When the Kearny girls basketball team learned that it would play this season in the HCIAL’s National Division for the first time since joining the league in 2008, the expectation became clear – a division title.
Despite a young roster and the loss of three rotation players to season-ending injuries, the Kardinals met that expectation on Thursday when they defeated Hoboken, 59-55, to clinch the National championship.
It is the program’s first division title in more than two decades and at 16-4, Kearny is expected to receive a top four seed in the Hudson County Tournament when it seeds on Monday, after The Observer’s deadline.
“Being the National Divisional champions was definitely a goal of ours,” head coach Jody Hill said. “I think it would’ve been somewhat disappointing if we didn’t reach it.”
Kearny’s success this season has been predicated on a familiar formula of employing a press on defense and offensively, relying on the talents of one of the county’s top guard tandems in 1,000-point scorers Mariel Ruiz and Makayla David.
Ruiz, a 5-foot-4 senior, is averaging 17.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.6 steals per game and perhaps most impressively, often takes on the challenge of defending opposing team’s forwards in Kearny’s four-guard lineup.
“She’s the toughest one on the team and if we need her to bang around with somebody inside and do the fundamentally sound things and box out bigger players, she’ll get the job done,” said Hill. “We’re confident when she needs to guard a bigger player, even though she’s only 5-foot-4.”
David, a 5-foot-5 junior, has significantly expanded her offensive game beyond just shooting this season as she’s currently averaging 16.6 points, 4.2 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 2.7 steals per game.
“She’s just been phenomenal,” Hill said. “She has the ability now just to make the right decisions and get her teammates involved, that’s what a true point guard does. And she’s really coming into that role.”
Gianna Covello is another starting guard for the Kardinals this season. A 5-foot-7 freshman, Covello, who’s averaging 4.6 pounds and 3.0 assists per game, has all the tools to be a big time player and is starting to play a bigger role as a shooter in recent games.
“She’s really coming into herself now and her confidence is really building up,” said Hill. “We want her to shoot. We want her to drive to the basket. She’s going to help our team win and we want her to go out there and play fearless. And she’s starting to do that.”
Vanessa Ruiz has enjoyed a breakout junior season on both ends of the court. The younger sister of Mariel, the 5-foot-5 Vanessa is averaging 6.6 points per game and is the Kardinals’ top defender.
“She’s at the top of the press. She puts the most pressure on the ball,” Hill said. “We always put her on whoever’s handling the ball or whoever’s the girl to stop on the other team. That’s Vanessa.”
Jolianna Escalante, a 5-foot-10 junior, is the lone forward in the lineup for Kearny. A three-year varsity player, Escalante is starting to come into her own, recording four double-doubles while averaging 7.5 points and 7.2 rebounds per game.
“She has the ability, she has the talent,” said Hill. “When she is a scoring threat, it really changes the dynamic of our team and we become more difficult to guard.”
Backing up Escalante is freshman Gabriella Martinez, while sophomore Cheyanne Schechter and senior LJ Johnson bring energy off the bench from the guard position.
Kearny’s depth has been tested due to injury, starting with the loss of senior Mason Gryckiewicz to a knee injury over the summer. The Kardinals then lost sophomore Arelis Ruiz Martinez and freshman Ryleigh Chesney due to season-ending ankle injuries early in the season.
In their absence, Kearny has turned to another freshman in Nicoly Libanori and seniors Jayda Middleton and Eshter Marins for additional minutes.
If they get a top four seed, the Kardinals will earn a double bye to the quarterfinals, where they would have a home game on Monday, Feb. 16 against an opponent to be determined. Kearny is also currently fourth in power points for the North Jersey, Section 1, Group 4 section and is confident it can make a deep run in each tournament.
“We’re 100-percent ready. We’re waiting for this moment,” Hill said. “I think our confidence level right now is at an all-time high and I feel like if we can play Kearny basketball like we’re capable of, we can go far and nothing’s out of reach for us.”
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Jason Bernstein | Observer Sports Writer
Jason Bernstein joined The Observer as its sports writer in March 2022, following the retirement of Jim Hague. He has a wealth of sports-writing experience, including for NJ Advance Media (nj.com, The Jersey Journal, The Star-Ledger.)