Courier-Post from Camden, New Jersey • Page 26

COURIER-POST, Monday, March 13, 1995 1 4C Sxolt-TMRI Hurt's Hoifoto ir Title slips away from Washington Twp. aga i I. in 1 1 I I 'V flV I Vi 1 I M. L-gtJ jlLJ who didn't play the way we're used to seeing them play. We didn't play our game.

It's not that we didn't try. It's more that West Milford took us out of our game." The Minutemaids are 0-3 in state finals. Before last season, Washington Township's only other appearance came in 1985 a loss to Irvington. West Milford (27-1), which has won 19 straight and will play the Middle TownshipKeyport winner in Tournament of Champions on Friday at 6 p.m., outscored Washington Township 17-8 in the third quarter to overcome a 29-24 halftime deficit en route to its first state championship. The Highlanders, who trailed by as many as seven points in the first half, took their first lead on a layup by game MVP Meghan Renna (15 points) with 2 minutes, 40 seconds left in the third quarter.

West Milford with 6-foot center Jenn Millward (12 points) doing damage inside and Renna lighting it up from the outside would never trail again. "I told the kids at halftime that we had to play better defense in the second half and that our offense would come," West Milford coach Elmer Zimmerman said. "Our shots that weren't dropping in the first half started going in as the game went along." West Milford held Washington Township to only eight third-quarter points. At the other end of the court, the Highlanders heated up, hitting 6-of-13 shots, including two 3-pointers. The Minutemaids, who trailed 41-37 after three quarters, were unable to cut the Highlanders' lead under four the rest of the way.

West Milford, which placed three starters in double figures, held Washington Township scoreless over the final 4:07 until Jenn Natale (15 points) drained her third 3-pointer of the game with 13 seconds left. "It was as if we had a lot to lose and they had nothing to lose," said Washington Township senior forward Laura Lyons, who suffered through a l-for-13 performance from the floor and finished with a season-low three points. Lyons was coming off a career-high 28-point performance on 12-for-14 shooting against Hunterdon Central in the state semifinals on Wednesday. "We were all seniors so we knew this was our last shot," said Lyons, who missed her first nine shots on Sunday. "And they were mostly juniors, so they all had another year.

I know I was as nervous as I've ever been before a game. But that's not an excuse. My shots just weren't falling." In the first half, just about everything Washington Township tossed toward the basket found its way through. The Minutemaids hit on 13-of-26 shots in the opening half with senior center Melissa Pickering (16 points) going 7-for-7 from the floor. By Al Amrhein, for the Courier-Post Rebound that basketball: Washington Township's Stacey Moscufo (right) battles against West Milford's Jennifer Millward during Sunday's Group 4 state title game.

West Milford won. push Middle Twp. to top Pilenza proven leader in Delran's title run By MIKE GARBETT For the Courier-Post ELIZABETH As the final seconds ticked off in Washington Township's 54-45 loss to West Milford, all Minutemaids coach Donna Costa Group 4 final could do West Milford 54 was stare ac was siare straight Wash. Twp. ahead with a blank look in her eyes.

This was it. This was the chance for Costa's team to finally win that elusive state championship. All the talent. All the experience of playing in pressure-packed games. An all-senior starting lineup going against a team with only one senior.

In the end, it wasn't enough. For the second consecutive year, Washington Township came up short in the Group 4 state final, losing to North Jersey Section I champ West Milford at Elizabeth's Dunn Sports Center on Sunday. Washington Township, which lost to Linden in last year's title game, finished 24-6 all six losses coming against out-of-area opponents. "It was a great season and a great run for the seniors," said Costa, whose team went 71-0 against South Jersey teams over the last three years and captured three sectional championships. "We had a couple of players Seniors By MIKE GARBETT For the Courier-Post ELIZABETH While the rest of his Middle Township High School girls' basketball team rested in a nearby hotel Saturday night, Panthers coach Gary Barber met with his three seniors and asked them to Group 3 final "take the Middle Twp.

younger Sparta 52 35 ride" on their back in Sunday afternoon's Group 3 state championship game. It was a pleasant trip. Sparked by a game-high 24 points from senior forward Merri Jones and 13 assists from senior point guard Heather Ingersoll, Middle Township (29-0) routed previously unbeaten Sparta 52-35 to capture the championship at Elizabeth's Dunn Sports Center. The Panthers, who won the Group 2 state title a year ago and were making their third state final appearance in four years, are the only undefeated girls' team in the state. They will play Keyport in a Tournament of Champions quarterfinal Wednesday at 6 p.m.

at the Dunn Sports Center. "I think we pretty much shocked the basketball world," an emotional Barber said after watching his squad dominate its opponent from North Jersey in every phase of the game. "For us to lose (three starters) from last year, move up a group and win back-to-back state titles is amazing. But we believed it could happen and we worked hard from beginning to end to make it happen." Sparta (28-1), the No. 1 team in the State Top 20 Poll, was without 5-foot-11 sophomore forward Melanie Prol, its second leading scorer and top rebounder.

Prol chose not to play for religious reasons. Middle Township took advantage from the outset, working the ball low to Jones, who, at 5-11, had her way inside. Jones, a three-year starter, grabbed 21 rebounds to go with her 24 points and hit on 12-of-26 field-goal attempts. "(Prol) is a Division I prospect with good size and would have made a difference in the game," Sparta coach Fred Geffken said. "What would have happened if she played? Who knows.

But I know that they killed us inside." Middle Township jumped all over Sparta early, scoring 16 of the game's first 17 points en route to a 24-14 halftime lead. The Spartans, who missed their first 16 shots from the floor and scored only two points in the first quarter, connected for their first field goal with 5:53 left in the half. Jones scored 12 points in the first half, and Ingersoll chipped in with five of her seven. Sophomore Kate Jackson (10 points) scored four in the first half. Yjj'JtP Jw jpfe; fi- Ni.

inn rr-'-rrikrmist'irt-n if-" A lnA- JhiiimirM'-iWrivriiiiintiiW ml i i By Steve Toporov, for the Courier-Post In the middle: Middle Township's Katie Jackson (50) and Merri Jones (33) fight for a loose ball against Sparta's Bridget Wilson. Middle Township won the Group 3 state title Sunday. "She was so confident that she pumped everyone else up. She showed a lot of leadership out there just as she has all season." Pilenza, one of four Delran players to reach double figures against Morris Hills, said one of the biggest thrills of her scholastic career was getting the opportunity to play with her younger sister, Michele, who is a freshman and scored two points on Sunday. "That's something that is really special and that, I'll always remember," the elder Pilenza said.

"We always played together growing up, but being on the same team and winning a state championship together is an indescribable feeling." Pilenza, an All-Group 2 pick in soccer last fall, thinks Delran can surprise a team or two in the Tournament of Champions. The Bears will face Group A champion Notre Dame in the quarterfinals on Wednesday at the Dunn Center at 8 p.m. "It's just an honor to be in the Tournament of Champions, but with our quickness (Delran had 21 steals against Morris Hills) and pressing defense, we can play with just about anybody," Pilenza said. "It's now the best playing the best. We'll see what happens, but we like our chances." from experience Delran up 21-19 with 6:16 left.

The Bears never trailed the rest of the way. A steal and layup by junior Danielle Karpen gave Delran a 23-19 lead with 5:09 left in the half. Then back-to-back steals and layups by juniors Allison Peirce and Kim Brown pulled the Bears ahead 27-19 with 4:39 until intermission. Delran then led by 11 on a three-point play by Peirce with 4:12 until halftime. It was the result of a steal by Joanna Dusza.

From that point, Delran outscored Morris Hills 14-8 in the remaining 4:02 to go ahead 46-2" at halftime. Brown led Delran with six steals and contributed 11 points. Peirce scored 25 points, pulled down eight rebounds and had three steals. Karpen added 10 points, five steals and five assists. "The press is the key to our game," Brown said.

"We're very aggressive and very fust. We were here before and that experience gave us confidence." "We work on our press for an hour at every practice," Peirce said. "We all know exactly where to be and we played with a lot of intensity. "We take pride in our press and work hard at it. We know if we don't do it well, our opponents can take advantage of us inside." Delran's state title is just the second in Burlington County history.

Willingboro won the state Group 4 crown in 1978. By MIKE GARBETT For the Courier-Post ELIZABETH Prior to Sunday, April Pilenza had helped the Delran High School girls' basketball team capture three Burlington County League Patriot Division titles and a pair of South Jersey Group 2 crowns. Now, the 5-foot-8 senior forward can add a Group 2 state championship to her growing list of accomplishments. "This was my goal since the first day of practice and we did it," Pilenza said after scoring 25 points, grabbing eight rebounds and coming up with four steals in leading Delran to a 84-49 rout of Morris Hills in the Group 2 final at Elizabeth's Dunn Sports Center. "We wanted this ship) so bad.

We've been close before, but we knew this was our chance to make history. And we took advantage of our For her efforts, Pilenza, a four-year starter who has 1,128 career points, was named the game's most valuable player. "(Pilenza) came in with a lot of confidence, mainly because she played here two years ago," said Delran first-year coach Pete Miles, referring to Delran's 34-27 loss to Mahwah in the state final during the 1992-93 season. DelranLearns Continued from Page 1C coach Bill Nieman said. "Their kids were better able to execute than our kids, and they exploited every weakness we had." Delran senior forward April Pilenza, the game's MVP, finished with 25 points, six rebounds and four steals.

"Once we get one steal and we realize we can get them, we want more," Pilenza, who was a starter on Delran's 1993 state runner-up, said. "We were confident and we weren't nervous. They were like us two years ago. (Coming into this game) we knew what it was like to lose it and we wanted it bad. Our experience definitely helped.

"Defense has been the key to our season. We proved that you don't need height to be successful. All you need is a lot of heart and hustle." "The girls had a seasoned feeling," Miles, in his first year as head coach, said. "The fact they've been here before and have played some tough competition helped us." Delran has played for the sectional title in each of the last four years. The roof started to collapse on Morris Hills with 6:35 leR in the second quarter and the score tied at 19-19 when Delran's press forced the first turnover of the quarter.

Senior Lynette Diluzio's put-back of an offensive rebound put Jones makes most of second title shot The second half was much of the same, with Middle Township never allowing Sparta to close within single digits the rest of the way. "You have to respect a kid who chose to sit out a game like this for something that she strongly believes in," Barber said. "We tried not to let it mire our focus and just go out and do what we had to do to win." Ingersoll, who spent two years at Wildwood Catholic before transferring to Middle Township at the start of the 1993-94 school year, also grabbed 12 boards from her point guard position in nearly recording a triple-double. "This (state championship) is a little more special because I'm a senior and for us to make it here undefeated makes it even better," Ingersoll said. "Whether they had (Prol) or not, we knew that if we came out and played our style, we'd find a way to win.

That's what we've been doing all season." Middle Township didn't shoot the ball exceptionally well (33 percent), but the Panthers held Sparta to only 11 field goals and forced 21 turnovers eight in the first quarter. "As seniors, me, Heather and Carey (Koch) wanted to come out relaxed and calm and confident and make the younger players feel confident, too," Jones said. "Last year, we were underclassmen who helped out the seniors. But this year, this was our team." team would emerge 29-0. "We wanted to come out and establish a lead early," said the 5-foot-ll Jones, who scored 12 first-half points due in part to the absence of Sparta's 5-11 sophomore center Melanie Prol, who sat out because of religious reasons.

"Even though we had the big lead, we had to keep playing hard because we knew Sparta would eventually go on a run sometime." However, that never happened as the Spartans, who trailed by 10 at the half (24-14), never cut the lead under double digits the rest of the way. "Merri hud to be a leader for us," Middle Township coach Gary Barber said. "She was big on the glass all afternoon. "Experience was definitely a factor. Merri was a big contributor (off the bench) for us three years ago when we lost in the final.

And last year, she started for us, helping us win the title. "Merri Jones went out and showed everyone what kind of player she is. She was everywhere on the floor." Just ask Sparta. By MIKE GARBETT For the Courier-Post ELIZABETH Merri Jones knew what it felt like to experience the jubilation of winning a state championship, helping the Middle Township High School girls' basketball team to the Group 2 title a year ago. In the Group 3 final against Sparta on Sunday, Jones wasn't going to be denied her second consecutive state championship.

"We wanted this to prove to everyone what Middle Township is all about," Jones, who was named the tournament MVP, said after scorching Sparta for 24 points and 21 rebounds as the Panthers routed the Spartans 52-35. "For us to go undefeated and win another state championship proves that we are a great team." The only remaining unbeaten girls' teams in the state, Middle Township and Sparta, both entered the game with 28-0 records. It was obvious early which.