Pope John girls team in H/W/S finals today

The Pope John XXIII Regional High School girls basketball team is a step away from its first tri-county championship.

The top-seeded Lions left little doubt from the start that they were on a mission to reach the Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex Tournament final for the second straight season on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 11.

They rolled to a 68-30 victory over fourth-seeded Phillipsburg at Warren Hills High in Washington Township.

Pope John will meet second-seeded Sparta High School for the H/W/S title at 5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 17 at Centenary University in Hackettstown.

A year ago, Sparta defeated Pope John, 60-43, to win its second straight championship.

The Lions received contributions from the entire team, including senior Kylie Squier (18 points, five rebounds, five assists, two steals), freshman Addison Platt (15 points, 10 rebounds, four blocks, three assists, three steals), junior Anisa Akinola (12 points, six rebounds, two steals) and junior Madison Miller (10 points, eight rebounds, two assists, two blocks).

Pope John raced out to a 20-2 lead after the first quarter, then extended it to a 45-10 advantage at the half.

Akinola connected on back-to-back three-pointers to open the second quarter and give the Lions a 26-2 lead. A basket by Platt saw the Lions’ lead swell to 38-4 with 4:30 left in the second quarter.

“We’re a very young team so this is a great accomplishment for us and a testament to all their hard work,” said first-year head coach Kevin Houston. “We have a really fun style of playing - always in transition and pressing on defense. We always say we want to be the best passing team in New Jersey, so we work hard at that.

“They all played very well yesterday, and I’m elated for these girls.”

The team also was led by Kennedy Brown (six points, three rebounds, two steals), Mia Washington (four points, three rebounds, three assists), Madeline Rento (three points, four assists), Alex Arbore (two rebounds), Marissa Captoni (five rebounds), Katie O’Keefe (one rebound, two assists) and Cailey Fitzmorris (one rebound).

Pope John has split two games with its neighboring rival, Sparta, this season.

The Lions won the first encounter, 70-45, on Jan. 10 at home, then suffered a 48-47 loss Feb. 9 on the road.

“Even though we’re the top seed, I feel they’re the favorite,” Houston said. “At the beginning of the season, we were picked next to last in our division so not a lot of people thought we’d get this far.

“There’s no pressure.”