Daily Record from Morristown, New Jersey • 43

Daily Record, Morris County, N.J., Wednesday, March 24, 1999 5 1999 Girls Basketball Team of the Year 1999 All-Area Girls Basketball Mendham had a wonderful time trying to repeat itself Now that all is said and done, it's By Sandy Seegers Daily Record Record School forts in the state tournament and TOC, scoring 60 percent of the team's points. Offense wasn't the only key, however. The Minutemen's 1-3-1 and press played a large role. "We needed to be aggressive because so many of the teams we played had great shooters," Hol-loway said. "Our defense had to be good." Mendham's defense was more than in sync when it defeated East Brunswick 71-40 in the TOC semifinals.

The Minutemen, making 11 individual steals and several team steals, kept the Bears' 3-point shooters in check. Offensively, Mendham was at its best against Ridgefield Park in the Group II semifinals. The Minutemen converted 74 percent of their field goals, including 79 percent in the second half. "I don't remember a stretch of 32 minutes where we shot that well," Corona said. "I remember some great quarters but nothing like that." and rehabilitate the knee.

She was available off the bench. "Having Jamie back was a blessing," Creamer said. "She showed courage by fighting through the pain to play." In spite of all that, the current version of the Minutemen, under the guidance of Fred Corona, went through the conference unbeaten, claimed a record seventh MCT crown and took top honors in the section and Group II. They toppled some tough teams in the process, including Summit three times, Morris Hills twice, Columbia, Morris Knolls, Ridgefield Park, Sterling and East Brunswick. On Jan.

30, they took on nationally-ranked Christ the King and lost, 66-47. The defeat snapped a 44-game winning streak, yet Mendham felt it emerged a better team. "We learned a lot," Creamer said. "I'm glad we got to play them. It made us stronger mentally." Creamer and Suminski, a sophomore guard, put in unbelievable ef As always, Mendham, the 1999 Daily Record Team of the Year, simply played and played well, recapturing all but one of the titles it won last winter.

The Minutemen (29-2) ended their season yesterday with a 62-53 loss to St. John Vianney in the TOC title game. Mendham, which won 61 of 63 games over the past two seasons, was trying to become the first team to repeat as TOC champ. "I don't think we expected all of this," senior forward Emily Keber said. "You dream about doing it all again but you don't count on it." At one point or another, all but two of the first seven players experienced a setback.

Creamer pulled a muscle. Keber twisted her ankle. Jamie Tully tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her knee. Casey Mc-Cann had back problems. Sara Hol-loway missed time with pneumonia.

Only Kelley Suminski and senior guard Jess Wadleigh remained healthy. According to Creamer, the injury amazing to think the Minutemen at tained such a high level of success without the multi-talented Riposta, the four-time MVP of the MCT. "What Rip did for our team was unbelievable," Creamer said. "She was our role model. We all got along so well.

When she and the four niors left, we knew it would be different but it was a good different. "We carried so much of Rip with us this 'season. She's given us so much. We're smarter players because of her." Keber explains how Mendham survived the loss of so many key players. "Since we all work so well together, new players are able to come in and pick up the slack," Keber said.

"It has a lot to do with understanding we're all equal. Someone may be a better athlete than someone but we're all the same on the court. That helps the younger players step up and be confident." 1. Mendham (29-2) 2. Sparta (26-3) 3.

Hopatcong (214) 4. Morris Knolls (19-5) 5. Morris Catholic 6. Morris Hills (16) 7. Mtn.

Lakes (204) 8. Randolph (18-7) '9. Villa Walsh (18-7) 10. Pope John (18-10) Also considered: Chatham (17-7), Whip-pany Park Butler (15-9), Hanover Park (14-10), Jefferson (12-11). If any of the Mendham girls basketball players doubted they'd end their season in the Tournament of Champions, none of them admitted it.

Following the of Jamie Riposta and Jess Eagan, the Minutemen had to be cautious the year that would follow their sweep of Iron Hills Conference-Hills Division, Morris County Tournament, sectional, Group II and TOC titles. And, in the preseason and through mid-February, injuries and illness hit, making the outcome of this season more uncertain. "We went through this season and waited to see what would happen," senior guard Molly Creamer said. "We didn't know how it would turn out and really didn't worry about it. I guess I wondered if we could do it again but I didn't think about it much." to Tully, a returning starter, was the biggest blow.

Tully, though, decided to forego immediate surgery 1999 Girls Basketball Coach of the Year and wins Casarico ornets find pride helps By Sandy Seegers 'Daily Record Hills Division Overall Colonial Division Division Ps. Overall 14 4 4 3 6 Ptl. 26 20 20 20 12 8 2 2 13 10 10 10 6 4 1 1 Glen Ridge Cedar Grove Immaculate Newark Academy University Kinnelon Bayley-Ellard 20 14 17 15 14 9 5 5 2 28 26 24 20 20 12 6 4 2 Mountain Lakes Bernards Chatham Whtppany Park Science Pmgcy Verona Boonton Arts 11 10 19 15 Hills Division Iron Division Overall Division Division Ptt. Pt. 2 3 6 34 28 26 22 18 26 19 18 14 11 8 4 2 12 11 11 8 6 5 2 0 24 22 22 16 12 10 4 0 Columbia Morris Knolls Randolph Livingston Morristown West Morris East Orange Roxbury 14 10 10 11 10 13 11 12 Mendham Summit Morns Hilts Hanover Park Parsippany Parsippany Hills West Essex Mount Olive Dover Weequahic 10 16 10 10 2 1 11 16 15 Overall Leagua 18 0 16 2 Pts.

36 32 24 20 20 6 Suburban Division Division Overall Pis. Morris Catholic 17 0 34 22 4 Villa Walsh 13 3 26 18 7 Millburn 12 5 24 16 9 Butler 12 6 24 15 9 DePaul 11 7 22 14 10 Pequannock 7 10 14 9 13 St. Elizabeth 5 13 10 6 16 Montville 4 14 8 6 16 Caldwell 4 13 8 4 16 Madison 2 16 4 2 22 Sparta Hopatcong Pope John Jeflerson Wallkill Valley Kittatinny High Point Newton Lenape Valley Vernon 18 10 12 11 12 12 10 14 11 12 9 14 5 18 2 19 10 16 11 14 13 10 1 I J' 1 I I i- I i i i A bulletin board in the gym with cutout paper jerseys stapled to it made a big impression on the Hanover Park girls basketball team this season. Finally, the Hornets were receiving positive attention in the 1990s and the girls could take pride in wearing black-and-gold uniforms during the winter months. "We'd get stars on our jerseys for something well," Hanover Park senior center Kristin Foreman 'said.

"We also learned some of the history of the program. No one ever did anything like that for us." Paul Casarico, the 1999 Daily Record Coach of the Year, was responsible for the display that had the Hornets feeling good about themselves. The 27-year-old math teacher also encouraged students to come out and support his team. "All of the little things our coach did meant a lot to us," said Alicia Scutari, another senior. "I liked to learn about the teams from the 1980s.

I never realized how amazing they were. Before, we had no fans. Then all the kids started coming because they like Mr. Casarico." In two years, Casarico, formerly an assistant to Tom Fox at Pope John, has done a fine job of turning the program at Hanover Park in the right direction. During his first season, the Hor-'nets went 6-15.

This winter, Hanover Park finished with a 14-10 record, its first winning season since 1989-90. Other highlights for the young coach were a Morris County Tournament opening-round victory over Chatham, a state tournament win over Essex County Tech, an upset of Morris Hills in an Iron Hills Conference-Hills Division game and a scorer in Foreman. While these achievements seem ordinary, they're not. The Hornets, 6ne of New Jersey's elite teams Under the guidance of Vince Ca-pano, had not advanced past the first round of the MCT in seven years, had not qualified for postseason play in eight years, had not beatr en Morris Hills in 10 years and did not have a scorer since 1990. "Hanover Park was a great program to take over," Casarico said.

"I'm getting the chance to build it. I knew I was starting at ground zero because the program hadn't had much success recently. That didn't Name. School Avg. 10.

Beth Tusso. Chatham 14 4 11. Chnstine Serzan, Dover 14.1 12. Michelle Merlo. Butler 14.0 13.

Kat McPhail. Hopatcong 13 8 13. Adrienne Warner. Spaha 13 8 13. Jessica Agnello, Morns Knolls 13.8 13.

Katie Demaio. Morristown 13 8 14. Alisa Cores, Mount Olive 12 8 14. Jen Munday. Mountain Lakes 12 8 14.

Jayne Wise, Chatham 12.8 15. Gia Rosamilia, Parsippany 12.7 16. Motly Creamer. Mendham 12.0 Name, School Avg. 1.

Michelle Reynolds. Pequannock 20 9 2. Kelley Suminski, Mendham 19.0 3. Jamie Douglas. Hopatcong 17 2 3.

Tara Dtiworth, Sparta 17.2 4. Tracey Desmond, Morris Catholic 16.8 4. Kristen Foreman, Hanover Park 16 8 5. Jill Younghans, Morns Catholic 1 6.1 6. Krista Hessler, Pope John 15 8 7.

Liz Baumbach, West Morris 14.9 8. Jennifer Harris, Morristown 14.8 9. Shannon McCarney, Jefferson 14.7 9. Jessica Untck, Morris Hills 14.7 BOB KARP Daily Record sitting in a rectory and listening than I could learn at a clinic or anywhere else," Casarico said. "Tom is great with fundamentals and stresses defense." Likewise, Casarico, who earned his undergraduate degree from Mid-dlebury College, emphasized defense, having the Hornets play man-to-man and give him 32 minutes of full-court basketball.

Offensively, his desire is to have every player on the court contribute. That's what happened on Thursday, Feb. 11, when the Hornets shocked Morris Hills 61-44 and Foreman reached 1,000. Seven players scored and Hanover Park dictated the tempo. "I'll remember that game for a long while," Casarico said.

"There was a lot of emotion involved and we had one of our highest point totals of the season. Beating Morris Hills gave us a big boost and helped us meet our goal of being in the upper half of the conference." "It felt good for teams to take us seriously. Hanover Park wasn't an easy win anymore. Teams in the league saw us the first time and knew we were better. The second time, they thought 'Wow! They're 1 not the same Playing for Mr.

Casarico was a good way to end my four years." Casarico, assisted by Kyle Kirst and Doug Wear, credits his high school coaches, Frank Bottone (football) and Paul Miller (baseball), with teaching him how to compete and how to transfer that ability to his players. "Those two coaches are legendary," Casarico said. "Their passion for athletics was contagious. They set the groundwork for me to love sports. I learned how to prepare and be organized." Fox, the Lions' boys coach, taught him much about basketball, which he considered his weakest sport as a scholastic player.

"I learned more about basketball Hanover Park's Paul Casarico, who guided the Hornets to their first winning season since 1989-90, has been selected as the Daily Record Coach of the Year for girls basketball. He pushed and pushed me to get 1,000 points." "We always got killed by other teams before," Scutari said. "We got abused and would lose by 40 or more points. We never felt like we could beat anybody. I think we've been successful because he had confidence in us and never doubted us.

He's there for us all the time. Foreman and Scutari explain why. "Our coach was so intense and worked hard to bring the team closer," Foreman said. "He scouted all the time and made sure we were prepared. We didn't have that before.

I improved tremendously with him as coach. He got me to move my feet more and to play better one-on-one. glad they finally got to play in some big games. The seniors have been here through good and bad. Hopefully, this will set a precedent for the future." No doubt, the presence of Casarico, a standout in football, basketball and baseball at New Providence High School before graduating in 1990, has made a huge difference.

bother me. "I had some experienced players, they decided they wanted to turn it around and took ownership. I'm mm mmmmssmm 1 7 my in 9 'Mr.