Freehold Township girls’ basketball team edges Howell in overtime

The Freehold Township High School girls’ basketball team allowed a lead to slip away, but the Patriots came through with a decisive showing in overtime to produce a recent victory over rival Howell High School.

Freehold Township’s dominating effort in the overtime session led to its 52-44 victory over Howell on Jan. 9 in Freehold Township.

Freehold Township broke away from a 39-39 tie at regulation by outscoring Howell, 13-5, in overtime. Howell had forced the game to go into overtime when the Rebels outscored Freehold Township, 18-10, in the fourth quarter. The Patriots entered the final period with a 29-21 advantage.

Senior small forward Sarah Hughes led Freehold Township with 16 points, while senior point guard Theresa Sanzone and freshman forward Hannah Orloff each contributed 10 points for the Patriots.

Freshman Caitlin Gresko paced the Rebels with 13 points, while senior point guard Perri Clifton followed up with 11 points. Howell also received 10 points from senior Rachel Gazzola and nine points from senior guard Lauren Kocsis.

Freehold Township coach Michael Stoia pointed out that victories like the one against Howell will define the team going forward.

“I think overall, we’ve been preaching that we need to finish games this year,” said Stoia, whose team improved to 4-4 on the season. “Some of the games earlier in the season, we didn’t finish. We had leads going into the fourth quarter and in the fourth quarter that we dropped. So today, that was good for us, getting over the hump against a good team and getting the win at the end of the game, showing that we can not only finish a game, but we can play with a lead. We gave up a lead in today’s game as well obviously, but we were able to bounce back and extend the lead, which was huge.”

The victory improved the Patriots to 4-0 against Shore Conference A North Division opponents.

“I think right now, it puts us in the driver’s seat for the A North Division,” Stoia said. “Right now, we’re the only team that’s undefeated in division play. There’s still a long way to go, but at the beginning of the season, nobody gave us credit in the division. Now it’s nice to see that with the win over Neptune [High School], with the win over Freehold Borough [High School] and now the win over Howell, who was predicted to finish pretty high, it’s a good learning curve for us. It’s something to build on.”

Hughes agreed that the victory over Howell was a major stepping stone in the team’s development.

“I think today, it was important that we stayed as a team,” she said. “We kept our composure and going into overtime, it was our first OT of the season. A lot of the younger girls had to step up as well, and they did a great job with that. Everyone just did their best to stick together and protect the lead.”

The way to team played and pulled out the victory instilled plenty of confidence in the Patriots, according to Hughes, which she believes will be important as the season progresses and the playoffs get closer.

“I know that’s still a ways away, but it gave us the confidence we need heading into the rest of the season,” Hughes said. “I think it’s just a positive win that we can continue to build on.”

The Patriots will have another chance to remain on top in the division when they play as the host to another rival, Freehold High School, on Jan. 18 at 5:15 p.m.

Howell coach Joe Santopietro was thrilled that his team battled back. However, the loss, which dropped the Rebels to 3-5, was a tough one to handle.

“The good things that we saw was a change from the first half to the second half,” the coach said. “We saw an increase in intensity. Obviously, we fought hard. It’s hard losing a game like this, especially to a cross-town rival. I’m friendly with the coach, but you never want to lose one to a friend or a rival, especially when all these girls have grown up together. So it’s tough.”

“I think toward the end, we kind of picked up the intensity,” Clifton said. “It would have been nice if we had that from start to finish. We always have great team chemistry, so that helps a lot. I know once we get things going, it’s hard to stop us. I think overall, we played pretty well. We just couldn’t come out on top.”

Santopietro and Clifton both believe the team can be successful if the Rebels become more efficient, especially around the basket.

“[We need to] make sure we finish at the rim,” Santopietro said. “That’s been a little frustrating. But we know we need to work on that. It’s something that we’ve been preaching all year, especially in games that are this close. When you lose by only two or three baskets, if you can cut down on some of those misses, then you start winning those games. That’s really been the goal from last year to this year.”

“[We] definitely need to start finishing games,” Clifton said. “We start really strong, and we keep it close all game long, but then, for whatever reason, we just can’t seem to finish games. We have all the potential in the world. We’re just having trouble closing it out. We definitely need to work on that.”

The Rebels will travel to Colts Neck High School on Jan. 18 for a game at 6:30 p.m.