Despite the addition of eight new freshmen, the Brookdale Community College women’s basketball team is playing as if it were a veteran team.
“The kids have jelled since day one,” said Jersey Blue co-head coach Joanne Cobb. “They’ve really clicked. They do everything together.
“It’s a very unique team,” she added. “It’s like a four-year school that has juniors and seniors taking over. “
The Blues are off to a promising 5-1 start as they look to follow last year’s banner 26-2 in which they won the Garden State Athletic Conference and Region XIX championships and finished fifth at the National Junior College Athletic Association’s National Championships.
Brookdale has three returnees back from that squad led by All-American point guard Vicki DeTata (Brick Township). If there’s a column on the stat sheet, DeTata will fill it. The sophomore does it all from the backcourt for the Blues, including leading the team’s defensive pressure. It’s nice to have the ball in the hands of an All-American. She’s averaging 12.7 points a game and 4.9 assists a game
Forward/center Brielle Martinez (Hamilton West) is one of the best rebounders in the county, providing the Blues with a presence up front. She has picked up where she left off last year and is averaging 10.3 caroms a game thus far, as well as 10.9 points per fame.
Kerriann Cassarello (Keansburg), a 5-foot- 10 forward/center, is the third returnee. She was the team’s sixth man last year and has more of a role in the paint this winter.
Brookdale’s incoming freshmen are led by Shukurah Washington, a 6-foot forward from Newark (Murry Bergtraum High School, N.Y.). She is a big time player and big time under the boards, averaging a team-high 14.3 rebounds a game. She leads the team in scoring as well averaging 14.5 points per game. Like Martinez, she is a double-double machine.
“She’s a tremendous rebounder, very strong,” said Cobb. “She gives us balance between the strong side and weak side,” said Cobb.
DeTata has help this year with Stephanie Carlone (Marlboro) and Nicole Collins (Raritan), each capable of playing the point taking the pressure of BCC’s do-everything sophomore. They are averaging 14 points and three assists a game between them.
Up front, Kim Ridolfi (Middletown North) and Nysherra Butler (Lakewood) are very quick forwards who can play inside or outside.
Freshman Cristal Cocozza (Freehold Borough), at 6 feet 1 inch, is the tallest player on the team and makes the forward line even more formidable.
If anything, versatility is this team’s calling card.
“We are two deep at every spot,” said Cobb. “We have two guards every game who can play the point, two guards or three [small forward]. We have six guards and six forwards.
“We can go all big, or all small,” she added.
That versatility also means depth.
“When we go to the bench, we don’t lose a step,” said Cobb.
Forward Jetsenia Maldonado (Essex County Vo-Tech), guard Molly Ann Mescal (Middletown North) and forward Tasha Bartlett (Murry Bergtraum) are providing firepower off the bench. Bartlett is averaging 6.9 points per game off the bench for the Jersey Blues.
Brookdale will get a good look at its GSAC competition in the coming games. Saturday, the Blues will host Northampton (Pa.) at noon in the Collins Arena. They will host Camden on Tuesday (Dec. 14) at 5 p.m. and close their three-game home stand on Dec. 18 against Baltimore City Community College in a nonconference match-up that tips off a 1 p.m.
Following their games with Northampton and Camden, the defending champion Blues will have a good idea where they stand in the conference.