Shore Conf. competitiveness has never been better
BY DOUG McKENZIE Correspondent
Parity. It's a word we're hearing more and more in the world of professional sports, as leagues in the various sports target a level playing field as a means of marketing their games.

The reasoning behind such a goal is simple - the more teams there are with legitimate chances to succeed, the more people will be drawn into the drama of the title chases.

While parity has proven to be a hot commodity at the professional level this winter, high school sports fans in the Shore Conference are also bearing witness to a healthy dose of parity in some of the more popular sports of the season.

The boys and girls basketball season is shaping up to be one of the more exciting campaigns in recent history, as a number of teams on both the boys and girls sides of play are showing signs of being legitimate title contenders.

The same can be said in high school wrestling, where the gap appears to be shrinking between the Shore's top teams and the teams that have recently been struggling to compete with the perennial powers of the sport. In addition, the battles being waged among the Shore's very best teams have provided drama from the very beginning of the season.

On the ice, the formation of the Shore Conference's new league has led to intense local competitions among teams that previously have not had the opportunity create the types of rivalries they enjoy in other sports. The early returns of the new schedule are encouraging, as the Shore's players are now getting more of a chance to face off against familiar faces, resulting in an overall improvement in the quality of the action on the ice.

With the Shore Conference Tournaments rapidly approaching in all four of the aforementioned sports, now would be a good time to start thinking about just how entertaining this postseason could be.

While the Neptune High School boy's basketball team has emerged as the hottest team in the Shore (having not lost a game since the opening weekend of the season), they are certainly not the type of dominant team that has everyone else intimidated. The fact is, such a team does not exist this season, as the top teams in the Shore have been knocking each other off all winter long. The level of competitiveness among the top boys teams has been refreshing, with several local teams among the very best of the group.

Middletown South is being called the emerging power of the Shore, thanks in large part to their win over CBA on Jan. 5 - their first win over the Colts since 1981. With players like Kyle Cancillieri and Garret Thiel leading the way, head coach Kevin Cullen's team is playing as well as anyone right now, making it hard to believe this is the same team that won just 16 games in the last three seasons combined. The Eagles showed signs of improvement last year, when they went 13-12 in Cullen's first year, but their improvement this year has them in the hunt for the Shore'sANorth title and has made them a serious contender in the SCT.

CBA, meanwhile, has shown flashes of their expected excellence under first year head coach Geoff Billet, however, they have also struggled at times to find balance in their offense. Senior guard Mike Kuhn and junior guard Brian Neller have been every bit as good as advertised, however, if the Colts (9-3) are to get back to the SCT final, they'll need someone else to emerge as a scoring threat down the stretch.

Red Bank is another boy's team being cited as one of the better teams in the Shore. While the Bucs (8-2) lost a tough one to Neptune last week, they won a competitive game against a hard-working Long Branch team (4-6) team on Saturday. The Bucs have two of the Shore's top scorers in senior guard Will Sanborn and senior forward Matt Pebole. In fact, Sanborn is currently third in the Shore at nearly 20 points-per-game, while Pebole is not far behind at 18.5 points per game. While RBR has proven it can play with anyone in the Shore, like CBA, they're going to need to prove they can get scoring from other people when needed if they hope to contend in the SCT.

But the list of local contenders doesn't end there. While not currently ranked in the Shore's top 10, Rumson-Fair Haven (7- 3) has won some big games already, and could be a tough out come tournament time. Red Bank Catholic (5-4) has also shown some potential, while Monmouth Regional (6-4) and Ocean Township (5-5) have played well enough to stay around the .500 mark so far despite playing in the loaded Class B North division. The Keyport Red Raiders have quietly raced out to a 7-3 start and are the top public school team in the B Central division so far.

With a few weeks to go before the start of the SCT, it will be interesting to see which of these local teams can build off the momentum they've gained so far.

The girls basketball landscape is even more wide open, as for the first time in a long time, the conversation regarding SCT title contenders isn't being dominated by the likes of Red Bank Catholic, St. John Vianney and Rumson-Fair Haven. While those three perennial powers are certainly still in the title mix, there are a number of other teams that are just as likely to emerge victorious in the SCT.

St. John Vianney is currently ranked No. 1 in the Shore, having won seven straight games entering a week that includes games with both RBC and RFH.

However, with a relatively young roster, the Lancers will need to prove they can win in the tough, defensive struggles in the postseason.

RFH got off to a bit of a slow start (for them), but is beginning to look like the typically balanced Bulldogs team we've come to expect. Head coach George Sourlis's team beatRBClastweek, andwith awin over SJV yesterday, would have vaulted right to the top of the Shore's rankings.

RBC has been absolutely decimated by injuries, losing senior Kristina Coppolino to a torn ACL in her knee, and senior Kim Talbot to a torn ACL just five days later. Throw into the mix Kiara Belen's transfer to Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas, and the Caseys hardly resemble the team most people had penned as the team to beat in the Shore when the season began. However, head coach Joe Montano likes what he's been seeing from his squad despite the adversity, and with history as a reference, it's safe to assume he'll have his girls playing their best basketball of the season come the postseason.

Colts Neck is a dangerous team, with sophomore Brooke Hampton playing as well as anyone in the Shore, while St. Rose (10-1), Howell (8-1), Lacey (9-1), Neptune (8-3) and Freehold (8-2) are also looking very strong.

Over in Hazlet, the Raritan Rockets have raced out to a 7-4 start, and are getting better each week. While they have been impressive in beating teams they are expected to beat, the Rockets are lacking that big win over another top team as a means of solidifying their status as a legitimate SCT title contender.

Among the other local teams who are playing well at this point are Shore Regional (9-3) and Mater Dei (6-3), who are both among the top teams in the B Central division, along with Keyport (6-4). Up in B North, the Ocean Spartans (6-4) are battling with Freehold Borough for the top spot, while Holmdel (4-6) is trying hard to stay around the .500 mark despite playing a difficult A Central schedule filled with the likes of SJV, RFH, RBC and Raritan.

Middletown South likely won't challenge Howell and Colts Neck for the A North title, but at 5-3, the Eagles are playing well enough to make a run at a pair of postseason berths. And after playing a tough schedule, the potential is there for South to be a dangerous team.

While the list of teams atop the Shore Conference's wrestling standings is a familiar one, the gap between those teams has closed considerably.While in the past, the outcome of the SCT has been relatively easy to predict, this year's tourna- ment is setting up to be one of the more unpredictable events in recent history.

In recent seasons, there has been little doubt who the wrestling team to beat has been in the Shore. In fact, not only have the Jackson Memorial Jaguars been the Shore's elite team, they have also been the No. 1-ranked team in the state.

This year, however, is a different story. Though the Jags remain one of the very best teams in the state, they have been joined in that status with a handful of other local teams.

Leading that list is the Long Branch Green Wave, who is currently ranked No. 1 in the Shore and No. 3 in the state (one spot ahead of Jackson in both polls). Head coach Danny George's grapplers have handled all comers thus far, getting off to a 7- 0 start, most recently fighting off an inspired effort from another of the Shore's top teams from Ocean Township.

With a loaded line-up from top to bottom, Long Branch has looked every bit like an SCT title contender; however, what the Green Wave is missing is the all-important experience of competing in the grandest of stages. The Shore Conference has some of the very best wrestling in the nation, and teams like Jackson, Howell, Southern and Brick Memorial are accustomed to competing in the spotlight that comes with the SCT's final rounds. Long Branch will need to avoid getting caught up in the moment, and simply continue to wrestle one match at a time. If they do that, they have the talent to beat anyone, including the Jaguars.

Jackson lost a shocker to Toms River North earlier this year, in a match where two of their top competitors, including the undefeated and Rutgers-bound ScottWinston, could not make weight. However, coming off impressive lopsided recent wins over Southern, BrickMemorial and Paulsboro (ranked ninth in the state), Jackson has begun to show signs of reverting to the championship form they enjoyed over the last several years under head coach Scott Goodale (now the coach at Rutgers).Without question, the Jaguars will be very tough to beat in the SCT.

Brick Memorial entered the year hoping to emerge as the best in the Shore, and thus far they've handled everyone they've faced with the exception of Jackson Memorial. The Mustangs have a balanced line-up, and will certainly be in the mix for an SCT title.

The same can be said of Howell, who is 8-1 early on, having recently beaten Ocean Township in a big dual meet. The Rebels are another balanced team that has plenty of championship-level experience. It would come as a surprise to few people if Howell found a way to make it to the SCT final.

The Raritan Rockets likely turned some heads with an impressive, dominating showing at the Kingway Quad last week, where they beat the host team, as well as Clearview and Hammonton. They also beat up a good Wall Township team last week, and enter this week's action at 13-0. With an upperclass-heavy line-up, Raritan has been better than expected thus far, and could very well be the sleeper pick of the SCT. While questions exist about whether their depth can match up with some of the other elite teams in the Shore, with the right breaks here and there, head coach Rob Nucci's Rocket squad may be poised to enter the championship picture this year, after flirting with that kind of status in recent seasons.

Ocean Township showed a lot of heart in its 31-26 loss to Long Branch on Saturday. The Spartans (9-3), who face one of the toughest schedules in the state, may have proved they are a little better than people thought with their effort against the Green Wave. And with a senior-laden line-up loaded with postseason experience, don't be surprised to see Ocean make a lot of noise once the regular season wraps up.

Point Boro is another team people are pointing to as a competitor in the SCT, however, despite their 9-0 record, none of those wins have come against the handful of teams considered the favorites to emerge with the team title.

Among the other local wrestling teams performing well right now are St. John Vianney (6-4), despite a somewhat surprising loss to Marlboro on Saturday, Red Bank Regional (5-1), CBA (6-4), Shore Regional (5-4), Middletown North (3-4) and Matawan (4-5).

CBA is without question the top local ice hockey team this year. The Colts entered Saturday's match-up with rival Seton Hall Prep in the midst of a ninegame winning streak - a streak that saw them allow just 10 goals.

While CBAcould only manage a 1-1 tie with the Pirates on Saturday, the Colts (9- 1-2) remain the top team in their conference.

The good news for the Shore Conference is that CBA remains a Gordon Conference team. That means the rest of the local teams are left to fight it out for the status as the Shore's best team.

Right now, St. John Vianney looks like that team, with a 7-1-1 mark entering the week. However, Red Bank Catholic is poised to challenge the Lancers for that distinction, as is Monsignor Donovan. Those two teams skated to a 2-2 tie on Saturday, with the Caseys improving to 7- 1-2 on the year, and the Griffins earning an 8-2-1 mark.

RBC lost an early season match-up to SJV, 2-1, but has since gone 6-0-2, and emerged as a title contender. Their schedule this month will certainly present some challenges, as the Caseys will take on Rumson-Fair Haven (7-3-1), CBA, St. Joseph ofMetuchen (7-1) and Notre Dame (7-1).

RFH has looked good overall, just not so much in divisional play, where they are just 2-2-1 against the likes of the B North rivals Manasquan, Red Bank Regional and St. Rose. RBR, meanwhile, is 5-4 thus far.

While SJV and RBC are the top teams in A North, both Wall Township (7-5) and Middletown North (7-6) are also solid teams capable of making some postseason noise.

While CBA is generally considered to be its own class, the rest of the locals have been pretty competitive with each other thus far, making for an exciting high school season.