By: Carolyn M. Hartko
EAST BRUNSWICK A combination of poor offensive rebounding, wild shots and 22 turnovers sent the South Brunswick High School girls’ basketball team to its first loss of the season.
The Vikings emerged from the Bears den wounded Tuesday night, after suffering a 41-36 loss to East Brunswick.
A seven-point run in the closing minute of the first quarter appeared to give the Vikings a comfortable 16-6 early lead. Jess Mastronardi got the run started when she took a backcourt steal all the way for a lay-up. Freshman point guard Janay Barnett grabbed one at the mid-court line and did the same. Junior center Janelle Payne scored off an in-bound pass, and Mastronardi capped the run with a free throw.
But that proved to be the end of the easy life for the Vikings. The East Brunswick Lady Bears roared back with 16 points in the second period, and the game went to half-time tied 22-22.
"You can’t beat any team by scoring 36 points," Viking head coach Jaymee Boehmer said. "That’s the first thing. And I think none of my shooters had a good day. We all had a bad day on the same day. But I do think we worked hard, and I think we gave it everything we had."
The game stayed close through the third quarter, with East Brunswick up 30-28 at the end. Half way through the final stanza, the Bears had opened the lead to seven (35-28). Payne and Mastronardi each scored twice in a late surge that helped the Vikings regain the lead 36-35 with 2:34 left on the clock. But a minute later, Megan Mayo hit a three-pointer to but the Bears in the lead for good. With the bonus light on for both teams, East Brunswick elected to run out the clock, forcing the Vikings to foul. The Bears picked up their final three points at the charity stripe.
South Brunswick shot 33 percent from the floor and just 53 percent from the foul line. Mastronardi led the Viking offense with 13 points. Payne posted 12 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots. Alicia Langone led off the boards with 11 rebounds, and had five points. Mayo (13 points) and Laura Petriello (12) paced the Bears.
The Bears remained undefeated while the Vikings slipped to 4-1. South Brunswick seemed stymied at times by East’s defense. They had trouble breaking the full-court press, and also failed to inbound the ball a few times. The pressure rattled a few players, which led to off balance shots and some unwise passes.
"We saw good defense today," Boehmer said. "But again, we didn’t flow at all today, and I think it just hurt us. We’ll wait ’til next time."
The Vikings and the Bears will meet later on in the regular season, and they could also face off in both the county and state tournaments in postseason. Meanwhile, the Vikings continue an extended road trip. They will be at Sayreville on Thursday (tonight), and at Old Bridge Tuesday.

