BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer
MIGUEL JUAREZ staff Brookdale’s women team, led by the likes of Katie Miller (right to left), of Raritan, Kiesha Taylor and Erica Hoffman, of Middletown North, have plenty to smile about as they get ready for the national championships, which starts today in Delhi, N.Y. To call the Brookdale Community College women’s basketball team a group of overachievers wouldn’t do them justice.
Coaches Joanne Cobb and Marianne Campacci may have assembled a team without stars and name recognition, but not without talent.
“A lot of the kids have been overlooked,” said Campacci. “They really are good.”
Good enough to win the Garden State Athletic Conference for the fourth time in school history and to capture the Region XIX crown on March 4, and with it, a trip to the National Junior College Athletic Association’s Division III championships in Delhi, N.Y. The national tournament runs today through Saturday. It is the second time in three years that Cobb and Campacci have taken the Blues to the NJCAA, but the first time for all of the players on the team.
MIGUEL JUAREZ staff Brookdale’s Jamie Biddle shoots over Sasha Fabrizio during a practice on March 8 at the school’s Middletown campus. Cobb said that she and Campacci had an inkling that this team could do some special things way back in November, when they were gathering for their first practices of the year.
“We expected it,” said Cobb, of the team’s two titles. “It’s the first time in my coaching career I felt that way about a team. This team is very talented.”
Talented and versatile. Perhaps Brookdale’s greatest asset is the ability of its players to play anywhere on the floor. The Blues’ best three-point shooters are their biggest players. Their ability to step outside beyond the arc has created a dilemma for the opposition’s forwards and centers. Should they leave the paint to guard them, they leave space for guards like Brie Kwiatkowski and Katie Miller to penetrate or stay home and watch the forward shoot over a smaller defender. It’s a puzzle the opposition hasn’t solved.
One of the Blues’ more versatile players is Jamie Biddle, the MVP of the Region XIX tournament, who scored 22 points, pulled down 12 rebounds and blocked six shots in Brookdale’s 77-67 come-from-behind win over Bergen in the final. The 5-11 Biddle came to BCC as an outside shooter forward and has learned to now play on the blocks.
“I like playing down low and rebounding,” said the former Howell Rebel. “I never played the post [in high school]. It’s the biggest step up for me in college, learning to play there.”
She has adjusted well to her dual role of playing on the blocks and stepping outside for the three. She is one of three Blues to score in double figures (10.8) on a balanced scoring team. Her 28 threes during the regular season were third best on the team.
Biddle, who played on a Howell team that won division and Holiday titles the last two years, would agree with her coaches’ assessment of the Blues.
“Everyone is so talented,” she said. “I love this team. Before the season, we went to a team bonding camp in Pennsylvania. We put our [high school] rivalries away and everyone just clicked.
“We trust one another and that’s a big factor,” she added.
Sasha Fabrizio, a 5-11 forward from Brick Township, has given the Blues a double-double each night (11.6 points and 10.5 rebounds a game). The 5-11 forward like Biddle, can step outside and hit the jumper.
Guards Kwiatkowski, Miller and Erica Hoffman have saved the Blues in a way. Everything was in place back in November for the team, and then, it lost point guard Tiara Gaines. Who was going to operate the offense and provide the out-front pressure on defense? It was an important role and Kwiatkowski and Miller have been up to the challenge. Kwiatkowski led the team in assists (4.2). Between them, Kwiatkowski and
Miller are averaging two steals a game.
When Erica Hoffman joined the team in December, it provided a big lift in the backcourt, where she made the team’s guard play even stronger.
Both Campacci and Cobb agreed that the team turned in around when the players grasped the concepts of their full-court press defense.
“We needed to pick it up on defense,” said Campacci. “The freshman had to pick up on our defense, which is very aggressive.”
Once they did, the Blues had it on both ends of the floor.
The Brookdale players come from all parts of the Shore area and the state, but they have one thing in common, a commitment to winning. It was that dedication that allowed them to rally in the second half and beat Bergen in the region final to earn their trip to the NJCAA.
“At halftime no one was talking,” said Biddle. “We didn’t want this to be over. I know I didn’t want it to end.”
Biddle’s three-point shooting fueled a 10-0 spurt midway through the second halt that saw to it that the season did not end.
“We’re all so excited,” Biddle said. “We’d love to come home with the national championship.”