Gov. Livingston Girls' Basketball Takes Second Straight County Title

The Hot Read: The 3rd seeded Governor Livingston Girls' Basketball team defeated 8th seeded Oak Knoll in the Union County Tournament Final at Kean University Sunday night, 54-44. Oak Knoll Royals led 16-10 in the first quarter, but GL Highlanders battled back to tie the game 24-24 at halftime. The Highlanders went on to dominate much of the second half, pounding the ball inside and using their size to ultimately clinch their second consecutive county title.

Patch's MVP: Erin Ferguson scored 21 points for the Highlanders.

Other Game Leaders: Oak Knoll's Kerri Moran (17 points); GL's Mallory George (14 points); GL's Patrice DiTommaso (13 points); Oak Knoll's Catherine Booner (12 points).

Quotable I: “We're real excited about winning. The seniors did a great job, the coaches did a great job amd we're happy to be back here with the second title. Mallory and Erin have been doing a great job and we wouldn't have gotten anywhere near this far without them. They took over when we needed it and they got us to another county. Oak Knoll is a great team. It was back and forth, and we expected that. We just happened to make a few more shots late in the game." — GL's Head Coach Andy Silvagni.

Quotable II: "We executed [our game strategy] well in the first quarter. We had a goal of coming out strong. We knew if we came out early and had a lead, we were going to frustrate them a little bit and we had to shut down Erin Ferguson and Mallory George, their two best players. We knew coming in we needed to stop them. Size is an issue for us sometimes and it was a little bit today. They have size. Their strategy is pound it inside and sometimes that’s our down fall. I think that’s what happened a lot today." — Oak Knoll's Head Coach John Bertollo.

Team Records: GL advances to 20-4 overall this season, while Oak Knoll drops to 21-4.

What's Next: The Highlanders enter the North 2, Group 3 State Tournament as the 1st seed. The team will face 16th seeded Plainfield on Wednesday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. The 2nd seeded Oak Knoll will play their first game in the Non-Public, North B State Tournament on Mar. 1. The Royals will face the winner of the the Feb. 27th game between 7th seeded Eastern Christian and 10th seeded St. Mary (Ruth).