Ingenito, Crawford and
frosh key to BCC women
VERONICA YANKOWSKI The look on Shore Regional’s Dave Ivnis says it all. The Blue Devils played valiantly on Saturday but lost to South River High School 12-7 in the CJ Group I championship game at Kean University.
Brookdale Community College’s women’s basketball team burst on the national scene last winter, ranking ninth in the country and going 26-5.
Middletown South graduate Lori McDermott gave the season an added historic footnote when she became the first female cager to score 1,000 points in her career. Even though McDermott has graduated, the Jersey Blues program is on a solid foundation with three of its five starters returning.
Co-head coaches Marianne Campacci and Joanne Cobb have a solid nucleus re-enforced by some promising incoming freshmen to keep the Lincroft college in the national spotlight.
The big returner for Brookdale is Brick’s Toni Ingenito. She was an All-Conference and All-Region XIX selection last year when she averaged more than 16 points a game and double figures in rebounds. She’ll be playing small forward this year to take advantage of her three-point shooting range.
"Toni is a very versatile player," said Campacci. "She is a very accurate three-point shooter, and she grabs rebounds. We expect a lot of double-doubles from her this year."
The Jersey Blues took a hit before the season began when sophomore point guard Jesse Moreno tore an ACL in her knee. That put her on the shelf for 2001-02. Fortunately for Brookdale, Matawan’s Casandra Crawford, who was slated to start at the two guard, split the point guard chores with Moreno last winter and is ready to run the offense at point.
"Casandra has to be a leader this year and distribute the ball," said Campacci. "We’ll be looking for her to drive to the basket with her slashing style and to create chances."
Crawford’s backcourt mate freshman Jamie Crahan from Raritan figures to benefit from her slashing, creative style. Crahan can knock down the open jumper with outstanding accuracy and has three-point range. She can also beat defenders off the dribble, making her an even more effective offensive player. Ocean Township freshman Jennifer Thompson will move into the power forward position occupied by Ingenito last year. She is a good passer and draws defenders away from the basket with her shooting.
At center, 5-10 Laura Hensley of St. Rose of Belmar, a returner, and 6-2 freshman Kelly Griffin from Virginia will share the time in the paint. Both are good rebounders, and that is what the Blues will be looking to get from them. They can score just enough to keep defenses honest in the paint.
BCC’s incoming freshmen give Campacci and Cobb a very strong bench with a lot flexibility. Manalapan’s Katie Pusz can play the point or two guard and will see considerable action, spelling either Crawford or Crahan. Matawan’s Nicole Edmunds can play the three or four on the frontline. Colts Neck’s 6-0 Alana Nicola is solid backup at center, and St. John Vianney grad Kelly Riker gives the Blues another two guard.
Transfer Jaime DePalo will provide depth at the point guard, when she joins the team in January.
"We’ll be looking to the move the ball around and distribute it to more people this year," Campacci said.
Brookdale has gotten off to a 1-1 start, having begun its season at the Mercer Tournament, which featured four nationally ranked teams. The Blues, who started the season ranked eighth in the country, fell to No. 9 Manhattan, 56-55, and came back to take third place by beating Montgomery of Rockville, Md., 64-62.
Because of the Sept. 11 attacks, the Mercer tournament games turned out to be the very first games for the Jersey Blues. The scheduled scrimmages against West Point and Annapolis were canceled. The Blues went to Mercer not knowing what to expect in a tournament loaded with nationally ranked teams. The third-place result was as good as could be expected.
Brookdale, which reached the Region XIX semifinals, will be at home tomorrow at 7 p.m. against Keystone, Pa., in a region contest. The Blues begin their Garden State Athletic Conference season on Dec. 13 at home at 6 p.m. against Burlington.
—Tim Morris