challenge division
South River girls qualify for state playoffs,
challenge division’s best
By richard jerome
Staff Writer
JERRY WOLKOWITZ Old Bridge’s Sierra Allen drives the lane for a lay-up during the Knights’ 43-25 win in South Brunswick on Tuesday.
Coach Eric Clays couldn’t be happier with his South River High School girls’ basketball team.
The Rams, who went 8-12 last winter, are 12-3, despite a 58-49 loss to Spotswood on Tuesday night.
"They’ve played excellent basketball," said Clays. "It’s nice to see the improvement. The work ethic paid off, the conditioning and practice, diving after loose balls. A lot of hustle."
The scoring fireworks have mainly been generated by a couple of seniors, 5-3 Katie Daly, who has popped in 15 points a game, and Tammy Wood (5-8) who is scoring a dozen per contest, while junior Cassandra Martinez has scored 10 ppg and shown talent under the boards.
Another 11th-grader, Christine Mongelli (5-5), has also contributed significantly, with an average around eight ppg, and a promising sophomore, 5-4 Tara Takac, has a seven ppg mark.
The Rams have gotten some good defense and rebounding from 5-7 senior center Lucy Elliott, who has chipped in with four ppg, along with junior Jasmine Pabon (5-4).
Sophomore Heather Walling (5-6) is contributing six ppg, and juniors Cheryl Bodak and Taiesha Clark, both 5-4, are four ppg scorers.
Other varsity players include 5-5 soph Heather Drugos, a fine defender, and junior Christina DeCorso, also 5-5, who has chipped in a couple of points a game.
Rounding out the roster are mainly JV girls, including freshman Melissa Kahse (5-5), 6-1 frosh Rachel Anderson, sophomore Amy Grabowski, and freshmen Lindsay Mosko (6-0), Kim Mozeiko (5-3), twins Carolyn and Kathleen Shields (both 5-6) and Jen Swenticky (5-4).
Clays and assistant Chris Brasno lead the Rams against Blue Division-leading Cardinal McCarrick today, followed by Saturday’s clash with Mother Seton.
With just a handful of games left on the regular-season schedule, Clays is optimistic that the Rams will finish strong.
"I’d like to see us win a couple of games in the counties and the states," he said.
Notes…The Monroe Falcons are in a tighter position than South River, needing to win all of its remaining games before the cutoff to qualify.
Following Monday’s costly 44-30 loss to South Brunswick, the Falcons are 3-7 with just five games left before Feb. 8, including last night’s game against North Brunswick.
With a win last night, Monroe would still be alive, while a loss would end their playoff chances.
The Falcons face J.F.K. tomorrow, Spotswood on Monday, Sayreville on Wednesday and Carteret next Friday.
The remainder of the local teams are a lock for the state playoffs.
The top-ranked East Brunswick Bears suffered consecutive losses for the first time last week when they were defeated by Woodbridge and J.P. Stevens (Nos. 6 and 8 respectively), but remain the favorite heading into the upcoming GMC Tournament.
The Bears are 10-3 with just seven regular season games left (including last night’s game with Piscataway).
East Brunswick is in the midst of a tight battle for the GMC’s Red Division with No. 3 Old Bridge. The Lady Knights are 12-3 following Tuesday’s 43-25 win over South Brunswick, and have six games left on their schedule, starting with J.P. Stevens on Friday.
Old Bridge is looking forward to Wednesday night’s game with East Brunswick, and is looking to avenge a heart-breaking overtime loss to the Bears earlier this month. Wednesday’s game may decide the division championship.
The Spotswood Chargers knocked off South River on Tuesday to improve to 10-3 on the year.
Spotswood has little chance of winning the GMC Blue Division, led by Cardinal McCarrick, but is a team that is gathering steam as the season winds down.
The Sayreville War Memorial High School girls’ basketball team is hoping to parlay a 58-56 win over Piscataway into a strong second half of the season.
The victory upped the Bombers’ record to 3-8 with five games remaining before the cutoff to qualify for the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III playoffs. Sayreville needs to win all five contests to qualify.