Courier-Post from Camden, New Jersey • Page 24

8B COURIER-POST, Sunday, March 22, 1981 GIRLS' TOURNAMENT BASKETBALL Late rally fails, Irish lose bid for championship i Uff fevli fi5fl Im Lit 14 VV I Va? shooting streak to seven-for-seven. "My best game, I guess," Wagner said. "But it was wasted. We didn't win and I don't care how good I played." Wagner's spurt, though, put Camden Catholic in front for the first time and the team's matched baskets through the main portion of the third quarter. Denise Petitta helped Camden Catholic with three long jumpers but Dougherty and Schwartz eventually moved Pascack Valley into command.

"I'm disappointed," said Petitta. "Not so much for myself but for all the people who supported us all year. People sent us flowers, came in to speak to us during the tournaments and even fed us. I feel we let them down, but it wasn't because we didn't try." Camden Catholic, which hit 26 field goals to 19 for Pascack Valley, went for broke with three minutes left. McLaughlin hit a push shot, then came up with a steal that set up an Onofrio jumper to make it 56-52 with 2:26 'to play.

Another steal by McLaughlin set up a Camden Catholic break-away but a spectacular backhanded move by Schwartz spoiled the bid and the little Pascack standout made it 58-52 with a pair of free throws at 1:05. Brown drove the lane and it was 58-54 at 0:55 but the Irish lost precious time trying to foul the stalling North Jersey team. Controne hit just one shot with 29 seconds left and McLaughlin hit from the corner. With 10 seconds left, McLaughlin came up with one last steal but it was too little, too late. By BOBKENNEY Courier-Post Sports Editor NORTH BRUNSWICK Camden Catholic's bid for a state championship came up three points short here yesterday.

Pascack Valley became the first team in state history to win 30 games as it held off a furious Camden Catholic rally to win the Girls' Group 3 title, 59-56. It wasn't at all easy for the state's No. 1 ranked team, which had used its size and super shooters to go 59-1 over the past two seasons. With more than 1,800 fans cheering wildly, the North Jersey champions opened an eight-point lead behind the brilliant play of Linda Dougherty and Janet Schwartz with 3:11 left. But Camden Catholic, which earned the South Jersey title and a trip to the finals with its never-say-die play, closed fast and had possession when time ran out on its 24-6 season.

"We went down fighting to a very, very fine basketball team," said Deirdre Kane, the Camden Catholic coach. "Our kids are pretty upset, but I wouldn't want it any other way. Their intensity is what got us here." Dougherty, who finished her career with 2,257 points (that's 254 more than Camden's Milt Wagner scored), put on a dazzling shooting display to put Pascack Valley in command in the third quarter. The 5-10 senior scored 12 of her game-high 24 points in the period. Then, when the Irish tried to close the gap, Schwartz and Linda Controne took over on the foul GROUP 3 FINAL line.

Pascack Valley shot 21 -of -30 from the line, Camden Catholic only 4-of-9. "The other team was great," said Gina McLaughlin, the Camden Catholic co-captain. "They kept fighting, they were really good competitors." So good, it looked as if they would run the Irish out of the gym in the first period as Dougherty hit for eight points and Camden Catholic starters Virginia Onofrio, Lisa Brown and Beth Wagner were saddled with foul problems. Pascack Valley led 15-8 at the break, but the South Jersey entry roared back in the second quarter behind Wagner's streak shooting. Wagner hit a fast break from Kim Long, converted a rebound and drove the middle to make it 21-16 then repeated the sequence to make the score 27-27 at the intermission.

"We wanted it so badly, we made some dumb fouls and it hurt us," said Wagner, one of five juniors to see extensive action. "We played our best, we tried, it just wasn't good enough." With the team in foul trouble, Camden Catholic was forced to pull back its pressure defense which has helped carry the team. Three offensive fouls charged to the smooth driving Brown took away the running game. "We couldn't play our game," said Kane sadly. But they adjusted quite well.

Wagner continued her great play as the second half started, converting a pair of three-pointers to run her mid-game All Up Courler-Posl photography by Evanoelos Oousmartis Camden Catholic's Beth Wagner looks for the basket as Pascack Valley's Linda Cotrone defends in yesterday's girls' Group 3 championship game. Pascack Valley won, 59-56. I 1. 5f Rams champions in girls' Group 1 Continued from Page 7B An aggressive full-court press and a furious running game the team's trademarks enabled the Rams to break open a close game in the first quarter and take a commanding lead in the second half. "This is right up there with one of the best games we've ever played," said Coach Jeff Cohen, whose team posted its 26th consecutive victory to wrap up a 28-1 season.

"I felt if we worried about things we do best and not worry about the other team, we'd do okay." The Rams took command with a six-point drive in the first quarter after a rapid exchange of baskets. Mary Klinewski netted a layup on a pass from forward Maggie Kup-cha to open the stretch with 3:53 remaining in the period. Point guard Trish McNutt hit a corner jumper 25 seconds later and freshman Lisa Angelotti came off Courier-Post photography by Evangelos Dousmanis I can't reach it! Camden Catholic's Kim Long can't keep Pascack Valley's Janet Schwartz from grabbing a rebound. the bench for a layup with 1:39 left to lift the team to a 13-8 lead. Benedictine Academy's Mary Wheeler scored a three-point play 14 seconds later to close to within 13-11, but the Green Bees never managed to tie.

"We had heard they could jump," said Mary Klinewski, who pulled down eight rebounds in the first half as the Rams beat Benedictine under the boards, 17-6, in the half. "So, we knew we had to box out. "We had a lot of shooters. We weren't afraid to do the things we do in practice. We were working for the ball, instead of just waiting for the pass." The Green Bees attempted to equal Gloucester Catholic's hustle by playing a zone press, but they were no match for the Rams' expert ballhandling and overall height.

"When we get into our running game, very few teams can stay with us," Cohen said. "We have a good mixture of speed and size." Cathy Klinewski capitalized on the team's precisely-fashioned fast break, scoring the first three baskets of the third quarter to increase the Rams' advantage to 31-18 with 6.04 left in the period. Klinewski's first two baskets were scored on passes from twin Mary and the third was a baseline jumper on a pass from McNutt. Kupcha, who provided relentless defense under the basket and scored a team-high 18 points, stole the ball in the circle to set up the second bucket. "Our coach gave us a pep talk at halftime," Cathy said.

"He told everyone to look deep and take her time. We wanted to make them play our game and make them run as much as we could. I think we did a good job of breaking their press." Wheeler, Benedictine's aggressive point guard, scored half of her game-high 20 points after intermission. Wheeler drilled five long jumpers to counter the Rams' tough inside defense, but her efforts never managed to spark a Benedictine rally. "We played textbook man-to-man defense," Cohen said.

"We tried to make Wheeler shoot one to two feet further than she wanted to." BOYS' TOURNAMENT BASKETBALL Brown paces Clifford Scott over Salem By WALT BURROWS Of the Courier-Post School to an 85-63 victory over Salem and the Group 2 boys' state basketball championship yesterday ELIZABETH Mike Brown here in the Dunn Sports Center, scored 28 points and pulled down 21 Brown, a 6-9 center, helped the rebounds to lead Clifford Scott High Scotties jump out to a 25-8 lead in to the very end." Junior Albert Sistrunk followed Ridgeway in scoring for Salem with 14 point. Salem, meeting a similar fate to that of Camden at the hands of Neptune last week, was outrebounded, 46-18. In the first period, Salem was getting one shot as Clifford Scott had Brown and Webster patrolling with authority. The game was held up for eight minutes early in the final period when a disturbance broke out in the Salem stands between Salem rooters and Clifford Scott fans. No one was injured.

NEWSY NOTES Salem out-scord Clifford Scott 25-16 in the second period to trail by 41-33 at the half Schantz said he'll make a decision in November as to his future Schantz career record is now 539-245. GROUP 2 FINAL good, too. Hey, I think we played one of the best teams in the state. I'm sure they could beat a lot of Group 3 and Group 4 schools." Schantz spent time congratulating his own players for their fine 28-1 season. "I was proud of the way we came back today," he said.

"They got that big lead, but we hung tough, tough enough to get within five points. I though that was a real accomplishment and a tribute to the kids." Ridgeway kept the Rams respectable with 25 points on 10-for-24 from the field and 5-for-6 from the line. came in here ready to give it our best shot," Ridgeway said. "I guess we could have given up, but we didn't. We went down fighting, even the first period with nine points and a controlling performance under the backboards.

"The big guy was the difference," said Salem's captain and backcourt star Courtney Ridgeway. "When they got it to him it was hard to steal because he was so big, and, if you managed to get on him, he was able to dish it off so effectively." Brown, who is being heavily recruited by such colleges as Villan-ova, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Xavier and Pepperdine, hit 13 of 17 shots from the field, most of which came on either stuf fers or short jumpers. "In our previous tournament games I had gotten in foul trouble," said the soft-spoken Brown, "and I had let it get to me. Today, I realized it was my final game and I didn't get upset when I got my fourth foul (at 1:10 left in the third quarter)." Salem fell behind early but still managed to battle back to rock the Scotties' boat. The Rams climbed within five points at 58-53 in the final minutes of the third period.

Brown had watched much of the rally from the bench, four fouls sitting on his back. However, sensing a possible upset. Coach Greg Tynes ushered Brown back into the game at the outset of the fourth period. He immediately tapped in the first goal of the period. Troy Webster, a bullish forward who finished with 27 points and 11 rebounds, tabbed a field goal and, after Darryl Morris hit a free throw for Salem, Brown hit two consecutive baseline jumpers to give Clifford Scott, 24-3, a 67-54 lead with just over six minutes to play.

"We got back in it when they had to take the big kid out," said Salem Coach Lou Schantz. "I think our kids were a little awed by him at first, and it reflected in our play. "We certainly hadn't seen anyone with his ability all season. He was a dominant player. The other kid was Neptune tops Shabazz i go, the shots started to drop and we suddenly began getting some boards.

Things began to turn around. I was worried, sure, but I never lost faith in my players." Despite the Fliers sub-par performance over the first three periods, they still managed to outrebound the North Jersey champs, 41-24. Neptune was 21-for-53 from the field, Shabazz shot 25-for-56. Braun topped all scorers with 22 points and Thomas followed with 20 and Gabriel added 11 as Neptune finished as the state's only unbeaten team at 29-0. Daryl Anderson paced Shabazz with 16 points, while Tony Sommers added 14 and Chris Clark had 12.

By WALT BURROWS Of the Courier-Post PRINCETON Bob Braun and Kevin Thomas sparked a fourth-period rally that led unbeaten Neptune High School to a 60-55 triumph over Malcolm X. Shabazz and to the Group 4 Boys state basketball championship here last night in Princeton University's Jadwin' Gymnasium. The Fliers, who ousted Camden Tuesday in the semifinal round, entered the final period on the short end of a 41-37 count. But Braun and Thomas got hot. Braun scored 10 and Thomas had eight points in the final period, but it was back courtman Bryan Gabriel's driving layup with 6:16 remaining GROUP 4 FINAL that put the Fliers ahead for the first time in the game.

Thomas followed with a short jumper and Braun's eight-foot bank shot put Neptune ahead, 47-41, with 5:10 left in the game. Shabazz, which had jumped out to an 8-0 lead before the Central Jersey Champs scored, never got closer than two points thereafter. "I thought it was one of our worst games of the year," said Neptune Coach Henry Moore. "There for a while, we couldn't make a layup. The intensity wasn't there and we weren't getting the boards, it wasn't like our performance against Camden.

"Then it all changed. We started to lib i uuk GOill9 UP Courier-Post photography by Curt Hudson Salem's Courtney Ridgeway goes up for a shot against Clifford Scott's Troy Webster..