BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer
For the Brookdale Community College women’s basketball team, next year has already started.
After getting a taste of the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III Championships at Mohawk Valley Community College in Utica, N.Y., last weekend, the Jersey Blues want more.
On the bus trip home after finishing sixth in the nation, the Blues were already talking about what they had to do to take the next step. They were discussing offseason training and playing in the Belmar summer league, looking forward to making a return trip to Utica in 2008.
“A lot of us [freshmen] are coming back next year and we’ll be ready,” said forward Jamie Biddle. “We all realize that we need to get better as a team and individually.
“I think we’ll be back next year,” she added.
With seven freshmen on the team this year, there is every reason for the Blues to be optimistic.
Joanne Cobb, head coach with Marianne Campacci, said the Blues overachieved in some ways this year.
“With so many freshmen, they really did surpass themselves,” she said. “Going back to the campus, they were talking about unfinished business.”
Campacci pointed out that she and Campacci knew what the Blues would be up against in Utica from previous experience, and that it was good for the young Blues to see.
“We [she and Cobb] knew we had a good team, but we knew there were some awesome teams there,” she said. “It was a good experience for the girls. They know they have to continue to work hard to get to the top.”
This was the second trip to the nationals in three years for the Brookdale women, and their sixth place bettered their seventh place in 2005. Their performance was more than one place better, however. They were just 40 minutes away from finishing fourth.
“We felt like we belonged there,” said Campacci.
Brookdale also left the championships with the Sportsmanship Award, which goes to the team that conducted itself the best on and off the court during the tournament.
“It’s a pretty high honor,” said Campacci.
The Blues were seeded seventh and started the tournament, held Thursday through Saturday, against the No. 2 seed and host Mohawk Valley, which advanced with a 70-45 victory.
Keshia Taylor (Point Pleasant Boro) led the Blues with 10 points and six rebounds, and Olivia Triano contributed nine points and seven rebounds.
Brookdale bounced back the next day to beat Northland Community College (Minn.), 81-74. Brie Kwiatkowski (Marlboro, Monsignor Donovan) just missed a triple-double with 22 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds. Taylor had 21 points for the Blues.
That win put the Blues in the fourth/sixth-place game on Saturday. Three games in three days finally caught up to the Brookdale women and they dropped the game to Caldwell College (N.C.), 86-39. Lisa James (Manchester) led the Blues with 11 points and seven rebounds, and Sasha Fabrizio (Brick Township) chipped in with eight points and 14 rebounds.
“It took some time to get over the loss [in fourth/sixth game], but they realized they had a great season,” said Campacci.
Brookdale finished the season 19-11. The Blues won the Garden State Athletic Conference and Region XIX championships during the season. Fabrizio was named First Team All-GSAC and All-Region XIX. Taylor was a Second Team All-Region pick. Biddle (Howell) was the Most Valuable Player of the Region XIX Tournament.