BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer
The second season begins this week for the Brookdale Community College men’s and women’s basketball teams.
For the Jersey Blue women, they hope the Region XIX Tournament is a continuation of a championship regular season, while the men are looking to put an up-and-down season behind them with a very strong showing.
Brookdale’s women (15-9) won the Garden State Athletic Conference title for the second straight year, and third time in the last four. The Blues, co-coached by Marianne Campacci and Joanne Cobb, are ranked ninth in the country and are the No. 1 seed for this week’s Division III Region tourney. The Blues received a first-round bye and begins the tournament tomorrow at Salem Community College in Carney’s Point. The Blues will play the winner of last night’s game between Ocean and Cumberland.
The Region champion moves on to the National Junior College Athletic Association’s National Championships in Delhi, N.Y., March 17-19.
The Brookdale women have never made it to the national tournament and this just might be their year. The Blues have survived a host of injuries and a rugged early season schedule to repeat as GSAC champions and head into the postseason on a roll.
Campacci noted that it’s a whole new ball game in the playoffs, “one and done,” and that her team has to be ready for that frame of mind.
What the Blues have going for them in the tournament is a balanced offensive and a defense that will get after you.
“We’re very satisfied by the way the team came together,” said Campacci. “Anyone can be ‘the one’ for us in any game.”
Sophomores Amy Gaudious (Long Branch) and Becky Piper (Colts Neck) have been the club’s catalysts.
Gaudious, a 6-foot-1 forward, has battled back from a back injury and is moving better than ever. She is a force on both ends of the floor. She is a daily double-double and has thrown in four triple-doubles for good measure. Gaudious is averaging 11 points and 10.5 rebounds a game, and has more assists (104) than anyone on the team. Her passing, from the post or the top of the key, brings added dimension to the BCC offense. She is working extremely well with forward Tammy Wood (South River). Many of Wood’s baskets are feeds from Gaudious.
Wood has stepped up to be a force in the paint complementing Gaudious. She is averaging 12 points and 8.9 rebounds a game, second-best on the team in both categories.
Piper is leading the team in scoring (14.1 points per game) and doing all the other things, like averaging more the six rebounds a game, three steals and three assists.
Piper, Stephanie Brady (Ocean Township) and Danielle Vitalone (Middletown South) have provided the offensive balance with their outside shooting.
Defense, though, is the trademark of the Blues. They apply end-to-end pressure, sparked by Piper and the backcourt.
Campacci knows that Brookdale must raise its level of play this week.
“We have a lot of work ahead of us,” said Campacci.
Brookdale’s men head into the postseason playing their best ball of the winter. Paul Cisek’s Blues are 12-14.
“We’ve been playing real well,” he said. “The way the season is going, we have a chance to win.”
Brookdale finished fifth in the GSAC (5-7) and opened playoff action on Monday at No. 4 Atlantic Cape. The two teams split their regular season series 1-1. The game is at Atlantic Cape. The winner gets top-seed Gloucester, which is only No. 1 in the country, tonight in Gloucester.
Last week, though, Brookdale gave the top-ranked Greyhounds all they could handle before losing by just one point.
“We had a chance to win it,” said Cisek. “We knocked on the door. We were right there with them. That’s the positive. The negative is, you lose.”
As Brookdale proved against Gloucester, it can play with anyone in the league, but as the 5-7 regular season indicates, the Blues can also lose to anyone.
“The whole season has been up and down,” said Cisek. “There are two reasons for it. First, it’s been about matchups. We didn’t match up well with some teams, and with some we did. Second, this is the most injuries I’ve had in a season. It’s not an excuse, but we’ve limped into some games.”
The good news for Brookdale is that it is going into the second season healthier than at any time. Jamall Jenkins (Columbus/North Brunswick) missed eight games with a knee injury. The 6-4 sophomore is BCC’s inside presence and without him, the team struggled on both ends of the floor. He’s back and is averaging 16 points and 13 rebounds a game.
Shooting guard Dennys Gomez (Perth Amboy), who has been a spark plug as the sixth man, missed six games with an injury. His shooting extends defenses, opening things up for the forwards.
Sydir Mitchell (Paterson) has been BCC’s constant. The sophomore forward is averaging a team-high 22 points a game.
“He’s been our most consistent player,” Cisek said of Mitchell
Getting everyone back, healthy and playing together has coincided with the team’s improved play.
“We’ve played real hard lately,” he said. “They’ve had an attitude about winning. We just starting to fit together. We’re jelling into the system.”
A big key for Brookdale in the Regional tournament will be the play of its guards. Point guard Jamarr Pressley (Neptune), Devon Moffatt (Clifton), Devon Gilliard (Woodbridge) and Gomez have got to play well and execute on the offensive end.
“Our problem on offense is when we’ve tried to do things we don’t do well,” said Cisek. “When we run our offense and execute, and we don’t freelance, we are as good as anyone in the conference. ”
Having won a Region title and taken the Blues to the national tournament, Cisek knows what is required this week from his club to advance. It all starts with the defense.
“We’ve got to go out and defend, and play good team defense,” he said. “We play good man-to-man defense and we have to be aggressive on the glass.
The men’s tournament semifinals and finals are also in Carney’s Point. The semifinals are Friday and the final is Sunday.
The national championships are at the same location (Delhi, N.Y.) and same time (March 17-19) as the women’s NJCAA.