Asbury Park Press from Asbury Park, New Jersey • Page 38

D8 Asbury Park Press Wednesday, January 8, 1997 To Report Scholastic Scores Call 1-800-822-9770 Ext 4422, 4423 For Local Sports Scores Call Pressto (908) 918-1000 Touch 8802 till rfUf Youthful CBA good as ever KEANSBURG OVERCOMES 17-POINT DEFICIT STAFF REPORT DOWN BY 17 early in the fourth quarter, basketball coach Tom Stark relied on the Keansburg football team to come back and beat Asbury Park 64-59 in a Shore Conference Class North game last night In case anyone forgot, gridiron stars Billy Shea, Tom Dura and others also know their way around the basketball court Keansburg's basketball team took the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group I championship last season. Shea scored a game-high 23 points last night, including nine in the second quarter, while Dura held Asbury Park top gun Raheem Allen scoreless in the fourth quarter. "We don't have any basketball players, just a lot of kids who hustle a lot, and they never gave up," said Stark, who feels his team struggled a bit early in the season as many of his players switched from By BOB JORDAN STAFF WRITER MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP With Brian Lynch now a collegiate player at the job of maintaining the winning tradition at Christian Brothers Academy has been left in the hands of a relatively inexperienced group of players. Coach Ed Wicelinski started the campaign with no starters returning from last season's 24-3 team. But the young Colts are growing up fast, as evidenced by their businesslike 52-43 victory over host Middletown South last night in a Shore Conference Class A North game.

This CBA team lacks a single player to replace Lynch, the sure-shooting swingman who was the Asbury Park Press Player of the Year in 1996, but the (Ml A. BOYS BASKETBALL pads and helmets to sneakers and shorts. post-Lynch results thus far are CBA MIDD. SOUTH 52 43 "This game here will definitely give us a big boost It was a big win. This should carry us awhile, but we have to win game in and game out We have a tough schedule." "Conditioning-wise, it takes a toll because it's two different types of conditioning," Shea said.

"We got our basketball legs back now, and Billy Shea Keansburg forward 4 JxH'-v -l; II Dcro about to get stronger By FRED SIEGLE STAFF WRrTER POINT PLEASANT BOM already has shown signs it is one of the strongest team in the Shore Conference, with good performances at the Caldwell and Brick Memorial tournaments. The imminent return of Eamon O'Neil promises to strengthen the lineup even further. O'Neil, a junior who was 16-10 last year, broke a thumb during the soccer season. He could get medical clearance any day. "Fortunately, he had it operated on quickly," said coach Paul Zambito.

"He was in a cast for a month. We're just waiting on the doctor's release. He's been at practice doing everything, so it shouldn't be long. His return comes at a good time for the Panthers, who have key Class South matches against Pinelands (Saturday) and Central (Jan. 15).

1 "We're going to need all the ammo we can get in South, especially when you have two matches like that back to back," Zambito said. When O'Neil returns, Keith Papailo, who had been witling at 189, will move down to 171. Papailo is 5-3 at the higher weight. been a light 189-pounder," Zambito said. "He can get down to 171 in a heartbeat." Zambito said he wouldn't be sur-: prised if the South winner has at least one division loss, and he also expects to have tough division matches against Lacey and Allen-town.

By participating in the two tournaments his team should be properly prepared, he said. "I wanted the kids to find out early what this is all about to hit some tough competition early, because South could be decided very early," Zambito said. "The kids responded well at both tournaments, so I don't think we'll be overwhelmed that way. They'll know what a tough match is like." Point Boro opened the dual meet season with victories Saturday over perennial South Jersey powers Over-brook and Eastern. The Panthers have met those two teams for several years in a double-dual meet with Jackson, which also beat both teams.

"We're off to a good start," Zambito said. "To my knowledge, that's the first time we beat both teams." While the Panthers have a talented lineup, Zambito said his team has little flexibility. He plans to flip Paul Veprek and Donald Hughes in matches at 125 during the year. Ve-prek's brother Dave, who is out with an injured shoulder, will also be able to add depth at 1 1 9 when he returns. "That's really the only place we have depth," Zambito said.

"When Dave's back, it'll allow us to bounce some people around between 119 and 130 if we need to. But if anyone else gets hurt, it will be a problem for us." Neptune Classic 171 -pound champion Jan Walenta, who was kicked off the team at Middletown North following what coach John Oxley described as "a minor disciplinary problem" during the Christmas break, has apologized to the team's coaches and is back with the Lions, Oxley said. The Brick Memorial-Southern match, a key Class A South contest, has been moved to Jan. 23 from the previous night. Southern coach Gerry Tabbac-chino said the move should increase the number of fans at the match, since there won't be a conflict with many other matches that night.

"You have to do something to get people out to the matches," Tabbac-chino said. Brick Memorial sophomore Scott Goldberg, who wrestled at Monmouth last year, and senior Craig Goldberg, who stayed at Monmouth, are brothers. Their cousin is Brick Memorial junior Butch Angen. STANDINGS The top-ranked Colts spent the holidays sweeping through a three-game Florida tour, and a 21-point performance from Terence Rozier-Byrd against No. 7 Middletown South helped the Colts bump their record up to 6-0.

Rozier-Byrd, a 6-foot-7 center, picked up the majority of his points on putbacks and tap-ins, and two dunks were included in his 10 for 11 shooting performance. Senior forward Kevin Sheehy added 11 points and sophomore guard Todd Billet had nine. But to Wicelinski, who has a 378-65 record in 17 years of coaching, the best part of the night was seeing his team survive on Middle-town South's terms. In most years CBA is the team that dictates the tempo, but Middle-town South's talented trio of seniors Frank Bennett, Brad Rausch and Matt Hall were able to slow CBA down to a deliberate pace. CBA simply waited out the storm a tactic that may come in handy when the opponent is Jersey City powerhouse St.

Anthony. The teams will play 2 p.m. Sunday at Monmouth University. "What I like about our team is how we have more patience than last year," Wicelinski said. "Last year we were impatient in games like this.

We felt we had to score right away instead of settling in and being patient. We rushed things. This group is better in that regard." The 5-11 Bennett got some good looks at the basket in the first half but shot 0 for 6, before getting untracked, finishing with a team-high 15 points. Hall had 13 points and Rausch had 7. Meanwhile, the Eagles (4-3) had no luck keeping Sheehy and Rozier-Byrd off the boards the two seniors grabbed 12 and 10 rebounds, respectively.

"We hurt ourselves in the first half by missing shots," said Middletown South coach Jimmy Anderson, whose team was 6 for 16 Please see Youthful, page D7 J. -y hope to continue playing good ball, and continue our winning." While down, the Titans switched to man-toman defense, and held the Bishops to four points. Shea agreed that Dura was a major part of the defensive effort. "Tom's a great defender, probably one of the best, if not the best defender on the team. We were fortunate that he was on tonight," Shea said.

"Tom did a great job on (Allen), and I think that was big. Very big." Shea also contributed 12 rebounds and Mike Travis chipped in 19 points. "This game here will definitely give us a big boost It was a big win," said Shea, but he knows there is a lot of basketball left in the season. "This should carry us a while, but we have to win game in and game out. We have a tough schedule." RED BANK 49, MATAWAN 38: Mike Feeney, a senior guard who was MVP in the Buccaneer Tournament, continued his breakthrough season by scoring 17 points to lead Red Bank to its fifth straight victory.

"He hit a pair of big 3-point shots and made four foul shots in the fourth quarter to get us by," said Red Bank coach Bob Klatt, whose team trailed 21-19 at halftime. "(Feeney). had a chance to play a lot early last season but was down to 8 minutes a game when Sean Agee returned to the lineup. We expected him to step up this season, but he's really opening eyes." Sean Axani chipped in with 10 points for Red Bank (5-2, 2-1 in Class North), while Curtis Fredericks played a strong game underneath for Matawan (2-5, 1-2) and scored 12 points. Please see Titan, pageD7 PETER ACKERMANStaff Photojnpher Jerrell Moore (above) of Asbury Park shoots over Keansburg defenders Anthony Iacouzzi (33) and Billy Shea.

At left, Titans guard Tom Dura (left) tries to cut off the path of Asbury Park standout guard Raheem Allen. Dura's defense contributed mightily to Keansburg's comeback victory as Allen did not score in the fourth quarter. Defense rewarded as Lakewood wins first CLASS A NORTH Ocean (l-0-0) Midd. North (1-0-0) Manalapan (1-0-0) Midd. (1-0-0) Howell (1-2-0).

SueDonato (left) of Brick gains control of a loose ball as Lakewood's Shanna Le-Compte fights to get it back. Normally a strong scorer for the Green Dragons, Donate was held to nine points by the defensive play of Tamika Moss. Freehold Twp. (0-1-0). Marlboro (0-3-0) CBA (1-1-0) CLASS A SOUTH Brick Memorial (1-0-0).

TR East (1-0-0) Jackson (4-1-0) Southern (1-0-0) TR North (0-1-0) Lakewood (3-0-0) Brick (0-1-0). TR South (O-OO) CLASS NORTH Long Branch (4-2-0). Vianney( 1-1-0) Wall (1-0-0) i I i I i- f. Raritan (1-1-0) Red Bank (l-0-0) Matawan (1-0-0) Monmouth (2-0-0). Neptune (1-4-0) STAFF REPORT LAKEWOOD KNEW it had a strong defense heading into this season.

Last night the Piners proved it with a 56-48 Shore Conference Class A South victory over Brick. The win, first-year coach Tara McCord-Buell's first, was just what Lakewood needed after losing GIRLS BASKETBALL its first four hh games. "The key to our game today was to shut down (Sue) Donate (9 points) and Tamika Moss did a good job of doing just that," said McCord-Buell. "But it was total team defense that won the game. Sophomore Shanna Lecompte came off the bench when Moss fouled out early in the fourth quarter and continued to contain Donate." Lakewood senior guard Betsy Gonzalez more than doubled her season's point total with a 19-point outburst, while dishing out five assists and and grabbing five steals.

Sophomore Cynthia Proctor scored eight of her season-high 16 points in the fourth quarter to put the Piners over the top. "The team needed a win for morale after we had a couple of tough losses," said McCord-Buell. "Hopefully we'll be able to take the momentum from here and string together some quality games." MIDD. NORTH 48, OCEAN 47: Kelly Mo-nahan sank a pair of free throws with just 8 seconds on the clock to help the Lions edge the Spartans in Class A North. Ocean had grabbed the lead seconds earlier on Jeanne Nurthen's jumper.

The win moved North past Ocean and into first place tie in the division with Freehold Township. SOUTHERN 50, TR EAST 36: Candice McCallum scored 10 of her 13 points in the first half. In the second half, Heather Gardner notched eight of her 12 points. The No. 7 Rams' combination proved to be too much for the No.

8 Raiders to handle in Class A South. TR NORTH 46, TR SOUTH 45: Melissa Fazio drove down the middle for a game-winning layup with just three seconds left giving the No. 6 Mariners the win in a Class A South thriller. Lauren Skripko's steal and feed to Fazio got the play started. Ten of Fazio's 22 points came in the final quarter, enabling North, which trailed 39-28 after the third quarter to come from behind.

POINT BORO 44, FREEHOLD 42: Sophomore Jaime Glenn hit a free throw with three seconds remaining to send Please see Defense, page D7 CLASS SOUTH Central (1-0-0) Pinelands (1-0-0). tacey (0-1-0). Donovan (1-0-0) Manchester (0-1-0). Point Boro (2-0-0) Allentown (2-0-0) Manasquan (0-1 -0) CLASS Shore (1-0-0). Point Beach (2-1-0)- Rumson( 1-0-0) Keyport (0-1-0) Keansburg (1-2-0) St Rose (0-5-0) Freehold (0-1-0) Holmdel (1-0-0) RBC (1-1-0) DAVID BERGELAND Staff Photofraphtr.