It was deja vu all over again: The Verona High School girls basketball team was once again undone in quarterfinals of the state sectionals. Last year, the Lady Hillbillies fell to Saddle Brook. This year, with Verona playing in North 2 Group 2, the culprit was Hanover Park, which took the game 52-43.
It was a high-energy game from the opening tip, with the two teams fighting to stay within a point or two of each other until the fourth quarter when the Hornets, who came into the match-up as the No. 7 seed to Verona’s No. 2, pulled away decisively. Hanover Park carried out a number of key steals from Verona and was very accurate from the foul line. Camryn Coffey was the high scorer for the Hornets with 19.
On Verona’s side, Desiree Meyer and Brianna Horton delivered several of their signature three-pointers, and Kylee Gallagher, who was VHS’ high scorer, had a stunning three in the fourth quarter that ignited hopes that Verona could fire off a volley of threes that would save the game. But fouls took their toll and seemed to sap some of Verona’s focus.
The game was the last VHS basketball outing for Cecilia “CC” Courter, who graduates with the class of 2018. She played in 87 games, delivering 463 points and 205 rebounds during her varsity career. But it will not be her last turn in a maroon-and-white uniform. Courter will take to the field at Centennial later this month for the VHS girls lacrosse team before she heads off to Saint Francis University, a Division I school, to play lacrosse in college. Fellow VHS senior Amber Reed, who had to sit out the basketball season with an injury, will also be playing spring sports–in her case, softball. Reed had played in 42 varsity basketball games, contributing 233 points to Verona’s scoring.
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Photos copyright Kathleen Seubert. Used by permission.
