New Providence Girls Repeat as Union County Girls Basketball Champions

Annie Conover saved her best for last.

The New Providence senior was held to seven points in the first half and didn’t score in the third quarter against Westfield in the Union County Tournament on Saturday night.

Heading to the fourth quarter the Pioneers, ranked No. 9 in the NJ.com Top 20, were trailing Westfield 24-19 and needed a spark.

Enter Conover.

She scored 10 points in the fourth quarter, including two free throws with 8.3 seconds left to ice the game for New Providence which won its second-straight county title, 38-35.

It was the fourth title in five years for the Pioneers, all of which have come against Westfield.

“We knew they were going to come out, they wanted to beat us, it’s the one thing they’ve wanted to do all season,” New Providence’s Megan Henn said. “So we just had to be ready for it.”

Saturday’s final was the third time this season that the two Watchung Division rivals had met, with New Providence winning both matchups to extend its win streak over the Blue Devils to 10 games dating back to 2023.

“From the start we had to have tons of energy, we couldn’t come out slow, which is something sometimes we struggle with,” Conover said of the final. “But just lots of energy and we just had to make sure we did those little things like box out, offense, defense.”

Trailing 24-19 at the start of the fourth quarter, New Providence opened with a basket from Conover and a 3 from Henn to tie the game 24-24 with 6:54 left. Westfield went to the line twice in under a minute and hit three of four to take a 27-24 lead, but a 3-pointer from Addy Fitzgerald retied the game 27-27 with 5:02 to play.

Gella Hollins scored to give Westfield back the lead, but a three-point play from Conover again put New Providence ahead, 30-29, with 3:48 left. Darby Hubner went to the line for the Blue Devils and hit both, followed by Conover, who also hit both as the Pioneers stayed ahead 32-31 with 2:52 left.

Megan Logan scored to once again give Westfield the lead, 33-32, but another 3 from Fitzgerald put the Pioneers ahead for good, 35-33, with 1:53 left.

“I think we just knew to stick together no matter what,” Conover said. “Just trusting each other and staying composed in those stressful situations.”

Logan went to the line and hit one of two to cut the lead to 35-34 with 1:10 left, but Conover then hit one of two to make it a one-possession game, 36-34, with 27.7 seconds left.

With 9.6 seconds to play Logan again hit one of two to cut it to 36-35, but Conover sank both of her shots with 8.6 seconds left for the 38-35 final.

“We just knew our shots were going to fall, we prepared for it and we knew there was no way we could come out of this game without winning,” Henn said.

Both teams got off to slow starts, with Westfield taking an 8-7 lead after one and a 14-11 lead at the half.

“I think really it was just a defensive battle, both teams really making it hard for each team to score,” Conover said. “I feel like we both were running our offenses, not poorly, it’s just we were really hustling on defense.”

For Westfield, which was looking for its first title since 2020, Mairin Fowler led with 14 points and added four rebounds. Hubner contributed eight points, while Logan added five points and four rebounds.

Conover led New Providence with 17 points and added seven rebounds, while Fitzgerald chipped in 16 points, including four 3s.

“Most of us have been playing together since the fourth grade,” Conover said. “So to do big things like this feels amazing.”