Asbury Park Press from Asbury Park, New Jersey • Page 36

page P2 www.app.com RALLY EXTRA ASBURY PARK PRESS SATURDAY, MARCH 15, 2008 Fliers Fy turned Bund's game wmm By CHRIS CHRISTOPHER STAFF WRITER RUMSON There are work out partners. And there are workout partners. Matt Blumel had himself a workout partner. His name is Randy Foye, who happens to play guard for the Minnesota Timberwolves of a league known as the National Basketball Association. "It was incredible," said Blumel, who starred for the Rum-son-Fair Haven boys team as a junior guard this season.

"He was just so strong." Blumel was one of the top scorers in the Shore Conference, averaging 18.2 points per game. Blumel hooked up with Foye, who resides in the Navesink section of Middletown, last summer. Foye's business manager, Chris Champeau, resided in Rumson last summer. Enter Rumson coach James Young. "Randy wanted to work out on a hardwood floor," Young said.

"Randy and Chris reached out to us. Our athletic director, Walt Reiser, had no problem with it. When Randy learned he was allowed to work out at Rumson, he asked me if I wanted to bring in my top guards to work with him. Matt, James LeCardi and Jordan Ia-russi got to work with Randy either four or five days per week for six weeks." Blumel and his buddies went from Bulldogs to sponges as they soaked up the wisdom of Foye, who is in his second NBA season after starring at Villa-nova. "He really took my game to the next level," Blumel said.

"He taught me ball handling and shooting drills. He taught me how to stay mentally tough after missing a couple of shots. He taught me how to keep my head, not fold and not get mad at myself. "For the first couple of weeks, it was just another thing I was doing during the summer. After a couple of workouts, it hit me that I was working out with an NBA player who made the All-Rookie Team.

I would say he helped me mostly in the area of ball handling and in terms of taking care of the ball during the course of a game." Foye aided Blumel with his conditioning. "He helped me with my stam ina, Blumel said, and he gave me training tips so that I could go a full 32 minutes. He taught me a good work ethic." Foye autographed a basket ball for Blumel's 6-year-old brother, A.J. It sits in his room. Blumel hopes to work out with Foye this summer.

'I'm really excited about this summer, he said. I ve been following him. He's been hurt for a good portion of this season. He tore knee ligaments early in the season and used the All-Star break to recover. He's averaging about 11 points per game." Foye's spirit of voluntarism did not escape Young's eyes.

"Randy wanted to give back r- WW (V iWII Rumson-Fair Haven's Matt Blumel (right) goes up for a shot against Middletown North's John Nardini, showing the skills he learned last summer working out with Minnesota Timberwolves guard Randy Foye. iphoto: mike Mclaughlin, special to the press FROM PAGE Dt Another student who has flourished through the help of the program has been Nep tune senior bowler Steve Florin. This season Florin's 208.11 average was tops on the Scar let Fliers and was also good enough for second best in Shore Conference Class A Central. The only other bowler in the division to hold a higher average was NJSIAA Individ' ual champion Greg Ostrander from Wall, who finished with a 233.86 average. Florin, who also played on the Neptune baseball team for three years, teamed up with fellow Deaf Education Pro gram students Olu Coker, Eric Gugger, Cuautemoc Cas-tellanos and Marcus Johnson to help Neptune finish third in its division with a record of 29-16.

While Huska and Florin were both able to showcase their talents in the swimming pool and on the bowling lanes, another Deaf Education student, senior Audrey Mincey was able to show what she could do on the basketball court this season. A reserve guard on Neptune's girls basketball team, Mincey helped the Scarlet Fliers capture the Central Jersey Group III championship earlier this month. During all of Mincey's games the last four years, her translator Jessica Swallow could be found standing along side Neptune coach John Brown on the Scarlet Fliers' sidelines. Unable to hear her coach shouting directions out on the court, Swallow would dictate whatever Brown was saying to Mincey through sign language. "When Coach Brown decided to change the defense or when he called a play on offense, Audrey could usually hear him yelling something so she would then look over at me," Swallow said.

"But it was really a group effort. Whenever the coach yelled something to the team out on the court, her teammates would always repeat what he said in hope that she (Audrey) would be able to read their lips." Stephanie McEwen and Jessica Swallow are required to be present at all athletic competitions for Greg Huska and Audrey Mincey, respectively. "The Neptune Township School District Hearing Impaired program has grown to a level where these students now feel comfortable participating in multiple sports," Ardery said. "The interpreters have been elevated to the status of assistant coach, in pay and in the responsibility that they undertake." C.J. Pierce, also a Neptune Regional Deaf Education student, received the Unsung Hero Award from the New Jersey Football Officials Association, Central Jersey Chapter, for his accomplishments on the football field this past fall.

What some people may not realize is that Neptune is currently the Monmouth County magnet school for Hearing Impaired students. In what is believed to be the 25th year of the program, nine Deaf Education students from Monmouth and Ocean County have participated or plan on participating in one of the high school's athletic programs. "Each student's participation is inspiring to all those who have witnessed the interaction between the student, the interpreter, the coach, the members of our team, the opposing team, the officials, their parents and spectators," Ardery said. "As far as I know we have no immediate plans to change the status of our hearing impaired program, so we look forward to continuf and improve ouV program for years to come." kids in our gym, he never has to ask me," Young said. "He enjoyed working with the kids.

He said he felt like a kid. He said, 'Older guys showed me the tricks of the He really loves to give back to the kids." Blumel laid his newfound knowledge on Freehold Boro, exploding for 34 points, including 18 in the fourth quarter, in a Rumson victory. "I fed the ball to our big guys and they kicked it to me for open shots," he said. "They (Freehold Boro) made sure I didn't get too many open looks, and I had to work pretty hard for my shots. My teammates did a pretty good job of setting me up for the shots I got." Blumel ruled the fourth quarter.

"The game was close the whole way and I knew I needed to step up," Blumel said. "Once I started making a few shots, Coach Young told me it was my game and that I needed to take over for the team, not only on offense, but also on defense." "It's kind of interesting," Young said. "He did a good job of finding the mismatch and exploiting it. He did everything from postups and drives to pull-ups and 3-point shots. He did a real good job of taking what the defense gave him.

As a staff, we tried to run plays that allowed him to succeed." Blumel said LeCardi and Ia-russi played large roles in his improvement as a junior. "They definitely pushed me to become better," Blumel said. "I went in drills against them. They would not lie down. They gave me all they had." The 6-foot-3, 185-pound Blumel hopes to play college ball, and he plans to compete for the New Jersey Shoreshots of the Amateur Athletic Union during this off-season.

"Matt has received legitimate Division I interest," Young said. Coach Gullen took Eagles to new to the community he was moving into," Young said. "We in Bulldog country consider him an honorary resident." Young said Foye was a positive influence on Blumel. "I felt Randy instilled in Matt a work ethic," Young said. "If he wants to play at the next level in college, he has to improve his fundamentals.

Randy took Matt under his wing. He showed Matt the tricks of the trade, helping him become a more efficient player and a more efficient scorer. "Randy showed Matt how to bring the ball up the floor against pressure, how to execute the pick and roll and how to defend against different types of screens. Randy taught Matt different ways to defend. As a coach, I was taking notes.

I incorporated what I learned from Randy into our entire team." Young is another member of the Randy Foye Fan Club. "If he wants to work with our colleagues, including football coach Steve Antonucci. Middletown South, known primarily as a football powerhouse in New Jersey, is still getting used to the idea of having a winning basketball program. Yet for Cullen, this win was not about what each team has or has not done but instead about what the school as a whole has accomplished. "We have a lot of respect for the football program," said Cullen, who played for Antonucci when he was coach of the freshman basketball team in the 1996-97 season.

"I've learned a lot from him as a coach. He had words of wisdom and encouragement for me before the game. It feels really good to be up in the ranks with him and the other coaches at South." Cullen had words of wisdom of his own that proved to be pivotal in the sectional title game against Neptune. With just under three minutes remaining in the third quarter, Neptune came from behind to take a 28-25 lead. Cullen called a timeout.

"The school that is showing the most interest is West Point. Robert Morris and Monmouth have shown interest, as has Sacred Heart." Young completed his first season at the helm with a 17-9 record. The Bulldogs went 4-17 in their previous year. Blumel and Young hope the good times continue to roll. "Matt was a great leader for a first-year coach," Young said.

"For your best player to want to do whatever it takes to win including guarding the other team's best player is quite special. "Matt is a very emotional player. He wears his emotions on his sleeve. He wants desperately to be the very best he can be and that means being the very best teammate and defender he can be. He works so hard as a player that as a staff we try to do whatever we can to help Matt and the team succeeds even more.

His work ethic has rubbed off on us." heights Following the sectional title win, the players, in a sign of team unity, joined their coach in shaving their heads as well. Middletown South headed into the state tournament as the "Bald Eagles." Even though their season came to a close in an NJSIAA Group semifinal with a 58-32 loss to Timber Creek on March 6, it does not diminish how far Middletown South basketball has come in a short period of time. In the fall of 2006, Cullen inherited a boys basketball program that had won only three games in its previous two seasons, including a winless campaign in 2004-05. In Cullen's first season on the job, the Eagles had a 13-12 record. This season they won 21 games.

With the high-scoring duo of Callori and Cancillieri returning next season, South appears to be on the basketball map for some years to come. By BRANDON COSTA STAFF WRITER Middletown South boys bas ketball coach Kevin Cullen's cell phone voice mailbox was full. 'I was receiving text mes sages from numbers I had never seen before," laughed the sec ond-year head coach. That is what happens when a native son takes his school to heights it had not reached in 29 years. When the Eagles upset Shore Conference champion Neptune, 45-33, in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group in final on March 4, they claimed the school's first sectional championship since 1979.

A Middletown South graduate in 2000, Cullen made the boys basketball team the school's main attraction in winter sports. "As a grad I get so much support from everyone," Cullen said. Much of that support came from his former teachers turned The Eagles came back onto the floor and scored six unanswered points to close out the quarter and regain the lead. Neptune scored only five points the rest of the game. "I just wanted to calm them down," Cullen said.

"My guys are a bunch of thinkers. When you tell them what mistakes they are making they go right out there and fix them." Cullen adjusted his game plan against the fast-paced, high-scoring Scarlet Fliers and the Eagles responded. Heeding the call, sophomore forward Kyle Cancillieri sliced through the paint in the final moments of the third quarter for a layup that gave the Eagles a 31-28 lead. "These are the hardest working kids I could ever imagine," Cullen said. "Every game plan I put together these guys go out and execute." Cancillieri finished the night with 11 points, 10 rebounds and two assists.

As usual, he teamed with junior center Matt Callori who had 17 points, eight rebounds and three blocks. However, the true spark behind the Eagles was senior guard Garret Thiel who was playing on an ankle he injured toward the conclusion of South's CJ III quarterfinal win over Red Bank on March 1. "Garret is unbelievable," Cullen said. "I have watched him grow and develop and he is a man at this point. It may not have shown up in his scoring but he carried our team in that game.

His presense out there, even on one leg, is tremendous. He gets us into our offense." Thiel was a key factor in the win over Red Bank, scoring 15 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter. The team's heroics also led to a change in the appearance of the Middletown South coaching staff. Assistant coach Mike Dooley proved himself a man of his word when he shaved his head, making good on a wager he made to the team if they made the sectional title game. "He's looking very clean-cut these days," laughed Cullen, who still has all of his hair..