of the year
St. John Vianney girls drop first game
of the year
By richard jerome
Staff Writer
FARRAH MAFFAI St. John Vianney’s Shantel Brown tries to shoot in front of Kellindra Zachery of Shabazz High School, Newark, during the Lancers’ 43-38 loss in Asbury Park on Sunday.
As the season opened, things looked bright for the Monroe Township High School girls’ basketball team, but as first-year coach Keith Hudak points out, his team’s fortunes soon took a dive, resulting in a 2-6 record thus far.
"We started off well, with a lot of kids returning from last year’s 8-14 team," Hudak said.
"But around the fourth game, our big girl, 6-0 sophomore Ali Baumin, who scored 16 points a game last year, came down with an ankle fracture. She was a focal point for us, and she won’t be heading back to the doctor until Feb. 5. We’ve struggled without her."
The Falcons were also slowed when 5-8 senior Lindsay Jones, who was supposed to pick up the slack in Baumin’s absence, missed two games with an injury. Senior guard Lisa Gaydos also missed a couple of games.
As for the rest of the lineup, 5-4 point guard Tara Lange, a senior, has done a solid job. Her shooting has struggled a bit, but she’s sharp in other aspects of the game and plays extremely hard.
Junior Katie Lederman (5-6) is another starter, along with 5-5 junior Laura Gibbons.
"She was our sixth man, so to speak, but she’s been pressed into starting," said Hudak, who is assisted by Danielle Kennedy and middle school coach Judith Sienkiewicz. "Laura hustles and works hard out there."
Senior Shannon McNamara (5-9) has also given Monroe some good minutes.
Following a 15-point loss to Colonia, MTHS met division leader South Plainfield yesterday and has a game with Perth Amboy tomorrow.
The Falcons have had to overcome some bad luck thus far, and need to make the best of a tough situation the rest of the way.
"One of the biggest things we were good at earlier in the season was protecting the basketball, avoiding turnovers," said Hudak. "Now we’ve been turning over 30 times a game, and we’ve got to pay close attention to that."
Notes…The St. John Vianney Lady Lancers, Holmdel, entered their contest on Sunday at the Battle on the Boardwalk in Asbury Park as the favorite against Newark’s Shabazz.
However, the Lancers showed their youth in the game, dropping a 43-38 contest in ugly fashion. The Lancers held a 34-28 edge at the beginning of the fourth quarter, but sloppy play allowed Shabazz to climb back into the game, and eventually win with an 11-1 run.
During that run, SJV committed a series of costly turnovers, while the Shabazz players found their rhythm at the offensive end for the first time in the game.
The loss dropped the Lancers to 7-1 on the year, and will likely affect their No. 4 ranking in the state. Shabazz entered the game ranked No. 14 in the state.
With the SCT just a few weeks away, the Lancers will need to mature quickly if they have any hopes of competing with both top-ranked Marlboro and Red Bank Catholic, a pair of teams that enjoyed tremendous victories at the Battle of the Boardwalk. RBC knocked off New York power Our Lady of Lourdes, 58-51, while the Mustangs shocked the nation’s top-ranked team, Christ the King, 59-53, in the event’s marquee match-up.
Four-way battle in Blue Division
While the East Brunswick and Old Bridge girls’ basketball teams are locked in a tight battle for the top spot in the GMC’s Red Division, they are not the only local teams fighting for a division title.
Both the South River Rams and the Spotswood Chargers entered this week’s action in the midst of a tight Blue Division race, which is currently being led by Cardinal McCarrick (10-2, 7-0).
South River is also 10-2 on the year (5-2 in the division), coming off Tuesday’s 54-37 win over Metuchen. The Rams face Timothy Christian on Friday and St. Peter’s on Saturday, before meeting Spotswood on Tuesday in what could be a key game in the division race.
The Chargers are 8-3 (5-2 in the division) and are coming off a 54-40 win over J.F. Kennedy on Tuesday. They, too, have the division title within their sights, and would like nothing more than to knock rival South River out of the way.
While McCarrick appears to be the class of the division, both South River and Spotswood will likely battle with Middlesex (7-3) the rest of the way for the next three spots. Middlesex was defeated by McCarrick on Tuesday, 49-47. McCarrick has won the last two Blue Division titles, and has already beaten South River, Spotswood and Middlesex.
— Doug McKenzie contributed to this story