Local hoops teams have mixed results
BY DOUG McKENZIE Correspondent
After beating Middletown South in the recent Shore Conference Tournament, the Red Bank Regional Bucs had every reason to feel good about their chances when the two teams met once again in the Central Jersey Group III semifinals on Saturday.

However, despite picking up right where they left off in the first half, with seniors Will Sanborn and Matt Pebole dominating play with their offensive prowess, the second half was a much different story.

Middletown South proved to be much more than just a team that found a spark in the regular season after suffering through some truly miserable campaigns in recent years. The Eagles clamped down on the Buc offense and dominated the second half to post an unlikely come-frombehind 61-47 victory, and advance to the sectional final (played Tuesday night).

With RBR's dominating one-two punch of Sanborn and Pebole in control in the first half, with Sanborn netting 21 points and Pebole 11, the Bucs appeared poised to end the Eagles' state tournament run as they did in the conference tournament.

Once again, the Eagles were struggling to hang with the Bucs, entering the half down 10, 32-22, despite 11 points from Kyle Cancilleri.While it may have seemed like a case of déjà vu, Middletown South had something else in mind all together.

Once the second half started, Middletown South turned the tides and ran away with the game by shutting down the RBR offense to the tune of a 12-4 edge in the third quarter.

"There's nobody who can stop Will Sanborn and Pebole plays very strong as well," said South senior Garret Thiel, who played despite still nursing a sore ankle hurt in the Eagles' loss to RBR in the SCT. "You can't play (Sanborn)man-to-man.At halftime,we switched to a 2-3 (zone) andwe played like a man defense, extended it, and I just don't think they knew what to do with it."

That is putting it lightly, as the Eagles held Sanborn to just two points after the break,while also holding Pebole to just nine.

Meanwhile, Thiel simply took the game over down the stretch, scoring 15 of his game-high 19 points in the fourth quarter to send the Eagles to their first sectional final in nearly 20 years.

It was a heroic performance from a senior who simply refused to let his high school career end with a loss in his home gym.

"I played on adrenaline," Thiel said. "There was nothing else I could do."

When South took the floor Tuesday night against the SCT champions from Neptune in Franklin Township, it was believed to be the first sectional final since 1979 for the Eagles.

However, regardless of last night's outcome, by beating a RBR team that most people had penciled into the final when the bracket was released, the Eagles proved that their regular season success was not a mirage. Rather it was a precursor of things to come.

"We came from three-and-40- something,'' Thiel said. "We were like the worst team in history, but we're doing very well now. We always knew we had the talent.''

While the RBR boys saw their season come to a close with a 20-8 mark, there was another local team that saw its hopes for a sectional title come to an end over the weekend.

The Rumson-Fair Haven boys, the seventh seed in the CJ Group II bracket, advanced to the semifinals with a 52-45 win over Governor Livingston in the first round, followed by a 59-52 upset of second seeded Delaware Valley in the second round, led by a career-high 36-point effort from junior guard Matt Blumel.

That set up a semifinal contest with Roselle on Saturday, and unfortunately the Bulldogs ran out of magic, falling to the third seed, 50-46. Blumel was sharp once again, scoring 19 points, while James LeCardi also added 19 for the Bulldogs. With the loss, the Bulldogs finished the season at 17-9, however, their run at the sectional title proved that this team, which returns several of its top players, will be a force next season as well.

Local girls teams had more success over the weekend, as both Red Bank Catholic and Rumson-Fair Haven advanced to their respective sectional finals.

The Red Bank Catholic girls, the second seed in the Non-Public South A bracket, knew that they were going to need to find a scoring option other than junior Kristina Danella if they were to beat Camden Catholic.

The Irish were sure to key on the All- State forward, confident that RBC didn't have anyone else that could beat them.

Well, they were wrong. While Danella certainly did her part, scoring 16 points and grabbing 16 rebounds despite facing a boxand one defense, she also got all the help she needed as the Caseys advanced back to the sectional finals with a 64-53 win.

Freshman guard Kasey Hobbie stepped up big when itmatteredmost for RBC, scoring all eight of her points during a 15-0 run to open the fourth quarter that put the game away. Junior forward Mary Ellen Whitlock (13 points), senior forwardMegan Spanarkel (11 points) and freshman guard Mary Kate Byrnes (nine points) also came up big for RBC, who picked an opportune time to put forth one of its most balanced efforts of the year. As good as they were on offense, the Caseys (21-6)were just as impressive on the defensive end of the floor, consistently frustrating the Irish (20-7) with their team defense.

The semifinal win set up an anticipated rematch with a familiar rival in Tuesday's final.

The St. John Vianney girls basketball team won in impressive fashion over Holy Spirit on Saturday, 84-49, led by junior guard Katelyn Linney's 28 points. Up 38- 31 coming out of halftime, the Lady Lancers put this game away with a dominating third quarter, led by Linney, who score 17 of her points in the second half. Showing the killer instinct that this young team wasn't able to capture in the recent SCT, SJV (23-4) outscored the Spartans 46-18 after the break.

The win set up the showdown the Lancers were hoping for, as they got another shot at RBC.

The Lancers and Caseys are quite familiar with each other, as Tuesday night's game was to be their fourth meeting this year, with RBC holding the 2-1 edge. However, it was their last meeting that stuck out in the memories of the Lancer players. In the SCT semifinals, SJV held a 31-23 lead with just over two minutes to play, but were unable to seal the deal, as the Caseys scored the final 10 points of the game to pull out the unlikely 33- 31 win.

The losswas devastating for a Lancer teamthatmissed five consecutive free throws on one-and-one attempts down the stretch. However, the Lancers certainly looked refreshed against Holy Spirit on Saturday, and were licking their chops at the opportunity Tuesday night's game gave them.

The winner of Tuesday night's game will face the Non- Public North A champ on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Ritacco Center in Toms River.

Rumson-Fair Haven was also hoping to advance to this weekend's Group Championships after advancing to Tuesday night's CJ Group II final with a win over Somerville on Friday in the semifinals.

With their 42-27 win, the Bulldogs, the top seed in the bracket, advanced to meet Raritan, the second seed, who beat A.L. Johnson, 52-34, behind Loreta Tonuzi's 19-point effort.

As for the Bulldogs (23-5), they were led by their All- State junior, Kate Miller, who scored 14 points, while Candace Green added 11. RFH took control of this game early on and never looked back, looking very much like the team to beat in this bracket.

With a win over Raritan on Tuesday, RFH would have advanced to tonight's Group II semifinals, at 6 p.m. at Southern Regional, where they would face the winner of the South Jersey Group II bracket.

The winner of tonight's game will play for the Group II title and a trip to the Tournament of Champions this weekend.

Ocean Township's girls also had a chance to advance to the sectional championship over the weekend, but could not find a way to contain Neptune freshman Syessence Davis, who scored 21 points in leading the Scarlet Fliers to a 56- 38 win over the Spartans. Ocean finished the season at 16- 11, while Neptune went on to beat Freehold Borough, 56-54, on Monday to capture the sectional title.