Daily Record from Morristown, New Jersey • 25

Daily Record, Morris County, N.J., Friday, February 9, 2007 C3 Dig deeper Into Game. Log on to www.dallyrecord.com for more coverage of the Morris County area's high school sports scene. Daily Record scholastic sports Lenape Valley Mendham Chatham Mt. Olive Changes meant to encourage higher attendance Boys Basketball Notebook Andrew Ciampaglio Nick DelTulo Kevin Conroy Russ Holloway 145 14.4 144 14.4 14.0 Daily Record Boys Basketball Scorers School Montville OF THE WEEK Adam Katz Morris Hills Point Guard Name Mo-Beard uonn Larmono Stats and records do not include Thursday's games. PPQ 22.4 207 19.3 182 179 17.8 17 6 17.4 17.3 17.0 16 3 159 156 15.5 152 14.9 14.8 14.6 14.6 Don Trllarl Mike Tobin Jon Simansky Adam Katz Steve Frankoski Sam Mushman Matt Sysock Luke Sailer Matt Conrad Rey Jefferson Matias Roibal Chris Carl Dan Corvino Pal Sullivan Jake Tripucka Ashok Vegesna Rob Delaney Ola Sasona Terrell Cottman Hopatcong Par Hills Morris Hills Hanover Park Pope John West Morris Kinnelon Kinnelon Mo-Beard Boonton Lenape Valley Madison Delbarton Mt.

Lakes Whippany Pk. Delbarton Par Hills Dover Boys Basketball Top 10 1. Chatham 18-1 2. Par Hills 14-3 3. Delbarton 15-4 4.

Mendham 15-4 6. Randolph 11-6 6 Mo-Beard 12-6 7. Morns Hills 12-7 8 Sparta 15-3 9. Pope John 14-5 10, Hopatcong 10-9 Also considered: Boonton 10-9. Kinnelon 9-10, Mount Olive 8-10, Mountain Lakes 10-8, Newton 8-7, Pequan-nock 9-10.

Roxbury 9-8. Something has been missing over the past couple years when it came to the semifinal round of the Morris County Tournament. The raucous, jam packed crowds that used to give the games such great atmosphere just haven't been coming to the County College of Morris gym in Randolph. As a remedy, the tournament is Morris Hills junior point guard Adam Katz is this week's Athlete of the Week for boys basketball. The 5-foot-7, 140-pound athlete is the heart of the Morris Hills team.

He's lightning returning to back-to- I back games for the con-j I tests to be held on Feb. .1 17 to give fans a chance to see two games for the I Pricefne- Several new proce MARK KITCHIN dures have been put into place in order to fill the CCM gym with a minimum amount of hassle. quick on the dribble and can often penetrate through cracks in an opposing team's defense that other guards can't slip through. He's tough to trap and creates problems for opponents defensively with his quick hands and feet. Katz averages 18.2 points a contest and also gets his share of assists and steals for the Scarlet Knights.

He had a good week. On Feb. 1, he scored 26 points and hit four 3-point shots in a 76-63 loss to Parsippany Hills. On Saturday, Feb. 3 he scored 16 points and gave Morristown fits in a 64-58 overtime victory in Morris County Tournament play.

On Tuesday, he scored 27 points in a 55-44 win over West Essex. be strictly enforced. Once all the tickets are sold out there will be no admittance. Traditionally the semifinal games used to be held back-to-back but problems with crowds, including threats and near fistfights by people getting shut out while trying to get into the late game, forced school officials to separate the games at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.

sometime during the late 90s. Are you on the list? The list of Daily Record Boys Basketball scorers by school is in need of an overhaul. If you know someone who isn't on the list and should be let us know. Daily Record area scorers list: Bayley Ellard Bill Hailey, Pat Paulowski, Jeff Simms Boonton Kevin Bednar, Danny Elkerson, Leigh Gorman Butler Khris Buntzen, Pete Buntzen, Tim Dooley, Bob Gagg Chatham Borough Terry Power Chatham Township Mike Tim-mons Chatham (combined) Steve Burton, Greg Bienemann Delbarton Troy Murphy Dover Eggie Chapparo, Brian Touhey Hanover Park Kevin Arps, Doug Engel, Rob Hill, Bob Olive Hopatcong Tom Cerezo, Jon Hadyka, Greg Leslie, Brad Leslie, Scott Ordway, Kevin Quinn, Charlie Morgan, Dennis Tobin, Mike Tobin Jefferson Frank Ableson, Joe DiGennaro, Ed Kapensky, Mike Leach, Kevin Rocks, B.J. Stokes, Shaun Stokes, Bill Snouffer, Joe Vaughn Kinnelon Walt Bateman, Craig Dow, Neil Owens, Pete Polo, Dennis Severino, Bernie Stiroh Lenape Valley Joe McDonald Madison Bart Engler, Steve Natale, Neil O'Donnell Mendham Dan Ash, George Drag-onetti, Rob Patton, Jeff Schiffner, Rob Thomas, Mike Wright Morris Catholic Greg Bartoli, Jim DiChiara, Dave Halloran, Mike Luzzi state tournament play this year.

They are Boonton, Chatham, Delbarton, Hopatcong, Jefferson, Kinnelon, Mendham, Morris Hills, Morristown-Beard, Mountain Lakes, Newton, Parsippany Hills, Pequannock, Pope John, Randolph, Roxbury and Sparta (see C5 for seeds). Of all the teams, Boonton was the last team to qualify and it did it in the most dramatic fashion. Bombers guard Vin Palazzo hit a halfcourt shot at the buzzer to push Boonton past MKA (48-46) and qualify them for the tournament. It's good to have friends. When Pequannock needed to play a team late in the season to qualify for states, Golden Panther coach Jeff DeBell looked no further than his old school, Hawthorne Christian.

DeBell had coached the Passaic County team for six seasons before moving to guide his alma mater this year. Pequannock won 55-37. Show a little kindness to Madison and Morristown. Both teams were struggling through troubled seasons and had a rough week at exactly the wrong time. The Dodgers had been playing without several starters, lost consecutive games to Montville, Lakeland and Randolph in the MCT tournament to drop under .500.

The Colonials, who lost starting point guard George Bass to a broken hand in mid-January suffered back-to-back home game losses to Roxbury and Morris Hills (in the MCT). Games to watch Saturday, February 10 Morris County Tournament quarterfinals at Randolph High School Randolph vs. Chatham, Noon. Morris Hills vs. Mendham, 2 p.m.

Morristown-Beard vs. Delbarton, 5 Montville Ken Abere, Gary Kull, Jim Price, Will Puentes Morris Knolls John Brennan, Jamie Ciampaglio, Steve Kmetz, Kevin McClain Morristown-Beard Rey Jefferson, Mickey Solodar, Jyles Tucker, Rob Tucker Morristown Hamp Hazelton, Mykhael Lattimore, James Winston, Markell Webb Mountain Lakes John Barrett, Jon Lopez, Andy Rimol, Jay Scribner Mount Olive Lee Gorman, Gary Hunt, Chris Kahn, Jeff Porfy Newton Mike Bardi, Bill Barnhill, Jim Duffy, E.ric Ducharme, Andy Hollander, Erik Pederson, Tom Scofield, John Wolters Parsippany Eric Abramson Parsippany Hills Arik Cotton, Johnnie Morant, Glenn Sekunda, Bruce Shearer Pequannock David Budd, Tim Dennis, Jim Hitchcock, D. J. Sack-mann, Tim Tompkins, Chris Wispel-wey Pope John Rick Barry, Dave Carty, Ken Cordes, Maurice Davis, Jamie Fox, Gunner Frauenpries, Jim Morrison, Marty O'Hora, Joe Sweeney, Kevin Vaughn Randolph Tony Mcintosh, Drew Willy Roxbury Tom Magliacci, Bob Morgan Sparta Greg Baty, Jon Deeb, Eric Jent, Chris Jent, Brian Thomas, Geoff Wendel West Morris Greg Clay, Scott Findlay, Derrick Jackson, Craig Voss Whippany Park Joe Gogel, Brad McLain, Phil Manuel Picks and Rolls Seventeen area teams qualified for The semifinals will be held at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.

All tickets will cost $4 (There will be no separate pricing for students or senior citizens). Each competing school will be allotted 150 tickets for presale to the semifinals. Tickets will go on sale at the four schools on Monday, Feb. 12. 1,000 tickets will go on sale at the door of the CCM gym beginning 4:30 p.m.

on Feb. 17. Each ticket will be valid for both semifinal games. Seating capacity limitations will be strictly enforced. Once tickets are sold out there will be no admittance.

It is STRONGLY recommended that spectators either purchase tickets in advance or arrive early, especially for the later game. Similar procedures with some minimal changes will also be put into place for the championship game, which will be at 7 p.m. oiFeb. 24 also, at County College of Morris. All tickets will cost $5 (No special pricing).

Each competing school will be allotted 250 tickets for presale to the finals. Tickets will go on sale at those schools beginning Monday, Feb. 19, although at some schools it may start on Feb. 20 because of Presidents Day. 1,000 tickets will be available at the door of the CCM gym beginning 5:30 p.m.

on Feb. 24. Seating capacity limitations will p.m. Roxbury vs. Parsippany Hills, 7 p.m.

A full day of basketball for Morris County fans. Monday, February 12 Newton at Sparta, 7 Can the Braves derail the Spartans in the wacky SCIL like Hopatcong did last week. Tuesday, February 13 Weequahic at Chatham, 7 The Cougars lead the IHC-Hills. Can the Indians trip them up? Thursday, February 15 Mendham at Parsippany Hills, 7 The loser probably falls out of IHC-Hills Conference race. Mark Kitchin can be reached at or mkitchingannett.com.

Men's Basketball College Corner Hofmann averaging about nine minutes a game. He averages 2.5 points and a rebound per contest for the 15-8 team, which is among the Patriot League leaders. He is also 8 for 23 from 3-point range. Pequannock's D. J.

Sack-mann has started in 16 of 20 games for the University of New Haven. The 5-foot-ll, 175-pound sophomore guard averages 7.7 points, 2.3 assists and 2.0 rebounds for the 5-15 Chargers. He has also hit 34 of 88 free throw attempts for a .388 average. On January 27, Sackmann knocked down four 3-pointers for 12 points and also dished four assists in a 70-60 win over Mercy College. The Amherst Jeffs are 23-0 and ranked No.

1 in Division 11! basketball and former Delbarton standout Tim McLaughlin has been a big part of it. The Chatham resident averages 10.7 points and 3.3 rebounds in his senior season. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound senior guard is hitting nearly 50 percent from the floor and 36 of 86 (.388) from 3-point range. His biggest offensive game of his college career came recently with a 23-point performance against Rhode Island College on January 30 in a 6248 victory. Mendham's Rob Thomas has contributed to Bucknell University's success.

Thomas, a 6-foot-3, 185-pound junior guard has appeared In 21 games DAILY RECORD FILE PHOTO Parsippany Hills quarterback Mike Gerardi, left, didn't appear to be treated fairly by the Division I schools that recruited him. ft CONTINUED FROM CI Gerardi has also received an offer from Mount Union, which is perhaps the best Division ITJ program in the country. The D-I schools that had loved him? Well, they really were acting like a high school girl who had a crush on a cute guy for this week. "Not to bad mouth these schools," Albano said, "but we were led to believe a lot of things. Coaches came here daily." But the interest never amounted to anything in the end.

During the season, when Gerardi was building a case for being arguably New Jersey's best quarterback, UConn seemed to be the lone Division I school showing interest in Gerardi. The Huskies loved the 6-foot-3, 200-pounder so much that they asked Albano to not reveal his QB to anyone else. In other words, hide him for us and then we'll sign him. UConn is quickly becoming known as WEConn in this area. After the season, UConn said it wasn't sure where it was going, QB-wise, and Albano was now free to promote Gerardi.

But it was too late and it wasn't the first time a local football player has been left at the altar by the Huskies. "UConn did the same thing with Jason Harper a few years ago," said Pope John coach Vic Paternostro, who no longer takes his team to UConn's summer camp. "They were on him every single week. Then the week before signing, they dropped him. It's riot right what they do." Albano said that Western Michigan, Syracuse, UMass, consider prep school.

Albano is aware of West Morris product Greg Tomczyk, who had a brilliant junior season for the Wolf-pack, slumped as a senior (lowly Temple was his only offer), resurrected himself at the Hun School in Princeton, and then signed with national power Louisville. The odd thing is, Gerardi is loved by almost everyone in the ranks of the colleges. But being loved doesn't get you a full ride. "He is a great player, a terrific player, who could play at UConn," New Jersey recruiting guru Dennis McCarthy said. "We knew who he was as a junior but didn't get a good look at him.

We saw him against Weequahic (in November) and he lit us up. He was accurate, can run, and throw on the run. He could be D-I, no doubt about it." Could be, should be, but isn't a victim of the flim-flam world of college recruiting. way through last year, there wasn't much interest. A talented player's junior year is optimum to the recruiters.

So if you are sitting as a junior, the recruiters aren't coming apparently, no matter how good you are as a senior. Gerardi is living proof and he was first-team All-State good as a senior. "Schools said he can play Division but they wanted him to get another year under his belt," Albano said. "Let me tell you, coaches loved him on tape. But he only played seven games as a junior.

Coaches will tell you they loved him, but then there is no spot, or they just signed a kid. UMass we thought would offer, but he turned out to be third on their list. It's not like they were recruiting linemen, where there were about 10 other kids they could sign." Gerardi, who declined to be interviewed for this story, might New Hampshire, Maine and Temple were all in but never offered. How does Western Michigan fit into the mix with all of those eastern schools? Well, Albano said that the UConn recruiter surrendered the Western Michigan recruiter's phone number because he would be certain that Gerardi would not run into the Huskies in the future while playing in the midwest. But by that time, Western Michigan had gone in a different direction.

"They all liked him on film, but there were numbers problems," Albano said. "He lacked the exposure." What may have haunted Gerardi was the fact that, before his junior year, he transferred from Seton Hall Prep to Parsippany Hills. That summer, he worked out with his new teammates but wasn't able to play right away. So when he started playing mid jii W. KodaltN 1 JEWELERS Team effort lifts Madlison us.

Newton Hockey Roundup goal came off an assist from his freshman brother Justin Ondros. Joe Fede stopped 22 shots for the Panthers. Eric Schenk and Ryan Breznovitz netted goals for the Mustangs. Pequannock 1 0 2-3 Montville 0 2 0 -2 First period: 1. Brendan Lacorts (Chris Baly, Brian Cook), 9:35.

Second period: 2. Eric Schenk (John Andalasp), 9:54. 3. Ryan Breznovitz (Dylan Devereux. Ethan Nadel) 12:41.

Third Steven Ondros (Lecorte), 9:37. 5. Steve Ondros (Justin Ondros), 11:05. Shots on goal: Pequannock 9-3-12 24. Home 5-7-4 -16.

Goalies: P. Joe Fede (24-22); Robbie Brown (16-13). Records: Pequannock 19-2-2. STAFF RF.PORTS Bret Perry, Drew Perry, Tom Critchley and Charlie Obendorf each had a goal and an assist for Madison in a 5-3 win over Newton Thursday in hockey action. John Diener had an assist for the Braves.

Madison 4 10-5 Newton 1 First period: 1. Bret Perry (Drew Perry) 6 50; 2. Charlie Obendorf 3 Jonathan Miller (John Diener, Ed Conradsl 11:51 (PP); 4. Luke Sanlora (Tom Crilchley) 12 49; 5. D.

Perry (B. Perry, Obendorf). Second period; 8. Critchley 7. E.

Conrads. (Tyler Conrads) 12:29. Third period: BN.E. Conrads 8 25. Shots on goal: Madison 11-10-13 34 Newton 3-8-10 -21 Third period: 3.

Attanasto (Craig Esposito, Jimmy Bender), 14:28. 4. Foley (unassisted), 10:05. 5. T.J.

Weaver (D.J. Alagna. Nick Maestoso). :41 Shots on goal: Park Regional 7-7-10 24. Westlield 8-9-12 -29.

Goalies: PR, Anthony White (19-16), Mike Bratlolli (5-4); Eric Zagorskl (29-28). Records: Park Regional 10-6-2. Pequannock 3 Montville 2 A pair of third period goals from junior forward Steven Ondros lifted Pequannock over Montville Thursday night. Steven Ondros' game-winning Goalies: Geoff Durham (18); Justin Hofmann (29). WMtfleld 4 Park Regional 1 Junior defenseman T.J.

Weaver scored Park Regional's lone goal off assists from D.J. Alagna and Nick Maestoso with 41 seconds left in the third period. Park Regional 0 0 1-1 Westflsld 1 12-4 First period: 1 John Attanaato (unassisted), 11:24. Second period: 2. Seth Davidson (Mike Foley), 9:45.

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