Jersey Sting wins AACC
national basketball tourney
The Jersey Sting, a first-year, U-13 girls’ basketball team, stung everyone at the All-American Cage Classic in Medina, Ohio.
The Sting, a local team comprising players from the Freehold, Colts Neck and Matawan Mid-Monmouth Basketball League, won the AACC national tournament, edging the Kentucky Lady Jaguars, 39-36, in the final.
The Sting exceeded all of Medina’s expectations. The girls had finished fourth in the state AAU tournament earlier in the season and qualified for the AACC tourney by winning a state regional qualifier at the Lakewood Middle School.
The coaching staff of head coach Tim Cooper and assistants Brad Feigus and Mike Phillips put together a deep squad that gave the team balance and flexibility. There was no drop off in talent when they went to the bench. Still, they never expected the results in Medina.
"Going out there we knew the teams from the south were going to be bigger and stronger with much more playing experience than our girls," said Feigus. "The coaching experience of Tim Cooper and the ‘never give up’ attitude of our girls prevailed. We never quit."
The Sting started the tournament with a surprisingly easy 49-10 win over the Fire from Alabama. It would be the Sting’s only breather in the tournament as they used balanced scoring up and down the lineup to run away from the Fire.
Against the Louisiana Lakers, the Sting found themselves trailing 14-12 at the half. The Lakers’ physical style of ball gave the local girls trouble in the first half, but in the second, the Sting responded by raising their level of play. A 12-2 second half led to an important 26-16 win.
The Kentucky Jaguars would hand the Sting their only loss of the tournament in the following game, 46-37. Jenna Gatto kept the Sting in the game with 16 points.
The Sting bounced back against the Ohio Smack sparked by 13 points from center Jen Towers. The win put the girls through to the semifinals where they would meet the North Carolina Lady Warriors. A tentative start against the Warriors’ full-court pressure led to a quick 10-2 deficit. The Sting settled down and limited their turnovers and by halftime had closed within a basket, 18-16.
It was a time-out talk from Cooper that woke the Sting up. He told the girls that they were playing scared and had to play with more fire.
"Play like I know you can," Cooper told his cagers.
The second half provided enough excitement and drama for a lifetime. The Sting would take their first lead of the game at 32-30, but the Warriors answered back and had a 39-37 lead with 20 seconds remaining.
Forward Meghan Kelly would tie it up with 13 seconds left, sinking two clutch free throws. Kelly took the ball to the basket and into the teeth of the Warrior defense and got fouled. She coolly converted both of her free throws to tie the game at 39-39.
When North Carolina didn’t score on the last possession of the game, it went into overtime.
The AACC uses a three minute running clock during overtime. The Sting outscored the Warriors 7-3 in the extra session for a 46-42 win. Towers was again huge for the Jersey squad, netting a game-high 22 points.
The overtime thriller put the Sting in the AACC championship game against a familiar foe, the Kentucky Lady Jaguars.
The Jaguars were bent on containing centers Towers and Caitlin Burton and did just that, holding them to just two points each. But the double-teaming and the box defense that the Jags used had its price.
It left the Sting shooters open from the perimeter and the Sting made them pay for it with some fine outside shooting. Phillips hit two big three pointers, and she and Laura Feigus did outstanding jobs ball-handling through the Jaguar pressure defense. Forwards Kelly and Colleen Light also made the Jags pay for leaving them untended. Light had 11 points and Kelly chipped in with 10.
The team effort produced a 39-36 victory and a national tournament title for the first-year club.
"The girls really jelled quickly," noted Phillips. "They played well as a team. They were confident with each other and got along well.
"They’re also a very strong physical team," he added. "They didn’t back down to anyone."
The Jersey Sting are: Jaymie Alt, Freehold; Sara Belon, Colts Neck; Burton, Colts Neck; Meghan Coleman, Matawan; Samantha Cooper, Colts Neck; Feigus, Colts Neck; Gatto, Colts Neck; Caitlin Haussmann, Colts Neck; Kelly, Colts Neck; Light, Colts Neck; Phillips, Freehold; Nicole Sanchez, Freehold; and Towers, Freehold.

