Courier-Post from Camden, New Jersey • Page 25

3C Painlsboro takes first state basketball title COURIER-POST, Monday, March 11, 1996 Hoop dream: Paulsboro earned its first state title in basketball. By WALT BURROWS Courier-Post Staff PISCATAWAY Kevin Harvey had the greatest feeling in the world Sun- day night. Group 1 final The Paulsboro 53 Pauisboro Science 51 i the fans out here supporting us." Harvey, who was dogged all game by the Science defense, shot 7-for-26 from the field but his presence made everyone else step up a notch. "I was never concerned when we fell behind 16-7," Coach Mike Ricci said. "I could see a little nervousness in the player's eyes.

"I felt that once Kevin started to get in a groove the rest of the team would pick it up. "And that's what happened." Harvey also talked about the pressure Science defenders put on him early in the game. "Coach told me to keep going, to the basket, to stop, pull up and shoot the jumper. Everything turned out well." The 28 points gives Harvey 2,140 for his career and moves him into 13th place in the all-time scoring list with at least one more game to play. Harvey, who often ran a one-man fast break Sunday, is looking forward to participating in the of C.

"I'm just happy we're going. I don't care who we're playing. It's great. I wish we had something like that in football." Science, the defending state champs, were paced by Issac Green's 15 points. Rayem added 14, including three 3-pointers.

High bchool athlete has earned many acco lades tor his play as a quarterback on the football team. But this time it was different. He led Paulsboro, 22-7, to its first state Group 1 basketball title with 28 points in a 53-51 thriller over Science of Newark at the Rutgers University Louis Brown Athletic Center. For his effort, he was named the MVP in the game and will lead his teammates into the Tournament of Champions against Shawnee on Tuesday at Elizabeth 'b Dunn Center at 6 p.m. Harvey, who still hasn't made his football plans known, had four 2-pointers, three 3-pointers and he shot ll-for-12 from the line, in shooting down the Chargers.

But, the road was rocky before he got himself in a groove. Paulsboro, which fell behind 16-7 in the first quarter, appeared as though it was going to be the only South Jersey team not to win a state championship in the public school competition. But, Terran Carlson rallied the Red Raiders in the second, scoring all six of his points and most of his 12 rebounds in helping his mates draw even at halftime 22-22. I ni i It I A By Deora L' BlcKing, Courier-Post Going up: Paulsboro's Kevin Harvey goes in for two points during the first quarter of Sunday's Group 1 state championship game. Harvey scored 28 points to lead Paulsboro to victory.

RV makes free throws to capture Group 3 title Pleasantville unchallenged in Group 2 championship i 1- 1 fnJ 'I 4' But Harvey scored 16 of his team's 17 points in the third quarter when the Colonial Conference team built a 39-33 lead. "It was just a matter of waiting for Kevin to get going," Carlson said. "We knew it was just a matter of time. We had to do our best to stay close enough." Paulsboro built a 44-33 lead on a basket by Harvey and two free throws and a basket by Vernon Sharper with less than seven minutes to play. However, Science, 23-4, refused to fold.

They scored seven straight points, climbing within 44-40 on a pair of free throws by Jeron Rayem with 3:48 left. Every time Science closed within a point or two, Harvey responded, either scoring or dishing off to breaking teammates Tim Robinson or Sharper. He sealed the victory himself by converting two foul tosses with 13.3 seconds left that gave Paulsboro a 53-49 lead. "I never felt like this," Harvey said. "I'm happy for everyone, the coaches my teammates and especially coach (Len) Carmichael (now head coach at Woodrow Wilson), who built the team.

"This almost feels like a football championship with all Jammin': Pleasantville center Greyhounds' Group 2 victory "We shot the ball well, although most of them were layups, and we were able to pound the ball inside pretty easy. "The second half wasn't very pretty. It was kind of up and down the court with just a little defense thrown in. But coming out with a second straight title feels very good right now." With the outcome 'already decided, the second half was only a little more organized than a school-yard pickup game. The Greyhounds outscored the Maroon Raiders 26-15 in the third quarter as reserve William Ames scored 7 of his 16 points and Pleasantville rolled to an 84-38 lead.

Pleasantville had only seven players dressed due to illness and finished the game with just six as Leary disciplined another at half-time. The Greyhounds finished the game shooting 49 for 63 from the field. "That sounds like pretty good shooting to me," Jones said. "Once we had that run in the in first quarter we had things pretty much all our way. "The only problem with a game like this is it sometimes PAULSBORO NEWARK SCIENCE 7 15 17 14 S3 16 11 1661 PAULSBORO (22-7) Harvev 7 11-1 28, Johns 2 0-0 4, Carlson 3 0-2 6, Robinson 1 2-3 4, Diggs 0 2-4 2, Sheard I 1-3 3, Sharper 2 2-4 6.

Totals 16 16-25 S3. NEWARK SCIENCE (26-4) Conwav 1 2-2 4, Green 5 5-7 15, Kelchen 2 0-0 5, Ravam 4 3-4 14, Howard 4 3-4 11, Kornegav 0 0-0 0, Tavlor 1 0-0 2, Williams 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 13-17 51. 3-Polnt goals Paulsboro 3 (Harvev 3), Newark Science 4 (Ravham 3, Ketchen). Fouled out None.

Total fouls Paulsboro 15, Newark Science 17. km. By Scott Anderson, Courier-Post Rob Strickland dunks during the on Sunday. hurts the team. We didn't play all that well in the second half and it kind of got ragged out there.

The big thing is we were able to shoot so well and we got all those blocked shots." "This is nice to win the state championship game again but we were supposed to," Leary said. "The thing I'm so pleased about is we came up here and played very well, especially in the first half. "I've said right along I think this is the best team we've ever had at Pleasantville. We had some great teams with Reggie Miller in the 1970s but I think Perry is what makes this team a little better." PLEASANTVILLE ENQLEWOOO 26 29 26 26110 14 16 26 66 PLEASANTVILLE (26-41 C. Jones 9 2-4 20, Brown 0 0-0 0, Strickland 7 2-2 16, Perrv 7 4-7 19, Gonzalez 12 0-0 25, Akins 7 0-0 14, Ames 7 0-0 16.

Totals 49 6-13 110. ENQLEWOOO (22-61 Pearson 0 0-0 0, Norwood 4 0-2 Stephens 7 4-9 18. Washington 9 0-0 22, Walker 1 0-0 2, L. Jones 0 2-4 2, Richardson 2 2-2 Smith 2 2-2 6, Laude 1 0-0 2. Totals 26 10-19 66.

3-Point goals Pleasantville 4 (Ames 2, Gonza-lei, Perrv), Englewood 4 (Washington 4). Fouled out Ames. Total touls Pleasantville 14, Englewood 8. Technical C. Jones.

Making a point Pleasantville's 5-foot-10 point guard Noel Gonzalez played big on Sunday. Page SC i ii Q1' Accurate: Rancocas Valley hit 18 of 19 free throws in the fourth quarter to secure the Group 3 title. By BOB VIGGIANO Courier-Post Staff PISCATAWAY Just when it appeared the Rancocas Valley High School boys' basketball team was out of miracles, up popped another one. The 22-3 Red Devils fma' hit is of 19 Ran. Valley 71 foul shots in Snyder 62 the final eight minutes Sunday to rally for a 71-62 victory over Snyder of Jersey City to claim its first State Group 3 championship at the Louis Brown Athletic Center at Rutgers University.

Rancocas Valley faces Seton Hall Prep in the Tournament of Champions on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Elizabeth High School's Dunn Center. "What a great feeling this is after last Darnell Jennings, who contributed 22 points to lead five players in double figures and was named the game's Most Valuable Player, said. "I remember in last year's final (one-point loss to Shabazz) how bad our seniors felt. I wanted to see this year's seniors go out on a happy note." The Red Devils, who led most of the way, appeared to be running out of gas.

Led by the sensational play of guard Riyard King (26 points), the 22-4 Tigers rallied to take a 44-43 lead into the final quarter. But the Red Devils somehow found new life and methodically took the Tigers apart over the final eight minutes. Sophomore Dan Miller, who had just two points entering the final quarter, started things for the Red Devils by hitting four straight fouls and then added a layup off a feed from brother Greg as Rancocas regained the lead at 49-46 with 6 minutes, 40 seconds left. "I was in foul trouble and sitting on the bench a lot," Miller said. "It was kind of frustrating but getting those points early in the fourth quarter got me back into the flow of the game." But Snyder bounced back again and cut the Rancocas lead to 50-46 with 4:35 left on baskets by Irv Jenkins and Tim Royster.

However, Rancocas refused to fold. After the teams traded two-pointers, Jennings, off a brilliant feed from Greg Miller, got a field goal and a foul shot and Fast start: Pleasantville used an 18-2 run in the first quarter to win Group 2 for the 2nd straight year. By BOB VIGGIANO Courier-Post Staff PISCATAWAY The Dwight Morrow of Englewood High School boys' basketball team rtever knew what hit them. The North Jersey Sec- GIJP 2 final tjon I cham- Pleasantville 1 1 0 pion never D. Morrow 66 had a chance in the State Group 2 championship game Sunday at Rutgers University as defending champion Pleasantville hit 26 of its first 31 shots on its way to a 110-66 Victory in the title game.

1 "I knew when I saw them play before we could be in for a lot of trouble," Englewood coach Gerald Ridge said. "It was like trying to hold onto a runaway freight train with one arm. "We hadn't played a team anywhere the caliber of Pleasantville all year. They are truly a great Group 2 team. They have everything.

There is size, quickness and they sure can shoot the ball. I never saw shooting like they did in the first half ever before at the high school level." After Dwight Morrow took a 2-0 lead, the 25-4 Greyhounds scored 18 of the game's next 20 points in a 3-minute, 26-second period to take an 18-4 lead. "Dwight Morrow is a transi tion team and we knew if we got them out of that we would win," Pleasantville coach Ken Leary said. "Our zone slowed them up and we were able to force everything into (Rob) Strickland and (Clifton) Jones in the middle and they blocked a lot of shots (8 each)." Noel Gonzalez, who led the Greyhounds with 25 points and was named the game's Most Valuable Player, scored 19 of his points in the first half as the Greyhounds simply overwhelmed the Maroon Raiders on their way to a 58-23 halftime lead. They shot 13 of 15 from the field in the first quarter as Gonzalez had nine points and came back with a 13 for 16 shooting performance in the second quarter.

Gonzalez finished the first half with 19 points and Jones had 12 and Strickland 10. "The first half was a lot of fun," Pleasantville point guard Jamar Perry, who finished with 19 points and 15 assists, said. By Debra L. Bicking, Courier-Post Looking up: Rancocas Valley's Eric Rosado puts up a shot over the arms of Snyder's Damon Tucker in the first half. a 1 and hit three key foul shots down the stretch, said.

"But when a state championship is on the line you have to reach far down. Getting those turnovers off our trap starting the fourth quarter really lifted our confidence." "We're not a deep team and Rancocas did a good job taking it to us and getting us in foul trouble," said Snyder coach Art Rubin. "We're not a deep team'so it was real smart of them to do what they did. "And that foul shooting (27 of 31 for the game) was incredible. I sure wouldn't want to get in a foul shooting contest with them.

But to me the big factor was they never lost their composure when we got ahead of them. RANCOCAS VALLEY 1 10 14 2871 13 18 14 1982 SNYDER RANCOCAS VALLEY (22-11 G. Miller 1-1 IS, Jennings 6 8-8 22, D. Miller 3 4-4 10, Rosado 4 4-6 12. T.

Xerakls 1 10-12 12, Frvar 0 0-0 0. S. Xerakls 6 0-0 0. Manulag 0 0-0 1, Coleman 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 27-31 7).

SNYDER (33-4) Rovster 3 0-0 4, Chlsolm 5 0-011, Johnson 3 0-2 6, Jenkins 0-0 13, King 9 -7 2, Tucker 0 0-0 0. Dingle 0 0-0 0, Edge 0 0-0 0. Totals 2S e-9 62. 3-Point goals Rancocas Vallev 4 (G. Jennings 2), Snvder 4 I Jenkins 3, King 2, Chlsolm).

Fouled out Johnson, total touts Rancocas Vallev 12, Snyder 21. Senior pride r- The seniors wouldn't let Ran-' cocas Valley lose. Page SC A r-t v- If Ks A Tom Xenakis added another two fouls as Rancocas took a 58-52 lead with 2:42 to play. From that point on it was all Rancocas as they hit hit 9 of 10 foul shots the rest of the way and Greg Miller added two baskets in between to send Snyder gasping for air. "I've been waiting all year to see that kind of foul shooting, a beaming Rancocas coach Ron Powell said.

"We wanted to spread the floor and take our chances at the foul line. "I think playing in the state championship and being in a tough game last year helped us out this year," he said. "I think the exposure helped our kids keep their composure out there." Powell also credits a trapping defense to start the fourth quarter was a telling factor. "We got some turnovers right away and Dan Miller got us started offensively with those foul shots," he said. "I just like the way our kids responded in the fourth period." "Playing on a big court like this gets you tired a lot faster," Rancocas Eric Rosado, who contributed 12 points to the attack.