The Record from Hackensack, New Jersey • 20

X't'tn i t) SUNDAY. MARCH 11. 1990 THE RECORD S-13 st it Wright! This timeo the XeMiedly girls points, seven assists, six rebounds, and nine steals. Her sister scored 13 with 10 assists. A year ago, their season ended in the sectional final round.

This time, the Lady Knights were unstoppable. Once the jitters abated, the girls went to their Joe Montanalike passing game. Lakeysha continually nailed cross-court passes to her sister, and Falisha, as if recognizing that her sister couldn't possibly be wrong, usually put the ball right up at the touch. Next comes the Tournament of Champions, and if Kennedy could draft another player to accompany Christine Murphy instead of Fontanella. "She shot five of nine three-pointers against Neptune.

We had a triangle-and-two to go to if we needed it, but Fontanella would have had to score 56 points to tie us tonight" Murphy tried three three-pointers and made one. Kennedy had 17 steals with Johnson and Theresa Able getting three each. There was little Toms River East coach Bill McVeigh could do to stem the tide. "We did try to slow the tempo down," he said, "but that's not our style; anyway they wouldn't let us." scored, and in the first two minutes, four Kennedy girls were charged with fouls. "Yes, there was nervousness," Lakeysha Wright said.

"But after the jump balL it was all over." By halftime, six Kennedy girls had scored to build a 41-27 lead. As early as two minutes into the second quarter they were taking control. The Lady Knights ran off 12 straight points for a 30-15 lead. Lakeysha Wright and center Ka-tina Johnson each had two baskets and one assist in the streak. Bonora said he decided during the week to concentrate on defending against Toms River guard Kennedy 83, Toms River East 43 ft a KENHfOr M-A M-A O-T A Ft, F.

WrigM -15 -S 4-4 7 WrM 5-14 J-4 5-4 It 13 Brm hi 4-4 4-4 2 Mar Ma Frank t-l t-t t-l 1 Ewoo 1-4 l-i I 4 Snow -l am Mktwi -i -i I I Jonnm t-is hi -7 1, 15 TtMt: Tni im imK: F. WrigM, FrMlM Ft TR EAST M-A M-A O-T A 9H Arnold t-i t-l Bomtr 44 4-4 11 CM t-l t- -l ronmnti 11-17 1-5 4-1 IK Mahonv l-l 0-4 t-l I 7. MonrlMuMr 1-4 1-1 t-l I Murpfw 1-S J-J t-I 15 SMrky t-l 9-4 l-l TjW! IMi H-ll S-M 4 KMMtV Mini UM) TM RKftr tut It 14 It GROUP 4 GliiLS them, Lucie Fontanella would be the unanimous choice. "She's a super player," Kennedy coach Lou Bonora said after the Toms River forward, who is 5-foot-11, threw herself around the court playing a lot of one-on-five basketball She battled the odds while scoring 25 points. "I though it would be a close game, but they're just overwhelming," said the Providence College-bound Fontanella.

The game was three-minutes old before the first field goal was By Ron Fox -''Record Staff Writer WEST LONG BRANCH Ap-'v proximately three minutes were 1 aside for whatever nervousness accompanies a State championship basketball game. That taken care of Saturday, the Kennedy girls took the title that should have been theirs a year ago. Led by the Wright twins, Fali-' -sha and Lakeysha, they drove to the State Group 4 championship with a resounding rout, 80-49, of South Jersey champion Toms Riv-; er Eut. Falisha was named the game's Most Valuable Player with 23 'J i -7 JFK coaches still sweat it out At i V' 1 STEVE HOCKSTEINTHE RECORD Toms River East's Michelle Carson foils this scoring attempt by Kennedy's Theresa Able. Kennedy romped to an 80-49 final-round win.

STEVE HOCKSTEINTHE RECORD Lakeysha Wright of Kennedy delivers two points over Toms River East's Ann Mohrhauser (11) and Michelle Carson in Group 4 final. holds on -for -Group 1 championship Bogota By Paul Schwartz Correspondent PISCATAWAY The dream season continues. Bogota became the first Bergen County team in 30 years to win both a State group championship and the Bergen County Jamboree Saturday night with a 47-44 win over defending Group 1 champion Haddonfield. The win before more than 4,000 mostly Bogota fans in the Rutgers Athletic Center clinched a North Jersey sweep of the public school titles for the first time in 14 years scored 11 of her 13 by The Knights, the four-time Passaic County champs who are undefeated against New Jersey foes this season, were on their way The second half belonged to La-keysha'8 twin, Falisha, who scored 17 points to finish with 23 nd captured the Most Valuable Player award. She shot 4-for-5 in the second half and collected nine steals, seven assists, and six rebounds in 31 minutes.

That's what makes Kennedy so powerful; the team doesn't have to rely upon one or two players a night. The Knights have a potent group the Wrights, Johnson, senior forward Meticia Watson (eight points, six rebounds), senior forward Theresa Able (10 points, three steals), and senior guard Teya Eaton (six points, five'e-bounds). With the Group 4 trophy in Kennedy's possession, it's on to the Tournament of Champions, which gets underway Tuesday at Monmouth But don't expect the Knights to play until Thursday. They'll surely receive a first-round bye. The TOC committee will announce the six seeds following the parochial finals today at Brook-dale Community College in Lin-croft.

Bogota 47, Haddonfield 44 BOGOTA Sullivan Cut Splllant Devine Osbournt Neuschwanter Totals Three-point (Mil! M-A M-A 1 t' 2 47 F6 6-15 3- 11 1-1 J-5 4- 12 3-4 19-41 FT S- 1-2 0-0 0-0 0-2 0-0 2' 3 I 5 I 2 14 10 4-13 33 Neuschwanter 2, Sullivan. HADDONFIELD Malonev Gallo Snellen Cawle Blake Stolarlck Waller Total! Three-point twin FS M-A 5-17 0-0 0-0 2- 7 5-15 0-3 3- 7 15-49 FT M-A 5-7 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-1 3-5 -15 11 0 0 0 5 7 13 A 2 0 1 4 1 0 0 a 'A 0 4 14 0 i 44 47 44 34 Blake 4, Moloney I UM) Batata (24-S) HaoOMflthl 11 I 11 9 i ii 12 12 A A 7 i4. Aii-J AL PAGLIONETHE RECORD final Boonton led by four at halftime and would lead by as much as eight again in the third quarter before Donovan quickly brought Sterling within striking range with a pair of three-pointers. Donovan, headed for Penn State, was 5-for-10 from three-point land. 11 A ii till i i By Joe Chessari Correspondent WEST LONG BRANCH -The game had to be played because that's the rule, that's the natural order of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association girls basketball tournament.

The North champion plays the winner of the Central-South contest for the State crown. And so, the game was played Saturday, though many people called it a formality. Kennedy made it official, stamping itself as the best team in the state with an 80-49 victory over Toms River East for the Group 4 title in the Monmouth College gym. It was easy, like most of Kennedy's games have been this season. The coaching staff, including head coach Lou Bonora and assistant Bob Letsche, disagree.

"No game is easy to a coach," Letsche said. "You're nervous for all of them." But there were few anxious moments Saturday for the Knights. A slow beginning they missed their first 11 shots from the floor was quickly forgotten with a surge that gave the Knights (30-2) a 16-11 first-quarter lead. At the half, it was 41-27. Center Katina Johnson had 12 of her 15 points arid guard Lakeysha Wright drive.

After the Bulldogs threw the ball away, Sullivan nailed a 13-footer with 2:07 to play for a 44-39 lead. Haddonfield couldn't come back. The Bulldogs missed three shots from the field, while Bogota was missing three foul shots. Only when Devine scored on a breakaway layup with 26 seconds to play could the Bucs start to celebrate. Five points in the final 11 seconds, including a three-pointer at the buzzer, made the score as close as three.

1. control of the ball in the Group 2 Milano finished with 14 points, 10 of those coming in the first quarter. Boonton's junior point guard scored her final points with 3:30 to go in the first half when she sank a pair of free throws to cap a 9-0 run and give Boonton its largest lead, a. I Quest for crown ends for Boonton I8V2 minutes with point guard Gerard Devine saddled with four fouls. But freshman Ken Neusch-wanter and senior All-American Patrick Sullivan stepped up to fill the offensive void left by Devine's foul problems to hold off a determined Haddonfield team.

Bogota trailed only twice, at 15-14 midway through the second quarter and 25-24 with 6:11 to play in the third quarter. Neuschwanter, who had eight points in his longest appearance of the season, sank a three-pointer VST Boonton defenders close in as Pam her outside shooting." Teammate Kristen Pearcy followed Miller's three-point shot with a basket at the 50-second mark to make it 54-53, but Sterling (29-2) secured the win by hitting six ot six free throws in the rj's? moments later to key a 12-2 Bogota run that appeared to clinch the Bucs' first State title since the 1944 Group 2 championship. But Haddonfield battled back to within 40-39 with 4:11 to play. Then came the most excruciating two minutes of the season for Mahoney and his team. Sullivan missed a layup and then the front end of a one-and-one.

Haddonfield missed, but Sullivan missed igain. Haddonfield missed another and Sullivan finally gave Bogota a little breathing room with 2:33 with a great Durkin of Sterling tries to maintain final 38 seconds. Donovan had four of the free throws and her backcourt partner, Sue Barr, had the other two. Barr finished with 17 points and eight rebounds as the only other starter back from last year's championship team. GROUP 1 COYS and sent the Bucs (31-0) into the Tournament of Champions.

"I feel elation, satisfaction, and a huge monkey off my back," said Bogota coach Jay Mahoney, "The support our fans give our kids is unbelievable and I'm glad we could win it for them." The victory, while obviously Bogota's sweetest of the season, was not the prettiest. Bogota struggled offensively throughout and faced the final GROUP 2 GIRLS 1989 State crown. She scored four points and assisted on two baskets in sparking Sterling to a 12-0 run that closed the third quarter and gave the team the lead for good, 47-40. Just before the period ended, however, Donovan got her fourth personal foul. "I was more upset about getting my third because it started me thinking about the fourth," said Donovan, who got No.

3 with 51 seconds left in the first half and Boonton leading, 31-27. "I really didn't think they would call the fifth on something cheap." She was correct and made the most of it as she hit her fifth three-point shot with 3:18 left to put the Lady Knights up, 52-46. Nevertheless, Boonton (30-1) wouldn't quit as senior forward Debbie Miller tallied 10 of her team-high 23 points in the fourth quarter. Her three-point shot with 1:35 left cut the Sterling lead to 54-51. "We made some adjustments to bring Debbie out to the perimeter and she responded well," said Schlenger, whose top scorer, Bren-da Milano, was held scoreless in the second half by a triangle-and-two defense.

"Debbie's got a nice touch, anA she's been practicing lr- 0 By John Mayer Correspondent WEST LONG BRANCH It was the Jackie Donovan show for the second consecutive year Saturday in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association IGroup 2 girls basketball final. The 5-foot-10 senior guard tallied 27 points, nine rebounds, nine assists, and six steals in leading sterling to a 60-53 victory over previously undefeated Boonton at Monmouth College. "Donovan is the kind of player who makes you pay for any mistakes you commit," Boonton coach Don Schlenger said after watching Donovan earn Most Valuable Player honors for a second time. Donovan led the Lady Knights over Glen Rock for the Sterling 60, Boonton 53 FO FT Ret STIRLING M-A M-A O-T BubtK 0-0 0-0 1-3 Barr 7-16 2-2 3-1 J. Brook 6-12 0-0 6-1 Donovan 1-21 4-9 5-9 Durkln 1-7 0-0 2-3 Stewart 0-1 0-0 0-1 Mallo 1-2 0-0 2-3 Totals: 2M9 6-U H- FT Rot 'BOONTON M-A M-A O-T 6-13 0-1 1-5 Stevtnt 1-5 0-0 2-3 MllUr 10-17 2-3 4-14 T.

Mllano 0-3 2-5 0-0 1 Mllano 4-13 2-4 7-9 McDtrmott 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 Donorwe o-o 0-0 0-0 Totols: IWl -lJ IJ-J2 "(19-2) north 1 JIM) Sowlta --tfit 1 A 0 3 0 9 4 0 0 A 4 1 1 I i Pts 0 17 12 27 2 0 2 at 12 2 23 2 14 0 0 a.