of her game-high five 3-pointers in the first 16 minutes while scoring 18 of her 34 points. By the time the halftime buzzer sounded, Williamstown (21-6, 8-0 Tri-County Royal) had built an insurmountable 42-15 lead.
“We scrimmaged EHT in the beginning of the season. We didn’t play our best but we’ve gotten a lot better since then. We had to come to play hard. We knew they had a good team, they can shoot and they play as a team,” Mauz said. “I was feeling it in warmups, and I feel like when that happens to me the whole team gets going. And the crowd was really nice, they were loud. Everyone was pumped up. We knew we had to keep the intensity up. We knew we couldn’t let down because if we did, this team could easily come back. They were making some shots, so we just had to keep going.”
“If it’s not one, it’s the other. They both can rely on each other,” Land said of her two stars. “But I’m just so proud of everyone. The people on the bench were cheering — we do best when everyone is involved, and I feel like everyone was involved tonight. I’m proud. I think a lot of people have counted us out the last couple of years, but we know what we can do. I’m happy we’re finally proving that.”
Egg Harbor Township coach Adam Swift said his biggest worry was getting off to a slow start, which is exactly what happened to the Eagles (23-5, 11-1 Cape-Atlantic League National).
“Early on, they came out very aggressive, being at home, having the crowd, they made some shots and we got a little frazzled offensively. We lost our composure a little bit for a stretch. We thought the first four minutes were going to be key in terms of taking the crowd out of it and letting us settle in,” Swift said. “We’ve accomplished a lot of great things this year — this program hasn’t been to a sectional semifinal in who knows how long — and the pressure that comes with that, I absolutely felt the girls were feeling that, and rightfully so. The start was going to be so key, and the ball got rolling and we had a hard time stopping it. But I was impressed, the girls battled back. There was no quit in them. I told them to just keep fighting. I’m proud of everything they accomplished this year.”
EHT tried to stay in it with its inside-outside star duo of Averie Harding (15 points) and Ava Kraybill (7 points), but the combination of Mauz’s shooting and Gravley dominating the boards proved to be too much.
“It’s nice to have a good big, there aren’t a lot of them out there, and she and I work together really well,” Mauz said of Gravley. “Our game plan was to front Harding in the middle. She’s a good player, and they have some shooters on their team, so we had to get out on their shooters and front Harding.”
“Mauz shoots the lights out. The girls were turning to me and saying, ‘what are we supposed to do?’ And I said, ‘I don’t know, you’re playing pretty good defense.’ Sometimes you run into a girl who is hot, and she shot it very well,” Swift said. “Gravley is a very good player but I thought Averie battled her well. She doesn’t always see that level of player, so that was a good experience for Averie and she’s going to grow from that.”
Land gave credit to the supporting cast as well. The Braves got eight points from Mia Pezzato as well as other eight from senior guard Tinu Bamgbose, while Gabby Madden and Callie Kozeniewski combined to score seven.
“(Sophomore) McKenna Eaton is someone who works hard, doesn’t care if she scores a point all game. She’s somebody who goes coast-to-coast playing defense, and not a lot of people want to play that kind of defense,” Land said. “And we have Tinu, who is one of a kind. Iri is unstoppable and Alivia took charge from the beginning. I’m just so proud of how every single person handled themselves tonight.”
Williamstown now turns its attention to a Lenape team it dominated back in early January, winning 55-36, but the Indians haven’t lost since late January, ripping off 12 straight wins, including winning the Burlington County Tournament.
Said Mauz, “I’ve never been here before but I knew this was our year. Our hard work shows why we were the No. 1 seed, and I’m really excited for Friday.”
“Lenape is a tough team, they are well coached. We have to set the tone from the beginning,” land added. “We’ll be home and we have to believe in ourselves, make good decisions and execute on every possession. There are times when we let our turnovers take over the game, so as long as we dictate the tempo and just play possession-by-possession, I think we’ll be OK.”
Swift said he sees the upswing Williamstown has been on the past few seasons and believes his Eagles could be on the same trajectory. They’ll return four starters next year, including leading scorers Kraybill and Harding.
“We got a little taste of what it’s really all about,” Swift said. “In girls basketball, the first two rounds (of the state playoffs) the top seeds seem to be a little separated from the lower seeds, but you get to this level and it’s a different story. We have big expectations next year that we can take the next step (like Williamstown has). We want to keep it rolling from here.”
WHAT’S NEXT: EHT’s season is complete. No. 1 Williamstown hosts No. 2 Lenape on Friday at 5:30 p.m. in the South Jersey Group 4 championship game. The winner plays either Hightstown or Howell in the Group 4 semifinals next week.
Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sullyglorydays@gmail.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays
