Editor's Notebook: Lady Pioneers Dominate State Tournament

The Lady Pioneers faced Emerson Boro in the Group 1 Semifinals on Wednesday and defeated the North Jersey, Section 1, Group 1 champion, 41-23, behind stifling on-ball defense and fantastic ball movement. The Lady Pioneers didn’t show any negative effects of fatigue or complacency coming off the tough overtime win over University in the Sectional Final on Monday, where the team dominated with a 48-46 win. New Providence blocked four shots and had five steals in the first quarter and didn’t allow Emerson Boro to hit a field goal until there was 4:37 left in the second.  By that time, the Lady Pioneers had already taken an 18-4 lead and were well on their way to advancing. On top of the shutdown defensive effort, the Lady Pioneers balanced offensive attack, which is predicated on constant ball movement to get the defense out of position, was firing on all cylinders early in the game. New Providence also effectively set up open looks on the outside and found Kaitlyn Cresencia with space in the paint so that she could dominate. Cresencia, New Providence Patch’s Athlete of the Week, did prove difficult to stop; the senior forward scored 16 points to lead the Lady Pioneers. New Providence now moves on to face Haddon Township in round two of the Public State Semifinals on Sunday at the Poland Springs Center in Toms River. And that wasn't all that we featured on New Providence Patch this week. Keep reading for the complete rundown:

On Monday, we brought you our and our , where we featured the most surprising, shocking, stunning and occasionally silly police-related incidents reported from the previous week. We also featured an article on the and an article on our Athletes of the Week from last week, .

Tuesday, we brought you news from the girls’ varsity basketball team’s , where the Lady Pioneers came out on top in overtime, 48-46. We also featured an article , and our weekly column, featuring General Tso’s Chicken from Chen’s Restaurant.

On Wednesday, we featured an article about Westfield Board of Education Business Administrator Bob Berman, a 1973 graduate of New Providence High School, who was . We also featured the New Providence Police Blotter from and our weekly column, featuring deals at local businesses around Union County.

Thursday, we brought you news on the Wednesday night Group 1 Semifinal match-up of the New Providence girls’ varsity basketball team and Emerson Boro. We also featured our weekly and an article from the Superintendent’s Forum on Wednesday night, . Last but not least, we featured our weekly column, where one Murray Hill condo sold for $285K.

On Friday, we featured a , featuring the accomplishments of senior heavyweight Zach Troutman, who finished fourth in the State Tournament in Atlantic City last weekend. We also featured a preview to the New Providence Historical Society’s , and the latest news from To wrap up, we brought you an article on New Providence Patch’s Athletes of the Week, , which was the first time we featured two female athletes based on their tremendous accomplishments this week.