Cranford's win over Mendham was its second in three games after losing three-straight
Dating back to 2020, Mendham had won four-straight games over Cranford, but on Saturday the Cougars were finally able to snap the streak.Cranford, which beat Mendham for the first time since 2011, led from the start and won for the second time in three games with a 45-31 victory.
“We had to play really tough and together,” Cranford’s Lily Costello said. “We had to be sure of our passes to each other because they’re such an athletic, tall team in their zone and we had to really just be focused in the practice before.” Saturday’s meeting also had state tournament implications as both teams play in North 2, Group 3. Mendham, which beat Cranford in the first round of the state tournament in 2020 and 2022, dropped from No. 6 to No. 7 in the Power Points with 18.808 after Saturday’s loss, while Cranford maintained its hold at No. 3 with 22.673 points. “We knew they were an aggressive and talented team going in, so we knew that we needed to really work together,” Cranford’s Courtney Toy said. “Before practice we were focusing on what we’re going to do to make ourselves better at that practice so we could secure the win today.” Cranford jumped out to a 14-9 lead after the first quarter, which gave the Cougars some breathing room throughout the game. “We wanted to get some momentum to take some stress off of us, and it’s a lot more fun,” Toy said of the lead. “We were able to play our offense and our defense so it was nice being able to dictate that.” Cranford held Mendham to just four points in the second quarter and led 30-13 at the half. Both teams scored 10 points in the third quarter as the Minutemen started to chip away at the Cougars’ lead, which was 40-23 after three. Mendham opened the fourth quarter on a 4-0 run to cut it to 40-27, and Cranford didn’t score until two free throws from Costello with 4:54 remaining in the game which put the Cougars up 42-27. A basket from Toy and another free throw from Costello gave Cranford a 45-27 lead, but Mendham closed out the game on another 4-0 for the 45-31 final. “I think passing the ball quickly through their zone worked really well and looking for the open person as well,” Costello said. “We had to communicate well, we scouted them well and knew how to defend some of their offenses going into it so we were prepared, definitely.” For Mendham, which was held to its lowest point total of the season, Lila Schoenfeld led with 13 points and Jasmin Amin added nine points. Toy finished with 13 points and a game-high seven rebounds for Cranford. Costello also had 13 points and added three rebounds. Brooke Bentrewicz recorded 11 points while Sienna DeStefano chipped in eight points and three rebounds. “We knew rebounding was going to be one of the things that was going to keep us in the game, so we knew that we needed to really make sure we rebounded, especially with how tall and athletic they are,” Toy said as Cranford out-rebounded Mendham 17-9. Mendham, which is the No. 6-seed in the Morris County Tournament, has eight regular-season games remaining. Cranford has four, not counting the Union County Tournament, which will be seeded on Wednesday. “They threw a lot of different defenses at us, they played us in 2-3, 1-3-1, man, so we’re now prepared for whatever other teams throw at us,” Toy said. “I think this was a really good game in preparation for the week and future we have ahead of us.”
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