Asbury Park Press from Asbury Park, New Jersey • Page 39

Asbury Park Press Thursday, March 14, 1996 To Report Scholastic Scores Call 1-800-822-9770 Ext. 4418, 4422 For Local Sports Scores (l Call Pressto (908) 918-1000'; Touch 8802 D8 Cogan's TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS DD(oM' wsDonafeD 1T0 Katie Toole hug in exultation after leading the Bulldogs past Woodrow Wilson. plays big for Rumson A t4 vJ if- late trick ignites Brick By BOB CONSIDINE STAFF WRITER MORRIS TOWNSHIP There were no four-leaf clovers in their pockets. There wasn't a rabbit's foot to be found. And members of the Brick ice hockey team werent wearing good-luck charms around their necks, either.

If there's 3 one thing the Dragons have learned over BRICK CHATHAM 5 4 the years, it's that you have to be good to be lucky. i 'And by making their own breaks, the Dragons added another chapter to their impressive history last night, winning their first New Jersey State Interscholastic Association Public School championship and their sixth state title overall with a 5-4 decision over Chatham at Mennen Arena. "A lot of crazy things went right for us to night, said Tom Cogan, Bricks senior forward who netted a hat trick (three goals) on the evening. "Fortunately, the bounces went our way. It hasn always been like that.

The Dragons next face Parochial School champion Christian Brothers Academy in the NJSIAA Championship Saturday at 7 p.m. at Mennen Arena. Cogan put the puck between the pipes with five seconds remaining in Brick's only power play of the game to snap the 4-4 tie. It was only one of two shots allowed by the Cougars in the Dragons' two-minute advantage. "I just wanted to get a shot off in desperation," said Cogan.

"I was right in front of the net. It was a lot like the first goal I scored (in the first period). They weren't covering me right there. They were too worried about the corners." Chatham bounced back from a 2-1 deficit with a pair of goals from Matthew Cohen early Please see Brick, page D7 Ugly Colts struggle by Seton Hall By BOB CONSIDINE STAFF WRITER MORRIS TOWNSHIP Christian Brothers Academy put an end to Seton Hall Prep's run through the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Parochial championship playoffs last night at the Mennen Arena. The Colts notched their second consecutive NJSIAA Paro- chial championship with a 4-2 victory over the Pirates.

CBA SETON HALL PREP 4 2 "It wasn't pretty," admitted CBA defenseman Dustin DePalma. "We have to give Seton Hall Prep a lot of credit. We didn't even consider them when the playoffs started and we definitely took them too lightly tonight." After getting out to a quick 2-0 lead, CBA had its trouble with the Pirates. Forward James Henkel scored the eventual game-winner at 1:48 into the third period, slipping in a rebound off a Chris Pisani shot. It was Hen-kel's second goal of the game.

Seton Hall Prep, as it had for the entire game, bounced back with a Ben Murphy goal 3:31 into the third to make it 4-3. And the Colts had to withstand a flurry of shots in front of the net midway through the third. But CBA prevailed and will go for an unprecedented third consecutive NJSIAA title against Brick, the Public School champions, who recorded a 5-4 victory over Chatham last night, on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Mennen. "If we play anything like this on Saturday, we're going to have a lot of trouble against Brick," said Colts' coach Mike Reynolds.

"We had defensive lapses off the face-offs and we've got to start hitting the net more." It was far from a miserable effort for CBA. The Colts, in fact, looked to make very quick work of the Pirates. Left winger Andy Gojdycz converted a feed from Pisani just 25 seconds into the game to give CBA a 1-0 lead. Henkel was up next, scoring on a power play just 1:32 later. It looked to be a long evening for Seton Hall Prep, who entered the Please see Colts, page D7 Senior makes point, scoring 19 for Rumson By JOHN BUSH STAFF WRITER ELIZABETH There was Group I champion Rumson-Fair Haven last night at the Dunn Sports Center, making its first trip to the Tournament of Champions just like coach George Sourlis had promised all season long.

The Bulldogs, though, weren't about to be satisfied with making a brief appearance at the TOC. Especially senior Katie Toole. Toole scored 19 points, including eight in the first quarter, and junior point guard Missy Stavola added 17 points to lead No. 5 Rumson to a 60-52 vic- tory over No. 4 Wood-row Wilson in the first round RUMSON-FAIR HAVEN 60 WOODROW WILSON 52 of the TOC.

Rumson (25-4) will return to the Dunn Center tomorrow to face top seed Red Bank Catholic in an 8 p.m. semifinal game, guaranteeing that a Shore team will be in Monday's final at the Conitinental Airlines Arena. "We felt that we had to be pretty good to be here," Sourlis said. "We felt that we had something to prove still. We know we can play.

We just had to prove it to the rest of the world. Tonight the girls did. "We wanted to show that we deserved to be here," Toole said, "and that we want to go to the Meadowlands." Another performance like last night's and Toole may just get her wish. She put Rumson ahead for good at 5-2 by making a 3-pointer just 1:14 into the game, then spent the rest of the night driving hard to the basket to either set up her teammates for open shots or for layupsofherown. "When I saw Katie go for her first drive, I was like, 'That's it.

Katie's Rumson forward Jen Anderson said. "When Katie takes control of the team, we're not going to lose." "I think they underestimated my speed, so I just took advantage of that," Toole said. With Toole on fire, Rumson dominated the Group III champion Tigers from the start and took a 13-7 lead after the first quarter. Rumson forward Emily Murphy then scored the first five points of the second quarter as the Bulldogs reeled off nine straight points to take a 22-7 lead. Rumson led 26-11 before the Tigers finished the first half with an 11-5 run to make it 31-22 at halftime.

The Tigers then outscored Rumson, 11-5, to start the third quarter and pulled to within 36-33. Junior forward Erinn O'Neill kept Rumson's lead at three by scoring six of her 15 points until Stavola drove for a layup late in the third quarter to give the Bulldogs a 44-39 lead. Woodrow Wilson (26-3) would get as close as 47-43 before the 5-foot-l Stavola hit another huge shot. She ignited a 6-0 run with a 3-pointer, her third of the game, as Rumson took a 53-43 lead with 4:26 left. Stavola's trey would be Rumson's last field goal of the game.

"I knew that we needed a big bucket then, so I took it," Stavola said. On defense, Rumson concentrated on stopping the Tigers' high-scoring trio of forward Nailah Wallace and guards Patrice Chambliss and Nicole Bowman. Although the North Carolina State-bound Wallace finished with a game-high 22 points, Chambliss scored just 12 points and Bowman had only eight points. "We just tried to control the three girls," Toole said. Notre Dame thal full-court trap.

Hutchinson was scoring early and often for the Irish, who led 11-0 after 5V2 minutes before Amy Clark broke the ice for Point Boro with a pull-up jumper from the right side of the key. But Notre Dame kept pouring it on and when Jessica Drennan picked up her third foul 3:59 before halftime, which put half of the Panthers' inside scoring punch on the bench. Drennan would foul out with 1:32 left in the third quarter. Point Boro got within 11 points, 21-10, on two free throws by Cheasty in the middle of the second quarter but then the Irish went on a 9-0 run. The half ended with Hutchinson burying a three from the right corner at the buzzer for a 36-14 lead.

Hutchinson hit another three in the first minute of the second half after Grady scored down low in the first moments of the second half. Point Boro took a timeout with 7:19 to play in the third quarter trailing 41-14. Point Boro was whistled for 16 personal fouls in the first three quarters and rarely got second-chance shots on offense. The Irish, meanwhile, were pounding the boards at both ends, especially Hutchison and Grady, who combined for 45 of Notre Dame's 64 points. PETER ACKERMANStaff Photographtr long," said Toole.

"We know each other well. We were laughing about it Monday at the luncheon. About how many times we've gone against each other in summer games." Joe Montano, the RBC coach, knows the Rumson girls very well. He was there last night, congratulating George Sourlis, the Rumson coach. "They ran a clinic out there tonight," said Montano.

"It was a great performance." Even when Wallace began to take control of the boards, fighting through the great positioning the Rumson players were getting underneath, Sourlis' team held together. "We could never get the shot against them that cut it to one," said Wilson coach Tony Coleman. "Every time we made a run they answered. I think we underestimated them. I didn't realize they had that many shooters.

I didn't think they'd keep us off the boards like they did. I didn't realize they'd outhustle us like they did." Toole and her teammates knew better, because they know who they have been playing all year long. "Let's face it, the best girls' basketball in state is played at the Shore," said Toole. "When you play RBC and or St. John Vianney or any of the other big teams you're always in a game.

When you play against good competition, you get better." Just how good they have gotten could be decided lost to them in the Shore Conference Tournament," said Toole. "But we were with them until the fourth period. "We lost to Red Bank twice this season, but they lost to Wilson. We thought we had Red Bank in that second game and maybe winning here is a way of telling them that Please see Rumson, page D7 thwarted by Rumson's Missy Stavola (left) and Deception ELIZABETH umson High School lists Katie Toole's height as 5-foot-10. It's adeception.

UU She's closer to 5-8. When you're playing against her, you ex pect a player who might be able to hit the jump shot, but not a player who can wiz by you off the dribble. Her body just isn built that way. It a deception. You watch Toole and her Rumson teammates take the floor at the Dunn Sports Arena and they look out-manned.

Woodrow Wilson of Camden is bigger, faster.more athletic and has the best player on the JOE ADELIZZI floor in Nailah Wallace, a 6-0guardforward who is headed to North Carolina State. It's another part of the Rumson con game. "Yeah, I think they saw us as a little Group I school coming in," said Toole, who scored 19 points. "They thought we'd be nice and soft and intimidated by them." Before you could say Bulldog, Rumson had Wilson thinking again. "They started off with No.

50 (6-2, Joy Sil ver) on me. She couldn't move quick enough to stop me from driving to the basket," said Toole. By the time Wilson figured they'd better make some switches, it was too late. Rumson had a 13-point lead and Toole had racked up 10 points. "They switched Wallace to me.

That just left Erinn (O'Neill) open so Missy (Stavola) started getting the ball to her," said Toole. Point Boro's him PETER ACKERMANStaff Photoraphtr Point Pleasant Boro's Jodie Cheasty looks to make a pass as Notre Dame's Lisa Swanhart defends. If I m-r-i- 11 l1 I 1 at as imwa Irish 's pressure 'D'too much for Panthers PETER ACKERMANStaff Photographtr Rumson's Katie Toole shoots over Woodrow Wilson's Nailah Wallace. All of this deception added up to a 60-52 victory in the first round of the tournament of champions. It also means a date tomorrow against next-door neighbor, Red Bank Catholic, the top seed in this event and the top team in the Shore.

But despite those lofty credentials, there's no way the Caseys take Rumson lightly. "We play against each other all summer dream season BILL MC LAUGHLIN STAFF WRITER ELIZABETH Point Pleasant Boro's dream season ended at the hands of Notre Dame 64-36 last night in the first round of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Tournament of Champions at Elizabeth High School. "It's been a fantastic season and our girls deserve a lot of NOTRE DAME POINT BORO 64 36 credit for all their hard work," said Panthers coach Peter Cooke. "Of our eight losses this year, seven were to parochial schools: two each to Red Bank Catholic, St. John Vianney and St.

Rose, all Shore Conference Class South opponents (and last night's game)." Notre Dame, the Parochial A champions from Lawrence Township, took control early and dominated in two areas: pressure defense and on the boards. "They were the better team with more depth," said Panthers point guard Jodie Cheasty. "It's easier to play at a fast-tempo when you have depth and they had more. I think we were a little bit intimidated but there were no letdowns. I think we were a little overwhelmed just being here." Notre Dame was playing without starting forward Monica Staniec, who was sitting out the second game of a suspension after, being ejected in an earlier state tournament Still, the Irish came out pressing and doing everything possible to stop the Panthers'', top scoring threat Suzanne Manzi.

4 i "We wanted to front Manzi with weakside: help from Danielle Grady," said Notre Dame coach Ann DeMille. "We wanted our press to make them run their offense at a higher rate of speed than they wanted. We wanted to cause problems for them and also take them out of their half-court offense." Notre Dame started strong with Jen Hutchinson, a 5-8 power forward, doing the job at both ends. Early on, she was fronting Manzi and preventing lobs down low. The Panthers' senior scored just two first-half field goals, the first with 13 seconds left in the first quarter and the second 27 seconds before the half.

By that time, the game was all but over. Notre Dame had built an 18-point lead in the first 13 minutes of play by dominating the backboards and stifling Point Boro with a le.