Allentown High School’s Danielle Zahn waits for her turn during warmups for the pole vault at the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III championships held at the John Bennett Indoor Athletic Complex in Toms River on Feb. 7. Zahn would finish sixth and advance to the group championships. STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER ERIC SUCAR ALLENTOWN
A llentown High School shot putter
Daivone Thomas and pole vaulter
Bill Herzer each finished first in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III sectionals at the John Bennett Indoor Athletic Complex on Feb. 7, as Allentown’s boys and girls indoor track and field teams advanced a total of nine athletes into the Group III championships. The boys team finished second in the team standings, and six boys and three girls will return to the same site on Feb. 15 at 3 p.m. for the group meet.
“It’s our first year in Group III after competing all along in Group II, which is a big difference in the level of talent. So the fact that this many kids got through, we’re very happy,” coach Brian Harshman said. “We did tremendously well. At one point, we were in first place in the team standings.”
Thomas broke the school record by three feet with a throw of 49-7, and teammate Alden Littlefield also advanced in the shot put by breaking the old school record with a throw of 48-0 for third place. The top six finishers advanced to the group meet.
Herzer and teammate Mike Fritzsky finished first and third, respectively, in the pole vault. Both cleared 11-6, but the order of finish is based on fewest misses.
Conor Murphy, who advanced to the cross-country Meet of Champions (MOC) in November, moved closer to the indoor MOC with a school-record time of 4:32.35 in the 1,600-meter run, which was good for fourth place. It was one second faster than the prior school record he set in the Mercer County championships a week earlier. He also just missed qualifying in the 3,200 with a seventhplace finish in a school-record time of 10:05.23, which was five seconds faster than the previous school record mark that he set.
Dan Gregor was fifth in the 800 in a school record 2:03.49 — one second faster than the previous mark and two seconds faster than his previous personal best.
For the girls, Carly DuBrosky was fourth in the 55-meter hurdles (8.92), while Alex Tendler was fifth in the 3,200 (12:02.04) and Danielle Zahn was sixth in the pole vault (7- 0). All three were among the top-six qualifiers in their respective events.
Basketball
Allentown’s girls basketball team, enjoying a 13-5 season and a share of first place in the Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) Patriot Division race, comes into the week off one of its easiest victories this season. However, the team knows the hardest part lies ahead.
The boys basketball team, meanwhile, has been on a tear since an 0-8 start, winning seven of its last nine games to seal a return to the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III tournament.
Girls basketball
On Feb. 8, a well-balanced attack by the girls, led by Kali Hartshorn’s 12 points in limited action, led to a 74-33 victory over Nottingham High School. Hartshorn scored 10 of her points in the first quarter, when the Redbirds soared to a 31-3 lead. Senior forwards Mandy Hornyak and Kathleen Kyle added 10 and eight points, respectively, and junior guard Lamesha Burgess put in seven, as Allentown surpassed 70 points for only the second time this season — one point shy of their season-best 75-48 victory over Steinert High School on Jan. 24.
The Redbirds’ bid for a championship is on the line this week, with three big games. The one advantage they have is that all three are on their home court. The Redbirds were scheduled to play on Feb. 11 against Lawrence High School, a team they beat handily earlier in the season, before taking on co-leader and five-time division champion Hopewell Valley Central High School on Feb. 12. They meet Ewing High School at 11:30 a.m. on Feb. 15.
On Feb. 4, Ewing beat a cold-shooting Allentown, 49-46. Hartshorn hit a 3-pointer that tied it, 46-46, before Ewing sank a free throw and then got a putback off a missed free throw to seal the victory. Ewing ended the first quarter with eight straight points for a 14-11 lead that it stretched to 12, before Allentown cut it to 28-21 at halftime. Allentown led, 40-35, entering the fourth quarter, as Hope Narozniak rebounded in a missed shot.
Narozniak, Kyle and Bianca Santos follow Hartshorn’s team lead in scoring with point-per-game averages of eight.
“We had a cold-shooting game that day against Ewing and got hurt inside,” said coach Linda Weise, whose team bounced back on Feb. 7 against Robbinsville High School, 47-28, behind Santos’ 12 points.
“We’re really focused on winning,” said senior Kirsten Romano, who scored 11 points against Ewing and added teamwork has been the key to this season’s success with so many experienced players on the team. “The key for us will be passing the ball and getting open shots, because we can score.”
Allentown showed its feisty spirit in a signature victory over Notre Dame High School on Jan. 7, and even in recent losses to formidable opponents Colts Neck High School, 41-35, and Northern Burlington County Regional High School, 52-45.
“It’s a lot of pressure with three games we need to win [this week], but I think we’re ready,” Hartshorn said. “We’re playing well. We need to play the way we’re capable of playing. We need the guards to shoot and make their threes, and for the forwards to hit their layups.”
Weise said her team needs to focus on one game at a time.
“We have to really start with good energy,” Weise said. “Defensively, we need to play well there, and get rebounds to start our offense and get some fast breaks. Against Hopewell, we’ll need to execute on offense against their tough man-to-man [defense].”
Boys basketball
Allentown’s boys come off a 47-44 victory over Nottingham on Feb. 8 by scoring the final seven points of the game. Hunter Gerling sank a 3-pointer and three free throws down the stretch, as Allentown overcame a 42-37 deficit entering the final minute. Tristan Millett made a steal and fed Dan Palmieri for a layup and a 45-44 lead. Palmieri led the Redbirds with 11 points, and Gerling and forward Hal Shaw each added 10.
“We’re just playing well. [We’re] a lot better basketball team than when we started 0-8,” coach Jay Graber said. “We’re playing more as a group.”
Allentown also beat Robbinsville, 61-54, on Feb. 7, as Dan Bascara scored 19 points and Gerling added 18. Bascara did not score any points against Nottingham, but Graber said, “He did a lot of other things in that game. It’s a testament to the team we have — a good group where different guys step up at different times, and they’re selfless. We have balanced scoring, and everyone’s rebounding well. We play good team defense. It’s been a complete team effort in those nine games.”
Bascara agreed, and he said scoring is not the first thing on his mind.
“Scoring isn’t the only thing in basketball. There’s defense and rebounding. The points will come,” he said. “The most important thing is doing things to help the team to win.”
Bascara said adding Millett to the lineup at point guard after sitting out 30 days as a transfer has “made the offense more efficient. We’re more effective when he runs the ball at point guard.”
The addition of Millett came early in the hot streak, when the Redbirds won, 52-48, in overtime over Steinert, followed by a solid 54-38 victory over Howell High School.
The Redbirds have games against Lawrence on Feb. 11, Hopewell Valley on Feb. 12 and Ewing on Feb. 15. They have one final regular season game on Feb. 22 against neighboring New Egypt High School.
After that, it’s the Mercer County Tournament and the NJSIAA Central Jersey sectional tournaments.
“We’re excited about that,” Graber said of returning to the state tournament. “But we’re just looking at the games we’re playing this week for now.”
Wrestling
After losing last week to CVC power Hopewell Valley and Robbinsville, which would end the Redbirds’ bid for a thirdstraight trip to the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III sectionals, Allentown bounced back later in the week to beat Lawrence and handily subdue Ewing to improve to 10-9. The Lawrence victory on Feb. 7 was part of a memorial tribute to the late Ken Keim, a former Allentown wrestler, which helped raise funds for an annual scholarship in his name.
“We hoped to win a berth in the sectionals as one of the six teams, and instead we finished seventh, missing by one point, which is a little heartbreaking,” coach Larry Kimport said.
To make up for the downtime before the district tournament next weekend, Allentown picked up matches on Feb. 11 at Lacey Township High School and on Wednesday at home against Northern Burlington. It also travels to Point Pleasant Borough High School on Feb. 15 for a tri-meet with Monmouth Regional High School.
Sophomore Jordan Rugo reached the 20- win mark at 138 pounds. Senior captain Jack Giglio also continued to wrestle well at 146, as did 220-pounder Anthony Bliss.
Football
Two-way standout Daivone Thomas has committed to playing college football for Monmouth University as a defensive lineman.
“It’s a great decision for an excellent school,” coach Jay Graber said about Thomas, who helped the Redbirds win a West Jersey Football division title for the third time in four years and return to the state playoffs.