Asbury Park Press from Asbury Park, New Jersey • Page 31

C4 Asbury Park Press Wednesday, March 13, 1996 To Report Scholastic Scores Call 1-800-822-9770 Ext. 4418, 4422 For Local Sports Scores Call Pressto (908) 918-100Q. Touch 8802 I fCirniTrpcr a TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS CBA, Brick look to put title on ice THEY'RE AT THE ATTACK WW 1 1 zz. POINT OF DARYL STONEStaff Photographtr Running the offense and getting as- sists are the goals of Point Pleasant Bora's Jodie Cheasty (left). round Center, Elizabeth 8 p.m.

Teams: No. 6 Point Pleasant Boro (21-7) vs. No. 3 Notre Dame (24-3). Point Boro coach: Peter Cooke.

Starting lineup: PG Jodie Cheasty 5-4, 10.1 points), Tara Qulgley 5-5, 1.5 points), Jessica Drennan 5-11, 14.4 points), Amy Clark 5-4, 2.0 points), Suzanne Manzi points). Top reserves: Jamie Glenn 5-7), Jennifer Clapp 6-0), Laura Borrelli 5-5). Road to TOC: Beat Cinnaminson, 53-35; beat Pinelands, 50-40; beat Delran, 59-58; beat Col-lingswood, 52-40; beat Voorhees, 25-24; beat Caldwell, 42-39. Panthers outlook: Point Boro has won seven straight games since losing to Toms River East in the first round of the Shore Conference Tournament. While Notre Dame has played in just three state tournament games, the Panthers are tournament-tested with two 1 -point victories and a last-minute, 3-point victory over Caldwell for the Group II title.

Against Notre Dame, the Panthers have to get the ball inside to Manzi and Drennan. Manzi is coming off her best game this season, scoring 24 points against Caldwell. Drennan has totaled just 24 points in the last three games, but can give the Panthers much-needed outside scoring. Notre Dame coach: Ann DeMille. Starting lineup: PG Lisa Swanhart 5-5, 2.0 points), Jen Hutchinson 5-8, 22.0 points), Meghan Schmitt 5-5, 5.0 points), Katie Pribila 5-6, 1.0 points), Danielle Grady 5-9, 11.0 points).

Top reserves: Kelly Hutchinson 5-6), Jessica McManimon (Fr, 5-10. Road to TOC: Beat Holy Spirit, 80-52; beat Camden Catholic, 52-46; beat Paramus Catholic, 64-50. Fighting Irish outlook: Notre Dame has overcome adversity to reach the TOC for the second straight year. The Irish will be without starter Monica Staniec, who is serving the second game of a two-game suspension after an ejection against Camden Catholic. Jen Hutchinson suffered a broken hand against Camden Catholic and is playing with a splint over her right pinkie; she still totaled 36 points in the last two games.

Grady missed eight games this season to injuries and a suspension, while Schmitt was injured early in the season. The Irish thrive on their 3-point shooting, having made 185 treys. Hutchinson leads the long-range bombing with 102 treys this year and 267 for her career. John Bush Rumson Stavola easy to miss but difficult to defend By BOB CONSIDINE STAFF WRITER IT'S EASY to miss Missy Stavola, if you're looking at the box score. If you're watching the game, she can't be missed.

With her speed and ball-handling, Stavola, a Rumson-Fair Haven junior point guard, has made life a lot easier for the Bulldogs' scoring trio of Erinn O'Neill, Katie Toole and Jen Anderson. Against Woodrow Wilson tonight in the first round of the New Jersey State In 'Basically, my goals every game terscholastic Athletic Association Tournament of Champions at the Dunn Sports Center in Stavola will spearhead the Rumson offense and transition game feeling right at home. "Basically, my goals every game are to distribute as often as I can to the players around me," Stavola said. "I have a lot of confidence in them because they can all score. I'm very comfortable with my role because I've been playing with these girls for three years now and I know what they can do." are to distribute as often as I can to the players around me.

I have a lot of confidence in them because they can ail score. I'm very comfortable with my role because I've been playing with these girls for three years now and I know what they can do.J Missy Stavola RUMSON-FAIR HAVEN POINT GUARD At 5-foot-l, Stavola has taken on some tall orders defensively. She made things very difficult for Tem ple-bound Audrey Taylor in the Bulldogs' 51-46 victory over South River to take the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group I championship. Tonight, she'll go against high-scoring, 6-0 forward Nailah Wallace, who'll play for North Carolina State next year. But height isn't and hasn't been a problem for Stavola.

No matter what the height differential, Stavola has risen to the occasion. "Missy has been lacking size and stature, but she's never lacked heart and guts," Bulldogs coach George Sourlis said. "She'll go up against anybody and challenge them. She plays like she's 6-2, not 5-2." "I don't think about my height unless people are talking about it," Stavola said. "It doesn't seem evident to me when I'm out there playing on the court." Rumson, the No.

5 seed in NJSIAA Tournament of Champions, got a slight scare when Stavola suffered a mild concussion against Bloomfield Tech in the NJSIAA Group I final Sunday. When she missed two games earlier in the season with a sprained ankle, the Bulldogs lost both games. But Stavola is expected to be in full force tonight against the No. 4 Tigers. "We're looking to prove to people that we can win in this tournament, even though we're a Group I school," she said.

"Because Woodrow Wilson is a Group III school, we can prove something here." By NEIL SCHUMAN STAFF WRITER AFTER NEARLY two weeks, the 1996 New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association ice hockey tournament field has been narrowed to four teams. ICE HOCKEY FINALS at Mermen Arena Brick vs. Chatham, 6 p.m. CBA vs. Seton Hall Prep, 8 p.m.

Two-time defending state overall champion Christian Brothers Academy is two victories from an unprecedented third straight title, and will face off at 8 p.m. in the Parochial Schools Final against the tournament's surprise team, Seton Hall Prep. The sixth-seeded Pirates (12-10) barely qualified for tournament. But they have gone on an unlikely playoff run in which they've knocked off No. 3-seeded St.

Joseph's-Metu-chen and second-seeded St. Joseph-Montvale in an overtime thriller. Captain Tim Halewicz (14 goals, 10 assists), the team's only senior, had a hat trick against St. Joseph's of Metuchen and the game-winning goal in overtime against St. Joseph-Montvale.

The Colts won two previous meetings this season, 1-0 and 3-4. At 6 p.m. Brick (14-4-2) meets top-seeded Chatham (14-2-4) in the Public Schools final. Chatham beat Toms River East, Cranford and Montclair on its road to the final. The Green Dragons, who have won five state championships (1976, '77, '79, '85 and '90), are led by Tom Cogan, Ricky Amato, Randy Bray and defenseman Steven Acropolis.

The winners of will meet in the NJSIAA final at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Mennen Arena. Manchester has football coach in line STAFF REPORT MANCHESTER Superintendent of Schools Joel R. Oppenheim has recommended Doug Covert to replace Joe Asco-lcse as head football coach at Manchester High School, according to athletic director Ron Gundry. Covert served under Ascolese, who took over the program in 1989, as an offensive and defensive coordinator.

Covert was at Manchester from 1988 to 1992 before going to Red Bank Regional. Ascolese resigned in December for personal reasons after leading the Hawks to a 1-8 season. In seven seasons at Manchester, he had a 22-40-1 record. Covert, a 31-year-old Ocean Township resident, teaches social studies in the Manchester School District. "I'm very excited about getting the job," Covert said.

"I feel I have somewhat of an advantage because I also coach wrestling at the middle school. So I already know all the kids." He said he plans to employ a multiple offense and a multiple set defense. "We'll be looking at a lot of films before anything is set in stone, but my main goals will be to have a team that is disciplined and well-prepared and to create an environment where the kids can learn, achieve and improve," he said. ANGEL MARTINO will be the oldest U.S. Olympic women's swimmer in 72 years, but it the stopwatch not the calendar that she's concerned with.

Martino will be 29 April 25 and only Frances benrom, wno was an alternate in the 100-meter backstroke in 1924 at age 31, has ever been more senior among U.S. women Olympic swimmers. 999 i i "a nt inai mi iw 9 T(J second Olympic Games 1 and she is assured of com- ATI lATTl peting in four events, the A I Ij A II I A s- and 100-meter iiiuiiiiiii freestyles, the 1 00 butterfly and the 400 relay. Entering last night's final stanza of the Olympic Trials in Indianapolis, she'd placed second to Amy Van-Dyken in the 100 freestyle in the first event of the Trials, then came back to win the 100 'fly over VanDyken in 59 63. In the final women's final of the Trials, she placed second again to VanDyken in the 50 freestyle, 25.17 to 25.23.

Martino won a gold medal at the 1992 Barcelona Games, as a member of the 400 freestyle relay team, after placing fifth in the individual 100 freestyle. The 1988 Games might have been her best she'd set American records in the 50- and 100-meter freestyle winning the Trials but both records were revoked, along with her Olympic eligibility, after she tested positive for a banned substance. Her appeals fell on deaf ears and she sat out a two-year suspension. Elliott Denman This Uiill Ka UorfinA'a Cheasty 's helping hands vital part of Point Boro offense By BOB CONSIDINE STAFF WRITER THE LAST time the Point Pleasant Boro girls basketball team lost a game was Feb. 17, a 57-45 setback to Toms River East in the opening round of the Shore Conference Tournament Senior point guard Jodie Cheasty, the anchor of the Panthers offense, fouled out midway through the fourth quarter.

And Boro didn't score the rest of the game. "It wasn't about me, in particular, not being there," Cheasty said. "It could have been any one of us fouling out and we would have felt less secure with that person not in the "We play so well together and we're such a strong nucleus of five. If any of the five of us had fouled out, it would have been a Cheasty is genuine in her sentiment, but her contributions to the Panthers in their dream season can't be denied. By getting the ball inside to its big scorers junior forward Jessica Drennan and senior center Suzanne Manzi Point Boro has gone farther than any girls basketball team in Ocean County.

The Panthers captured the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Group II title with a 42-39 victory over Caldwell Sunday, the first county girls basketball team to win a state championship. As the team readies for tonight's clash against Notre Dame in the first round of the NJSIAA Tournament of Champions at the Dunn Sports Center in Elizabeth, Cheasty will again be called on to perform the role she relishes. "Getting assists gets me more pumped up than scoring points," Cheasty said. "If I scored 15 points and got 15 assists and someone asked me how I did after a game, I'll say, got 15 "Jodie is one of the more clever kids I've ever seen play basketball," Point Boro coach Peter Cooke said. "She's very adept at penetrating and passing and she doesn't get rattled very easily.

She's coming up on the end of her high school career and she's someone I won't be able to replace that easily." The Panthers, the No. 6 seed in the tourna ment, will have their work cut out against the No. 3 Irish. But Cheasty expects a solid effort from herself, Drennan, Manzo, guard Tara Quigley and forward Amy Clark. "We've been underdogs before," Cheasty said.

"I know we're not going to just roll over. We've played teams just as tough as them and given it everything we had. We make it a gojil to give 100 percent every game." Shawnee boys win ELIZABETH J.R. Gillern hit six 3-pointers in the first half as Shawnee opened a big lead and defeated Paulsboro, 83-43, in the first round of the boys NJSIAA Tournament of Champions last night. The victory advanced the third-seeded Rene- gades (26-3) to a semifinal game tomorrow against No.

2 seed Pleasantville at the Rutgers Athletic Center. Pleasantville, the Group II champions, defeated Shawnee, the Group IV winners, 57-50 in February at Atlantic City. Sixth-seeded Paulsboro finished with a 22-8 record. RANCOCAS VALLEY 72, SETON HALL PREP 45: Greg Miller scored 25 points and keyed a late second-quarter run that led Rancocas Valley over Seton Hall Prep. The fifth-seeded Red Devils (23-3) will now play top-seeded St.

Anthony of Jersey City (29-0) in the semifinals tomorrow at the Rutgers -i Athletic Center. Tha Friars are the Parochial champions. Associated Press Associated Pri Brad Bridegwater exults after his victory in the finals of the 200-meter backstroke. nJ DAVID BERGELANDSUff Photoiraphir At 5-foot-1, Rumson-Fair Haven's Missy Stavola has not let her height get in the way of success. First At Dunn Sports 6 p.m.

Teams: No. 5 Rumson-Fair Haven (24-4) vs. No. 4 Woodrow Wilson (26-2). Rumson-Fair Haven coach: George Sourlis.

Starting lineup: PG Missy Stavola 5-1 6.2 points), Katie Toole 5-10, 14.9 points), Jen Anderson 5-10, 10.9 points), Emily Murphy 5-10, 5.2 points), Erinn O'Neill 5-11, 19.6 points). Top reserves: Nancy Kegelman 5-9), Kristen Robbins 5-11), Danielle Petitti 6-0). Road to T0C: Beat Metuchen, 69-38; beat South Hunterdon, 70-56; beat South River, 51-46; beat Haddon 53-28; beat Bloomfield Tech, 57-40. Bulldogs outlook: Rumson's potent transition game should fit in well with Woodrow Wilson's up-tempo style. When the Bulldogs can't get out on the fast break, they'll work the ball until they find an open shot.

Stavola suffered a mild concussion in the first half of Sunday's victory over Bloomfield Tech, but should be ready for the Tigers. O'Neill has picked up her scoring of late, totaling 42 points over the last two games. The only common opponent is Red Bank, which beat Rumson 50-44 (without Stavola) and 53-50. Woodrow Wilson coach: Tony Coleman. Starting lineup: PG Patrice Chambliss 5-7, 12.0 points), Nicole Bowman 5-7, 16.0 Roints), Nailah Wallace 6-0, 21.2 points), efertiti Phillips 6-3, 4.5 points), Joy Silver 6-2, 8.0 points).

Top reserves: Darlene Damon 5-10), Juanita Kato 5-11). Road to TOC: Beat Rancocas Valley, 79-46; beat Williamstown, 64-49; beat Egg Harbor 54-39; beat Red Bank, 50-47; beat Shabazz, 48-43. Tigers outlook: In Wallace, Chambliss and Bowman, Woodrow Wilson has three excellent one-on-one players. Wallace, who will attend North Carolina State next season, can hit from outside, slash to the basket and score off offensive rebounds. Chambliss is a deceptively quick guard who can penetrate hard to the basket and take over a game in the fourth quarter.

Bowman needs only a little space to get off her quick jumpers; she burned Red Bank for 18 points in the first three quarters. and Frostad to fight it out. Stroke by stroke they went at it, in adjacent lanes, as the capacity crowd of 4,500 cheered them on. In the final four laps, though, Wright was just too strong. He touched home joyously in 15:17.96, with an open-water gap on Frostad, who did 15:22.79.

"I can't believe it," Wright said. "It's a tremendous honor for me and a lifetime dream come true. I felt strong the whole way, but I always knew I had a little extra in me." Two years ago, he was battling mononucleosis "stress and strain (of school and training) did it," he said and had his doubts he'd ever make it back to the Trials. A Peddie School product, he'd placed sixth in the 400 freestyle and fifth in the 1,500 in '92. But he made a full recovery and got back into full training under Wahoos coach John Carroll.

A third place in the Trials 400 Saturday was his perfect warmup for the 1,500, his best event. Up in the stands, his parents, Ken and Fran Wright, and his sister and brother-in-law, Susan and Scott Geist, were screaming loud Delran's Wright on the money in 1,500 freestyle By ELLIOTT DENMAN STAFF WRITER INDIANAPOLIS At last, after seven days and 26 events of the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials, the New Jersey delegation has pro- duced an Olympian. U.S. OLYMPIC He's 23-year-old SWIMMING TRIALS Peter Wright, a Uni-MHBHiMMaM versity of Virginia systems engineering major out of Delran and the Jersey Wahoos Club, who last night fought off 1992 Olympian Lawrence Frostad in the final 500 meters to claim the second and last spot in the freestyle final.

The race, a wearying 30 laps of the 50-meter pool, went easily to Eastern Michigan University junior Carlton Bruner in 15:12.85, but the real battle was for second. For nearly half the race, it was a four-man duel for that precious silver medal and the last ticket to Atlanta at these Trials. But Harvard's Brian Younger and Santa Clara's Jeremy Kane dropped back, and then it was left to Wright encouragement through the race, and waving a banner that said "You Can't Go Wrong With Wright." "We're just so, so elated," said Mrs. Wright. "Peter had trained so long for this one race.

He's been swimming since he was 10 and he's always excelled at the distances. And his strategy tonight was perfect, just perfect. "The first thing I have to do now is call Peter's grandmother (Mrs. Rosalie Cucchia of Manchester Township) and tell her the good news." These Trials were awash in excitement, but delivered no world or American records, something that hadn't happened since 1920. Tom Dolan proved that he isn't the reincarnation of Mark Spitz after all.

The University of Michigan junior sensation, who'd already won three events at the Trials, finally ran out of steam and wound up seventh in the the 200 backstroke final. Not since Spitz in 1972 had a man won four events at the Trials. Instead, the men's 200 back went to Southern Cal's Brad Bridgewater in 1:59.16, over Tripp Schwenk..