Title count rises for Lady Lancers, Colts
BY DOUG McKENZIE
Staff Writer

JEFF GRANIT staff St. John Vianney’s Courtney Calderon shoots over RBC’s Meghan Hall during the Lancers’ win in Lakewood March 10.

It came as a surprise to no one that both the St. John Vianney girls and CBA boys basketball teams were among the teams claiming sectional titles last week.

The Shore’s two elite programs have made a habit of collecting banners over the years, and this year has been no exception, as each added Shore Conference Tournament titles to their résumés, and continued their championships runs in state tournament play.

The Lancers claimed their 10th sectional crown on Thursday with a 51-39 win over rival Red Bank Catholic (RBC) in the South Jersey Non-Public A title game in Lakewood.

PHOTOS BY JEFFGRANIT staff Above, RBC’s Kristine Danella fights for the loose ball against SJV during their March 10 game in Lakewood. At right, CBA’s Brian Freiberger shoots over the St. Augustine defense.

The Lancers overcame some early shooting woes (six-for-29 from the floor in the first half) to run away from the Caseys (18-9) in the second half. As she has all year, senior point guard Shantel Brown, of Lakewood, led the way for Vianney, scoring 11 of her game-high 19 points in the second half.

SJV had a 19-16 lead at the break, and allowed RBC to get within 23-21 at the start of the third before going on an 11-0 run that propelled the Lancers to build a 36-22 lead heading into the final quarter. The lead grew to 43-24 before the Caseys unleashed a 14-4 burst late to get within nine. But it was too little, too late as Vianney held off the young Caseys down the stretch.

In addition to Brown’s strong play, the Lancers also got 12 points from Kristine Perez and 10 from Alisa Apo, while the Caseys were led by freshman Kristina Danella’s 13 points.

Apparently, the sectional title wasn’t enough for the Lancers, as two days later they came back to claim the Non-Public A title with a 57-37 win over Roselle Catholic.

As usual, Brown set the tone, scoring 22 points (including 15 in the second half) while adding five rebounds, four assists and three steals en route to capturing the game’s MVP award. But it was the SJV defense that was the difference in this one, as the Lions struggled to score throughout, while Vianney built an early lead that continued to grow over the course of the game.

With the win, the Lancers earned a return trip to the Tournament of Champions (TOC), where they are the fourth seed and took on fifth-seeded Bloomfield Tech last night in Toms River. The winner gets top-seeded Absegami tomorrow.

This is not the best St. John Vianney team to make a TOC appearance, but they have more than enough confidence to make another run at the state’s ultimate championship.

As for CBA, they clinched their South Jersey Non-Public A championship with a thrilling 49-43 win over top-seeded St. Augustine on Thursday in Lakewood.

Guard Sean Stolzenthaler converted a three-point play with 1:09 left in the game to propel the Colts to the win, their first in five tries over the Hermits. Stolzenthaler led the Colts with 16 points for the game, while Brian Freiberger added 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Unfortunately, the Colts’ run ended there, as two days later they fell to a familiar foe in the Non-Public A final.

Seton Hall Prep entered the game as the state’s top-ranked team, and played every bit like it for most of the game, jumping out to a 33-13 lead on the heals of red-hot shooting from North Carolina State-bound senior Brandon Costner (25 points, including 16 in the first half).

The Colts, meanwhile, were struggling with their shooting, and put themselves in a hole they simply couldn’t climb out of. They did, however, make a valiant effort, outscoring the Pirates 27-15 in the second half, and getting within six, 43-37, with a Stolzenthaler three-pointer with just over a minute left.

But like good teams do, the Pirates hit their foul shots down the stretch, thus earning their state-record 12th Non-Public A title with the 48-40 win.

CBA was led by junior forward Dan Werner’s 16 points, and finished another superb year with a 26-3 mark.

There’s no shame in losing to the state’s best team, especially when you already have a pair of championship banners under your belt