Round One to RBC as Lancers falter in second half
13-0 third-quarter run sparks top-ranked
Caseys’ blowout win
By Doug mckenzie
Staff Writer

JERRY WOLKOWITZ Red Bank Catholic’s Jessica DePalo goes up for a jumpshot during last Friday’s game against St. John Vianney in Red Bank.

What was supposed to be the first meeting of the year between the Shore Conference’s top two girls’ basketball teams on Friday quickly became a showcase for a remarkable squad chasing down history.

As the St. John Vianney Lady Lancers entered the gym at Red Bank Catholic, they knew they were facing the daunting task of upsetting the top-rated team in the state (and 18th in the nation) while playing in a hostile environment. And for the first 12 minutes of the game, they played themselves into position to pull off the upset.

And then the Caseys, as they have so many times in the past two years, put together one of their runs, and the Lancers never knew what hit them.

By the time it was all said and done, RBC had handed Vianney a 75-42 drubbing, an outcome that was unthinkable for much of the last decade. But on Friday night, the Caseys displayed the form that led them to the Tournament of Champions title last year, while Vianney showed enough heart to keep the Caseys from looking past them when they face off again on Feb. 4 at Brookdale Community College.

JERRY WOLKOWITZ St. John Vianney’s Tami Coyle tries to trap RBC’s Lynn Zoltowski during Friday night’s game in Red Bank.

Casey forward Brooke Tomovich (14 points), who beat Vianney with her accurate jump-shooting for most of the second half, recognized the importance of beating Vianney in this first meeting of the year.

"We knew coming in that it wouldn’t matter where we were ranked in the state or the country," she said. "Against SJV, you can’t be looking beyond the game itself. We knew it would be a tough game."

But after dominating the Lancers for three quarters of the game, Tomovich admitted that the game came to them somewhat easier than anticipated.

"These two teams always seem to play their best against each other," she said. "It’s such a competitive rivalry. But tonight we proved that we were the better team on the floor."

The intensity of the game was evident from the beginning, with RBC implementing a frantic full-court press (a signature move of legendary Vianney teams of the past) to force the Lancers into early turnovers. The result was a quick 8-2 lead.

But Vianney hung tight, playing good defense and limiting the Caseys’ big forwards (Tomovich and Jessica DePalo) from getting too many rebounds for second shot opportunities.

For most of the first quarter, the two teams played with passion, working hard on defense and limiting the number of easy shots. At the end of the first stanza, the score was in RBC’s favor, 15-12.

The second quarter was more of the same, as the teams traded baskets while continuously fouling each other rather than give up any easy points. The result was a very physical style of play, causing bodies to fly on each end of the court.

As the two teams traded points on the foul line through most of the second quarter, Vianney seemed to be exactly where they needed to be to have a chance at the upset.

Then came the run. After Vianney had tied the game at 23 with a three-pointer from forward Cherri Wittlieb (team-high 13 points) with just under four minutes to go in the half, the Caseys went on a 7-0 run heading into the locker room. At the start of the second half, the Caseys continued to carry the momentum.

RBC went on an impressive 13-0 run in the third, which was sparked by a combination of their tenacious defense and poor Lancer shooting. By the time the run had ended, it was 54-30 RBC, and the Lady Lancers had basically been beaten.

Although Vianney was in the game at halftime, they remained disappointed with their overall effort, specifically in the third quarter. And when the two teams square off again in February, you can be sure Coach Nick Russo will remind his team that it will take four quarters of great basketball to knock off the talented and surprisingly deep Caseys.

With the first of what could be four SJV-RBC match-ups out of the way, both teams have very little time to dwell on the game. Both teams had games this week (Vianney beat Long Branch on Tuesday and faced Matawan yesterday, while the Caseys traveled to Ocean yesterday and will host Long Branch today), but will likely be looking toward tomorrow, which marks the return of Shore Conference girls high school basketball to the Asbury Park Convention Hall.

Tomorrow’s schedule includes three games which will attract statewide attention.

First up are the Lady Lancers (fifth in the state), who will play host to Peddie, the state’s top Prep Division team. That game will start at 1 p.m., and will be followed at 2:30 p.m. by another anticipated match-up featuring the No. 7 team in the state, Rumson-Fair Haven, vs. the No. 8 team in the state, Toms River North, which was defeated by RBC in last year’s TOC finals.

The final game of the day, which is being called the Battle on the Boardwalk, is the feature match-up with RBC taking on New York City’s top team, Christ the King. The middle village Queens team is currently ranked second in the nation, and is led by Boston College-bound Clare Droesch, one of the top girls high school players in the nation.

If the Caseys, who took a 40-game winning streak going into action this week, can pull off the upset of Christ the King, it will go a long way toward giving them national recognition as one of the top teams in the country. But they will have their work cut out for them, as Christ the King has been winning games by margins as great as 50 points.

Tickets for the event are $8 for adults and $5 for students and children, and are available at the door.