Rumson-FH’s Fisher is Shore’s Player of the Year
Wittlieb, Cole and Zoll among leading
vote-getters
To the surprise of no one, Rumson-Fair Haven’s Chrissy Fisher was the Shore Coaches Association’s Player of the Year for girls’ basketball.
The 6-1 Fisher, who is headed to the University of Maryland, led the Bulldogs to their first Group II state championship and into the Final Four at the Tournament of Champions. She averaged 18 points and 12 boards a game in leading the Bulldogs to the Shore Conference B Central Division and Central Jersey Group II titles, in addition to the state group title.
Fisher saved her best basketball of the season for the state playoffs. She almost single-handedly carried RFH to its third straight sectional championship, scoring 24 points in the Central Jersey Group II title game while playing the second half with four fouls. In the Group II championship game, she was superb once again.
St. John Vianney’s Cheri Wittlieb, who led the Holmdel Lancers to the Shore Conference Tournament crown and B North Division title, was the runner-up in the voting.
Rounding out the top vote-getters were Toms River South’s Becky Zak; Marlboro’s formidable duo of Chakhia Cole and Sharnee Zoll, who sparked Marlboro to a second straight A North title and to the SCT and Central Jersey Group IV finals; and Raritan’s high-scoring Kelly Robinson, who helped the Rockets get to the Central Jersey Group II final, where they fell to Fisher’s Bulldogs.
The top vote-getters made up the All-Shore Team.
Wall’s Tom Ridoux, whose Crimson Knights’ shared the A Central Division championship with Manasquan, was named the Shore’s Coach of the Year.
The Shore Coaches also announced their All-Division Teams for the 2001-02 season:
Cole, Zoll and Brina Pollack of Marlboro led the A North First Team. Freehold Township’s Missy Elsbree and Middletown North’s Jessie Chalmers rounded out the First Team. Freehold Township’s Kelly Higgins and Amanda Frost, Howell’s Kristin Hein, Marlboro’s Christie Kastner, and Middletown South’s Nicole Baldessari constituted the Second Team.
Colts Neck’s Meighan Kelly and Freehold Borough’s Jen Towers were First Team A Central selections. Suzanne Murphy of Colts Neck, Monmouth’s Kelly Miller and Lisa Ott, and Holmdel’s Dana Hoffman made up the Second Team.
Wittlieb and Robinson led the B North First Team. They were joined by Raritan’s Amanda Harmata, Matawan’s Amy Gibbons and Red Bank Catholic’s Alisa Kresge and Lindsay Woodfield. SJV’s Marybeth Kuenne and Shantel Brown were named to the Second Team, along with RBC’s Heather Westro and Raritan’s Adriana Velez.
Fisher and teammate Amanda DeMartino head the B Central First Team. Shore’s Melissa Lehman also made the First Team. Keyport’s Jaime Boyce and Nadine Kemp, and Mater Dei’s Dana Page were Second Team members.
The division coaches of the year were Middletown South’s Tom Brennan for A North; Ridoux, A Central; Matawan’s Robert Carnovsky, SJV’s Nick Russo and Ocean’s Jim Maliff in B North; Rumson’s George Sourlis and St. Rose’s Dick McCallum in B Central.
It was the year of the Scarlet Fliers in boys’ basketball as versatile Taquan Dean was selected Player of the Year and Coach Ken O’Donnell was named Coach of the Year.
Neptune swept everything, A North, SCT and Central Jersey Group III titles, on the way to the state Group III championship. Dean is headed for the University of Louisville, Kentucky.
The Shore Coaches All-Division Teams were as follows:
Christian Brothers Academy’s Chris Kenny and Middletown North’s Jay Krol were joined by Freehold Township’s Andrew Impastato on the A North First Team. Second Team A North members included Freehold Township’s Ryan Brown, Middletown North’s Joe Leone and CBA’s Billy Smith.
A Central co-champion Monmouth Regional was represented by David Whitehurst and Carlos Lee on the First Team, and Pat Barnette and Jim Dalton on the Second Team. Colts Neck’s Michael DeCorso was also selected to the Second Team.
Raritan’s Nick Torres and Red Bank Regional’s Brian McEvily were on First Team B North while John Kirby of Red Bank Regional, David Pearson of Matawan, Tyler Schmelz and Josh Grgas of SJV were on the division’s Second Team.
B Central First Team honors went to Cy Galvin of Shore and Rob Parilla of Mater Dei. Rumson-Fair Haven’s duo of Dwayne Reevey and Dan Wong, and Mater Dei’s Matt O’Connor were members of the Second Team.
Coaches of the year included Middletown North’s Will Mayer, A North; Scott Martin, RBR, B North; Tom Stead, Holmdel, A Central; and Bob Klatt, Mater Dei, B Central.
The senior girls’ and boys’ all-star games were played last night at Wall High School. The games match the best seniors from the North division of the S.C. against the best from the South division.
The local girls on the North squad were Elsbree, Higgins, Frost, Woodfield, Miller, Wittlieb, Kuenne, Fisher, DeMartino, Brown, and Vanessa Healy of Howell, Jamie Fumando and Kelly Goodbody of Middletown North, and Megan Villane of Shore.
Township’s John Sciarappa, Sourlis and Petrone coached the North girls.
The North boys were McEvily, Impastato, Brown, Torres, Lee, O’Connor, Ryan Sheridan of Manalapan, Krol, Leone, Kenny and Smith.
Brian Golub of Freehold Township and Middletown North’s Will Mayer were coaching the North boys.