Summit girls' basketball concludes one of its best seasons ever at 23-4; Cristaldi finishes with a school record 591 points and is third all-time at 1,202

By JR Parachini

Union County Sports Editor

One of the finest seasons the Summit girls’ basketball team ever had came to a conclusion Monday in Newark.

After being down by only four points at the half, the Hilltoppers saw the No. 1 team in the state outscore them 24-2 in the third quarter en route to a convincing
64-37 triumph.

Top-seeded Shabazz won its 16th straight, improved to 29-1 and advanced to last night’s scheduled Group 2 semifinal at Southern Regional against the South Jersey, Group 2 champion.

Shabazz captured Central Jersey, Group 2 its first year in the section.
Third-seeded Summit finished 23-4 after
reaching its first sectional final in 10 years. The Hilltoppers lost in the
1999 and 2000 North 2, Group 3 finals to Mendham, with both of those games at
neutral site Rahway.

After Shabazz led 19-12 going into the second quarter, Summit outscored the host Bulldogs 14-12 in the second to only be down 30-26 at intermission. Shabazz,
with its only loss to a Florida team, put the game away
in the third quarter. The Bulldogs won the fourth 10-9.
Summit standout senior sharpshooter Emily Cristaldi
poured in 19 points in her final high school game to finish her senior season
with 591 and her career with 1,202.

Cristaldi was Union County’s leading scorer this year and finished with an average of 21.89. She also set the school record for
points in a season, breaking the mark of 538 set in 1995 by Renee Green.
Cristaldi finished third on the all-time scoring list behind Green’s 1,220
total and Lindsay Burns’ 1,382 mark. Burns and Green are 1995 graduates.

Senior forward Cassie Hall, one of the top rebounders in Union County scored 10 points. Kate Martino and Kelly Osmulski netted three points each and Olivia Galuppo two.

Summit captured the first Union County Conference-Watchung Division championship and reached the Union County Tournament quarterfinals, falling to Westfield 47-45.

“I didn’t think we would accomplish all that we did,” fifth-year head coach Brian Erickson said. “I say that because we were in a new conference and we didn’t
know a whole lot about the teams we were going to be playing.

“I couldn’t be more proud of these girls for the season that they had.”
The Hilltoppers split with Linden in league play,
finishing 12-1 in the Watchung Division. Summit’s other loss was a
non-league setback at Roselle Catholic.