Young Falcons take share of Class B North
Shore girls win their way to postseason
BY VIN RAPOLLA
Staff Writer

SCOTT PILLING staff Anna Pierce and the Shore Regional girls played their way into the state tournament with three straight wins last week.

It's official - the Monmouth Regional boys basketball team is the comeback story of the year.

Coming off a 1-19 season a year ago, the Golden Falcons entered their final regular season game on Tuesday against Red Bank Catholic with a 14-5 mark, the No. 5 ranking in the Shore Conference and most importantly, a share of the Shore's Class B North division (with Neptune) - the team's first division title since the 2001-2002 season when they were the top team in the Class A Central.

While it seems like an unlikely turnaround, last year's struggles provided the Golden Falcons with the type of learning experience the young team needed to adapt to varsity basketball in the Shore Conference.

"They're young, people forget we had four freshmen starting last season," said 10-year veteran coach T.O. Brunson. "We were never really blown out last season; we were in just about every game we played."

Now that his squad has learned how to win those close games, Brunson is well aware of some of the pitfalls his team faces now that the postseason has arrived. Brunson understands that it can be easy for a young team to lose focus, especially after having so much success so quickly.

"You've got to be able to keep such a young team into the game," said Brunson. "We can't be satisfied with what we've done. We have to get into games outside of our division."

Four of the team's losses have come in out-of-division games this year, which is obviously an area that the Gooden Falcons must improve on if they are to stay alive in the postseason.

"With a young team, you have to keep telling the boys that it's playoff time and it's going to be different," said the coach.

While Brunson insists that he was confident that his team would be able to be competitive enough to reach the postseason this year, he acknowledges that it has been a bit of a challenge getting his players to believe in themselves as much as he does. He said he must consistently preach to his players that they can compete against many of the more experienced teams in the conference.

"I know they can play, they have to develop the, 'I belong here attitude'," said Brunson. "We need to show teams we're here to play; get that killer instinct, that swagger."

The Falcons may be one of the younger teams in the Shore, but one thing this team does not lack is depth. Brunson has used up to a 10-man rotation in games. Led by sophomores Joe Willman, Anthony Gibson and Derrick Pruitt, the team has also filled some of its experience gaps with transfers Kyle Fagan and Brenden Cohen.

"With the new guys, the team is really just starting to get to know each other," said Brunson. "They're starting to click and really understand their roles."

Off the bench, the team has used Austin Whitehurst, Neil Thompson, Ricky Stevens Richard Gilbert and freshman Neil Thompson.

The Falcons will also benefit in the postseason from the return of senior Joe Connors, who suffered an early season injury, and was certainly missed.

"In many of our losses we really missed Joe," said Brunson. "All of our losses were close. If we had him in the lineup we really could have had some different results."

With just the one more regular season match against RBC yesterday, the Falcons were hoping to go into the postseason with a decisive win to help nurture the team's growing confidence.

"We'd like to get a win and go into the postseason on a high note," said Brunson.

Once the Central Jersey Group III tournament starts, the Golden Falcons may get another shot at Neptune, a team they split with in the regular season, as both squads are likely to get high seeds in what should be a competitive bracket.

Another local team that should be among the higher seeds in this bracket is the Red Bank Regional Bucs, who were upset by Raritan on Monday, 72-59, to fall to 18-2 on the season. The Class A Central champion Bucs are ranked 15th in the state, and will likely be the team to beat in the section.

All in all, it's been a stellar season for the local boys basketball teams, as five teams qualified for the state tournament - Monmouth, Red Bank, Shore Regional, Red Bank Catholic and Long Branch.

Shore lost to Red Bank 58-44, on Saturday to fall to 15-4 on the year, but rebounded with a 65-51 win over Asbury Park on Monday night, clinching the Class B Central title.

With only two starters back from last year's squad, head coach Rich Sherman's team has proved to be one of the better teams in the Conference, and has earned one of the higher seeds in the Central Jersey Group II bracket.

RBC, who entered Tuesday's game with Monmouth at 10-9 following a 59-43 win over Barnegat on Saturday, will have a tough time getting out of the first round of the Non-Public South A tournament - annually one of the most competitive sectional tournament's in the state.

As for Long Branch, 11-8 after a 90-76 loss to Neptune on Monday, they too will be in the CJ Group III bracket, where they could see a familiar Shore Conference foe in the first round.

Shore girls get hot, and just in time

The Shore Regional girls needed to win three games last week earn a state playoff berth.

Mission accomplished.

After knocking off Point Beach and Keyport earlier in the week, the Blue Devils won a tight 52-48 contest over Red Bank on Saturday to improve to 10-9 on the year, and clinch the postseason berth.

It was an impressive team effort that sealed the deal for Shore, as Hope Brower and Cori Murray led the team with 12 points apiece, while junior co-captain Anna Pierce did a solid defensive job on the Bucs' Deanna Mendelson late in the game to help the Blue Devils overcome a late deficit.

For the Blue Devils to even reach the postseason this season is a tremendous accomplishment, considering the team graduated eight players from last year, and is made up of primarily underclassmen who have had to learn how to play together.

This week, Shore hopes to maintain its winning ways in order to qualify for the Shore Conference Tournament. The cutoff for that tournament is Saturday.

The other local girls teams to qualify for the state tournament include Red Bank Catholic (15-3), Rumson-Fair Haven (16-3), Monmouth Regional (13-7) and Ocean Township (12-9).

RBC will play in a loaded Non-Public South A bracket which will include one of the hottest teams in the state in rival St. John Vianney, while Rumson-Fair Haven should be the top seed in the CJ Group II tournament.

Monmouth and Ocean will likely be tested immediately in a very strong CJ Group III tournament, which should be topped by the Shore's top-ranked team, Neptune.