Blue Demons gain a split,
need win for playoff spot
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DENVILLE - The players on the Denville Blue Demons PAL eighth-grade girls travel basketball team have their work cut out for them in their final Passaic Valley Basketball League game.
A victory would put the team at .500 and assure Blue Demons spot in the league's post-season playoff tournament. A loss would hurt their chances to the extent they would have to "... wait until we see how the rest of the league plays out," according to Denville head coach Anthony Finn.
Problem is, the team the Blue Demons have to beat is unbeaten (10-0) High Point. The game is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 17, 2001, at Valleyview Middle School here at 7:30 p.m.
The two teams met last month and High Point won, 48-27, as the Blue Demons' record fell to 1-5. Since then, however, Denville has won four of its last five games and will take a 5-6 record into its game against High Point.
The last two Demon games were split, with Denville beating Nutley, 36-21, on Monday, Feb. 14, at Valleyview here and traveling to Copeland School in Rockaway Township on Saturday, Feb. 12, where the Demons lost a 32-23 decision to the Lady Rockets.
Against Nutley, the Demons scored the first six points of the game and were never headed.
Caroline Dunn and Jamie Barrett each scored 10 points; Julianna Urban added seven; Claire Lubash added four; Michelle D'Alessio and Lexi Finn each scored two; and Christina DiGiovanna had a free throw to complete the scoring for Denville.
Dunn finished with a game-high 17 rebounds and Dunn added 12 as the Demons controlled the boards. Urban finished with nine rebounds; Shayna McMahon finished with seven; Blair Aherdnt had five; Kayla Grassle four; and Finn finished with three.
Finn had a team-high six assists; D'Alessio and Claire Lubash each had three; and Aherdnt and McMahon each had two.
"The girls came out firing and took an early lead," said Finn after the game. "They moved the ball extremely well and everybody got a chance to contribute."
Against Rockaway Township, both teams had troubles scoring early on as the Lady Rockets led by a 5-3 score after one quarter and 6-5 at the half. The Rockets pulled away by outscoring the Demons 11-3 in the final quarter and both teams then found the range better in the final period as each team scored 15 points.
Dunn scored six points for Denville; D'Alessio finished with five; Urban had four; Barrett scored three points; Wolf and Barrett each scored two points; and DiGiovanna had one for the Blue Demons.
Dunn had 10 rebounds; Ubran had seven and Wolf finished with five; Finn had a team-high three assists and D'Alessio finished with two.
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Blue Demon defense key in two close wins
DENVILLE - The Denville PAL Blue Demons eighth grade girls basketball team showed it thrives on late-game pressure by scoring two clutch victories in Passaic Valley Basketball League regular-season action this past week.
On Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2011, the Blue Demons rallied in the final quarter to defeat Pompton Lakes, 58-57, when Julianna Urban scored the game-winning basket on a put-back at the buzzer in a game played at Valleyview Middle School here.
Earlier in the week, on Monday, Feb. 7, Denville used a fourth-quarter press to erase a two-point deficit and move on to a 34-32 victory over Nutley in another game at Valleyview.
In Wednesday's game, Pompton Lakes took a 56-54 lead with a 3-point field goal with 7.7 seconds left in the game.
After a Denville timeout, Jill Wolf inbounded the ball to Urban who got the ball to Caroline Dunn, who lost control of the ball briefly before getting it to Lexi Finn. Finn's 20-foot jumper bounced off the rim, but Urban had hustled up court after inbounded and was in perfect position to rebound the ball and put it back up and through the net for the game-winner as the buzzer sounded.
Dunn finished the game with 31 points and 20 rebounds; Urban finished with 10 points; Michelle D'Alessio had eight points; Wolf scored five; and Jamie Barrett had four points to complete the Blue Demons scoring.
Urban finished with 12 rebounds; Barrett had 10; Shayna McMahon finished with seven; Finn had three; and Wolf and D'Alessio each had two. Finn had a team-high five assists; D'Alessio finished with three; and Barrett had two.
In Monday's victory over Nutley, the Blue Demons trailed 28-26 going into the final quarter when Denville put on its press and outscored the visitors 8-4 to finish with its two-point victory.
Turnovers caused by the Blue Demon press held Nutley's offense to just two field goals while Denville got four points from Dunn; a field goal each from McMahon and Barrett; and free throws from Wolf and Finn.
Dunn finished with 17 points; Barrett had six points; Wolf scored four points; Claire Lubash had three; McMahon had two; and Finn and Urban each had a free throw.
Dunn also had a team-high in rebounds with 15; Barrett had nine; McMahon and Urban each had six; and Christina DiGiovanna finished with five rebounds.
The two victories put the Blue Demons' season record at 4-5.
The Demons next game is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 12, at 11 a.m. when they square off against Rockaway Township at Copeland Middle School in Rockaway Township.
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Demons fall behind early, lose to 6-0 High Point
DENVILLE - The Denville PAL Demons eighth-grade girls travel basketball team ran into a undefeated buzzsaw by the name of High Point on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2011, and lost a 48-27 decision in a Passaic Valley Basketball League game played at High Point High School.
High Point (6-0) took a 14-2 lead at the end of the first quarter of play and was never headed, although the Demons (1-5) fought back with an 11-10 second quarter. Denville got the lead down to 10 points twice in the third period before running out of gas, possibly because several of the players had played in a game for the Valleyview Middle School team that afternoon.
Caroline Dunn scored 12 points to lead the Demons. Jamie Barrett finished with 10 points; Alex Finn added four points; and Jillian Wolf added one to round out the scoring for Denville.
Dunn and Wolf each had a team-high six rebounds; Barrett finished with five; and Shayna McMahon had four. Wolf had two assists for the Lady Demons.
Denville faces High Point again on Friday, Jan. 21, in a 7:45 p.m. game at Valleyview Middle School here in the township.
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Demons bow to Rockaway Township, 46-39
DENVILLE - A fourth-quarter rally fell short as the Denville Demons eighth-grade girls travel team fell to Rockaway Township, 46-39, in a Passaic Valley Basketball League game played on Monday, Jan. 10, at Valleyview Middle School here.
Rockaway Township took a 41-30 lead into the final quarter of play, but the Demons were able to cut the deficit to two points before the visitors pulled away at the end of the game to establish its seven-point margin of victory.
Caroline Dunn and Jamie Barrett each scored 14 points for Denville; Julianna Urban added seven points and Michelle D'Alesiso had four to round out the scoring.
Barrett finished with a team-high 14 rebounds while Dunn had 13. Alex Finn finished with four rebounds and three assists.
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Demons beat Panthers for first victory of season
DENVILLE - The Denville PAL Blue Demons 8th grade girls won their first game of the season on Monday, Dec. 13, when they used a strong second-half offensive spurt to beat the West Paterson Panthers, 32-21, in a Passaic Valley Basketball League game played at Valleyview Middle School here.
Holding a slim 12-10 lead at the half, Denville came out firing and outscored the Panthers 16-3 over the third and part of the fourth quarters to take a commanding 28-13 lead en route to their 11-point victory.
The second-half surge was led by Christina DiGiovianna, who came off the bench and hit 3-of-4 free throws, pulled down eight rebounds, and played solid defense for the Demons, who improved to 1-2 with the victory.
Caroline Dunn led the team in scoring with 14 points and Jamie Barrett also hit double-figures as she finished with 11 points.
DiGiovianna and Dunn each finished with a team-high eight rebounds and Jillian Wolf added seven. Alexandra Finn led the Demons with seven assists while MIchelle D'Alessio added three.
The Demons are back in action again on Sunday, Dec. 19, at noon when they will play Montville at Montville High School.
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Demons fall, 32-28, on two last-seconds field goals
DENVILLE - The West Paterson Panthers scored the last four points in the final 30 seconds of the game to hand the Denville PAL Blue Demons 8th grade girls a 32-28 defeat in a Passaic Valley Basketball League game played at West Paterson Middle School on Friday, Dec. 10.
Jamie Barrett had 15 points and Caroline Dunn added seven points to lead the Demons in scoring.
Julianna Urban and Shayna McMahon each had a team-high seven rebounds and Alexandra Finn led the Denville team in assists with four.
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Demons lose opener, to Pompton Lakes, 35-33
DENVILLE - The Denville Blue Demons 8th grade girls travel basketball team lost its 2010-11 opener to Pompton Lakes, 35-33, in a Passaic Valley Basketball League contest played at Riverdale School in Pompton Lakes on Tuesday, Dec. 7.
The Demons trailed by two with less than a minute to play in the back-and-forth game but couldn't get the tying shot to go down.
Caroline Dunn led the Demons in scoring with 11 points while Jamie Barrett and Claire Lubash each scored eight points. Dunn had a team-high 11 rebounds; Barrett added 10 and Julianna Urban finished with nine.
