Tara Szawaluk’s free throw with 5.9 seconds left broke the tie and pushed the Glen Rock High School Girls Basketball team to a thrilling 43-41 victory over host Mahwah Wednesday in the second round of the North 1, Group 2 state playoffs, but the Boys team was not so fortunate, falling in its second round game, 56-47, to Newton.
The Lady Panthers, the No. 5 seed in the tournament, advanced to the semifinals with the victory. They will play at No. 1 seed High Point Friday at 7 p.m. High Point (23-3), ranked No. 5 in nj.com’s Group 2 Top 10, reached the semis with a 47-36 win over No. 8 seed New Milford.
Glen Rock managed to win without getting a single point from leader and top scorer, Kelly Lohr. Elizabeth Alba scored a game-high 18 points – hitting six 3-pointers – and Szawaluk added 13, plus three assists and two steals, to pick up the slack. Lohr, a senior who earlier this season became Glen Rock’s all-time leading scorer in basketball, did not score, but grabbed eight rebounds and also had three assists and two steals for Glen Rock (22-6).
The boys team, the sixth seed in the tournament, ended its season with a 16-10 record. Senior Graham Reiss led all scorers with 13 points and senior Luke Nuzzo had 11. Josh Frissora, Glen Rock’s top scorer on the season, finished with eight, and ended his high school career with 977 points, 23 short of 1,000.
CORRECTION: The time of the Girls’ game against High Point has been corrected. It is at 7 p.m.
