LBA Highlights

By: Karen Scheetz
   In the first week of the playoffs for the Lambertville Basketball Association, only two teams in each division advanced to the championship game Saturday, March 16, held at South Hunterdon High School.
   Here is a look at the games played that first week:

Third- and fourth-grade boys


LTC 25

Pedersen Gallery 19


   LTC edged out Pedersen Galleries in an exciting playoff Saturday, March 9.
   Scoring for LTC was led by Zach Marriott with 10 points. Eric Romeo added nine points, Rickey Esposito scored four points, and Bret Tokash chipped in with two points. There was great defense by Kyle Osgood, Kurt Tokash, and Gabe Stevens.
   Leading the way for Pedersen’s Galleries was Sam Franzini with 14 points. Matt Nyjek added four points, and Renan Pedersen scored one point. The rest of the Pedersen’s team put forth an outstanding effort.
T-Recs 34


New Orleans Cafe 22


   T-Recs moved into the champion game with a win over New Orleans Cafe Saturday.
   New Orleans Cafe came out determined to keep the game close, and it did so, taking an early lead and staying within four points by the end of the first quarter.
   In the second quarter, T-Recs went on a 10-1 run and lead of 22-9 by half-time. The two teams traded baskets for the rest of the game with T-Recs pulling out the victory.
   Will Foran and E. J. Lewis led T-Recs in scoring with 10 points each. Matt Sullivan followed with eight. T-Recs’ Blake Vernam was the game’s leading rebounder with 15 and played excellent defense. Henri Dumas also played very good defense for T-Recs.
   Brandon Collins scored five points for New Orleans Cafe with Justin Roy, Connor Weber and Josh Cullen adding four points each. Defensively, New Orleans Cafe was given excellent effort by Tyler Galloway and Bryan Culbertson.
Third- and fourth-grade girls


Toy Kingdom 17

Pine Creek 7


   Toy Kingdom won the first round playoff game with great defense and great all-around play.
   Pine Creek also played tough defense but could not shut down Toy Kingdom. Toy Kingdom’s leading scorer Christina DiBartolomeo scored all 17 points for her team. Tori Smiegocki and Sarah Phillips made numerous steals while Karlie Schiable and Kayla Bohrer had some key rebounds. Lisa Hoagland and Jeanie Hubert made some great passes.
   Pine Creek took great shots, but just could not make them fall. Laura Kropp, Marina Cordes, Tori Brenner and Kerry Piel all had great shots, but Catherine Seeley was the lone scorer with seven points. Alysha Kritz, Amanda Nielsen and Stefanie Hutchinson played stellar defense and made some great passes. The championship game will feature Toy Kingdom and Lambertville PBA.
Lambertville PBA 20


Sneakers Plus 2


   Lambertville PBA moved into the championship game with a win Saturday over Sneakers Plus.
   PBA was paced by balanced scoring. Leading the way was Olivia Hagerty with eight points. Carrie Hornberger and Holly O’Shea each scored four points while Kaylin Campbell and Julie O’Mara both chipped in with two points. Leading a great defensive effort by PBA was Emily Marley.
   Bryanna Hartpence scored two points to lead the offense for Sneakers Plus.
Fifth- and sixth-grade boys


Woodens 42

Kiwanis 26


   Woodens moved into the championship game of the playoffs with a win over Kiwanis Saturday.
   Ryan Marriott led the way for the Woodens with 18 points. Anthony Danese added nine points, and Danny Musselman scored eight points.
   Garret Williamson led the offensive attack for Kiwanis, scoring 10 points for his team. Bob Piel and David Muscatell each scored six points for the Kiwanis team.
Amwell Auto 39


Lelie 38


   In the first round of the playoffs, the game went down to the final buzzer with Robbie Williamson scoring the winning foul shot with only seven seconds left in the game.
   Both teams played outstanding in this game, playing four quarters of fantastic basketball.
   Kellen Medway led the way for Amwell Auto, scoring 15 points. Williamson added 12 points, Matt Kritz scored eight points, and Brian Snell finished with four points. David Mummey led the offense for Lelie with 15 points. Andrew McCurdy added 13 points, Matt Naples added six points, and Cory O’Neal finished with four points. All of the players on both teams put forth an outstanding effort in this very close game.
Fifth- and sixth-grade girls


Garefino 26

Cifelli’s 4


   Garefino finished the regular season undefeated with a win over Cifelli’s.
   Elise Garefino scored 13 points. Point guard Brittany Muscatell scored six points, Angelique Platas added three points, and Allie Coleman and Sarah Mohn each chipped in with two points. Lauren Hartpence, Corrine Hart, Cori Muscatell and Christina Aiello each played stellar defense and offense.
   For Cifelli’s, Joanne DeSalvi scored four points.
Garefino 23


Cifelli’s 4


   In an aggressive playoff game, Garefino pulled out a win against Cifelli’s.
   In a balanced attack, Elise Garefino scored six points, and Brittany Muscatell and Sarah Mohn each added five points, Christina Aiello finished with four points, Cori Muscatell chipped in with two points, and Allie Coleman added one point. Corrine Hart, Lauren Hartpence and Angelique Platas all played outstanding defense.
   Cifelli’s put up an intense fight that showed a good effort by the entire team.
United Trust 23


Lieggi’s 19


   United Trust moved into the championship game against Garefino with a win over Lieggi’s Construction.
   The game was close throughout with United Trust holding an edge over Lieggi’s for most of the game. Lieggi’s was down by eight early in the fourth quarter, but brought the game back to within four before the United Trust defense came on strong to hold on for the win.
   Colleen Williams led the way for United Trust with 12 points. Becky Seeley scored seven points, while Stephanie Davis and Brittney Shurts each added two points. Mia Giles, Lydia Ellsworth, Julie Burd, Dilynn Huthansel and Alex Walker all contributed many rebounds, steals and assists to lead their team to victory.
   Ashley Lieggi led the way for the Lieggi’s team with eight points and many steals. Samantha Allshouse added seven points and numerous rebounds. Nichole Case and Colleen Ericson each added two points to finish out the scoring for Lieggi’s. Amy McKelvey and Kristen Pauley both played outstanding on defense while Brittany Ennis added many rebounds, and Olivia DiLauro had many assists.
   The final round of the playoffs were held Saturday, March 16, at South Hunterdon High School.
   All of the division champs were winners that day as they all held off strong competition from the competing teams. Every player was awarded a certificate of participation, and the division and playoff champs each received a trophy. Also, medals were given to the runners-up of the playoffs and two special awards were given out in each division.
   Here is a look at the games played during the final week of the Lambertville Basketball Association’s 2002 season.
Third- and fourth-grade boys


T-Recs 33

LTC 13


   T-Recs capped off an undefeated season with a 33-13 win over a tough Lambertville Trading Company team.
   Eight players scored for T-Recs with Matt Sullivan leading the balanced attack with eight points. Will Foran chipped in with six points and dominated the boards throughout the game. Foran was named the MVP of the championship game.
   The other T-Recs scoring came from Tom Pugmire with six points, Blake Vernon with four points, E.J. Lewis with four points, Zach Tettemer with two points, Jason McCaulley with two points and Collin Cappelle with one point. Henri Dumas played great defense for T-Recs.
   LTC had a good year and was able to stay close in the first half of the game. Five players scored for LTC. Ricky Esposito led the offense with five points. Bret Tokash, Gabe Stevens, Eric Romeo and Zach Marriott each chipped in two points. Kurt Tokash and Kyle Osgood played tough defense for the LTC team and had some key passes in the game.
The third- and fourth-grade Sportsman of the Year award was awarded to Justin Roy of the New Orleans Cafe team.
Third- and fourth-grade girls


Lambertville PBA 20

Toy Kingdom 4


   Lambertville PBA used a stifling defense to shut down a tough Toy Kingdom team and went on to win the championship.
   Kaylin Campbell led the PBA team with eight points. MVP of the championship game, Olivia Hagerty, had six points. Holly O’Shea added four points, and Julie O’Mara finished with two points. Emily Marley and Carrie Hornberger made some great passes and played tough defense.
   The Toy Kingdom finished a great season with a tough loss, but played hard throughout the game. Christina DiBartolomeo and Karlie Schiable each scored two points. Tori Brenner and Sarah Phillips made great passes, and Jeanie Hubert, Lisa Hoagland and Kayla Bohrer worked hard on defense.
   The Sportswoman of the Year for the division was awarded to Marina Cordes of the Pine Creek team.
Fifth- and sixth-grade boys


Woodens Home Improvement 57

Amwell Auto 40


   Woodens won the championship game over a tough Amwell Auto team.
   The Woodens back court combination of Ryan Marriott and Anthony Danese scored a combined total of 39 points with Marriott scoring 22 and Danese adding 17. Kyle Hart added eight points, David South finished with six points, and David Musselman added four points to round out the scoring for Woodens. Andrew Weinstein and Daniel Marley anchored the Woodens defense.
   Amwell Auto had a balanced attack with six players scoring. Adam Hoagland led the attack with 12 points. Kellen Medway chipped in with nine points. Brian Snell added eight points, Robbie Williamson and Kyle Stintsman each finished with four points, and Jared Rodriquez added three points to round out the scoring. Alex Baran, Jeff Hornberger, Matt Kritz and Ryan Irven contributed on defense and worked hard throughout the game.
   The championship game MVP was awarded to Ryan Marriott, and the Sportsman of the Year award was won by Andrew McCurdy of the E.J. Lelie team.
Fifth- and sixth-grade girls


Garefino 26

United Trust 16


   The Blue Torpedos won the championship behind its high scorer and championship game MVP Brittany Muscatell’s 17 points.
   Elise Garefino added four points, Christina Aiello finished with three points, and Cori Muscatell scored two points to round out the Garefino offense. Angelique Platas, Corrine Hart, Allie Coleman, Sarah Mohn and Lauren Hartpence anchored Garefino’s defense.
   United Trust played tough throughout the game to end a great season. Becky Seeley led the team with eight points. Colleen Williams added six points, and Stephanie Davis had two points. Alex Walker, Brittney Shurts, Dilynn Huthansel, Lydia Ellsworth and Mia Giles all played well in the game on both offense and defense.
   The Sportswoman of the Year award went. to Samantha Allhouse of the Lieggi Construction team.