CC 88, Wilson 66

Wow. That's porbably the best I've seen a HS girls' team play since Willingboro in the 02-03 season.

Actually, Crew probably didn't have her best game, but she did hold the solution to the Wilson pressure, and she didn't have to be perfect when everyone else was just money. Ra's hands were great today, and she finished. Matera made great decisions with the ball, Gallagher had one of the most efficient games I've seen her play, and Lane did what she does, which is rebound, pass and defend. They just didn't show Wilson any weaknesses today, which is why I was suprised when Coach Dyer went after the officials after the game.

Maybe I'm now just "the guy who will write about officiating" -- though I don't think it's fair since Pete Shnatz did the same in the Inky last week -- but Mancini's comments seem to have emboldened Dyer. "I'm not afraid to talk about it," he kept saying. "When your team is playing against seven, you have no chance. If they would just let us play defense, then we could play some basketball against anybody. We're not this bad."

And while I agree with him on that last point -- Wilson isn't 22 points inferior to any team in the state, it was just one of those days -- I find it hard to agree with him this time on the officiating. From where I sat, I thought the refs did a decent job, and considering the game's pace, I'd even go so far as to say it was a well-officiated game. Rashidat only went to the line a couple of times, and given her size and skill, she doesn't need the refs' help to dominate the way she did. I know that Coach Dyer will disagree, and maybe he saw things that I didn't see, but in the grand scheme of things I can say with absolute certainty that officiating did not decide the game's result. Catholic was just too good on this particular day, and certain players had off days for Wilson.

Anyway, congratulations to Chrissy Palladino for No. 400, which makes her No. 3 on the active list in the area, as far as I can tell. There were some Dark Ages back there five or six seasons ago, for which we have no stats or concrete results, and that makes things hard when we're trying to figure out the lists of area leaders for scoring and coaching. Basically, we know the record now both belong to Wildwood -- Moni Johnson in career scoring and Dave Troiano in career wins -- but about three or four places in the top 10 are a complete mystery. I do feel safe in saying that, among active coaches, Troiano is obviously No. 1 with over 500, Tom Inzillo from Hammonton is No. 2 with something between 405 and 410, with Palladino closing in with 400 even. The only retired coach I'm sure falls in there is Bill Ulrich, who used to hold the record with 503. It's hard to believe only four coaches in the history of South Jersey GB have 400 or more victories, but the evidence is lacking either way.

As I mentioned a few days ago, the plan was to cover two games today, and I followed through with that plan. I have to go out and let some stress loose right now, but I'll post about the Timber Creek-Shawnee game sometime in the next 12-16 hours. I''l be covering the Holy Spirit-Willingboro game tomorrow evening at the Boro. That should be a lot of fun, especially now that both JSykes AND SPirit's full complement of transfers are all active at the same time. I'll be itnerested to see if Rich and Alleyne can rattle Sykes with pressure, and I can't wait to see if the Johnson-Frazier-Marsh front court combination can stand up to Willingboro's underrated Crews-Ajike duo.

New C-P T20

Once again, the top part of this sucker was simple. It started getting hard at No. 10 and by No. 15 or 16, it was as difficult as it gets:

1. CCath
2. Gami
3. Wilson
4. Spirit
5. Boro
6. AC
7. RV
8. CH East
9. OC
10. Eustace
11. PVI
12. WTwp
13. Willstown
14. Cumberland
15. Cherokee
16. SHeart
17. Mainland
18. EHT
19. Haddonfield
20. Glassboro

Almost: Collingswood, Heights, Moorestown, Timber Creek, Sterling, Haddon Twp., Cinnaminson, Pleasantville, WWCath.

I decided to put BE at 10 because I needed to move PVI up and BE beat PVI. Plus, BE has not lost to anybody outside the T10 with Lazos in the lineup, and she's playing some great basketball of late.

SHeart getting clobbered by a JSykes-less Spirit team was troubling, but not enought to drop them out of the T20 altogether. I'm wondering what will happen when the Hearts play Wildwood Catholic. That CAL National II Division is deceptively tough, with just one easy win in five squads.

The Colonial continues to be a pain in the neck. Somebody from Heights asked me before the HField game if the Garnets would stay ranked if they won, and my knee-jerk answer was, "Yes, of course." But the more I looked at it, the more bothersome it became, what with the interwoven league losses and that defeat to Mainland at the Cougar Classic. Plus, I think this week it's Collingswood's turn to be playing the best basketball in the Colonial, and they beat HH to prove it.

So, I put Mainland back in for having beaten EHT and HH earlier in the season and kicking the crap out of Hammonton 66-17 on Friday. Then I decided to leave Haddonfield at 19 despite two straight losses and a two-overtime scare at Audubon before that, mostly because the Dawgs are the only Colonial team with real, quality out-of-conference wins, which came against No. 8 CH East and No. 16 Sacred Heart. I'm not sure how good that SH win really is, but the CHE victory looks better and better, even if it is getting farther and farther in the past.

I'm fairly certain there will always be a Colonial representative in the T20, but the days of the league having five teams in there have taken a vacation. Collingswood was probably the next team in, but next week it could be somebody else from the Colonial Big 5.

Finally, at No. 20 I put Glassboro there because they only have two losses, and have strung together 10 straight wins. If the Bulldogs get Rachel Fowler back, they might well be the SJ Group 2 favorite, in addition to being the top seed.

Anyway, I'll be at CC-Wilson II on Tuesday afternoon, and I might try to get to Shawnee-Timber Creek later that night, since I haven't seen TC in a while and I haven't seen the Renegades at all. Plus, that game is basically for the Olympic Patriot title. Hopefully there will be room in the paper for both games.

Gloucester 43, GCath 42

I didn't post about the Gloucester Catholic-Gloucester thriller yesterday because, honestly, I was done with girls' basketball and work in general in my head. Between working too many hours and chasing the CC-HF score on deadline, there was no love left in my heart for the game. I'm hoping and expecting to get it back by Tuesday, for WW-CC.

Anyway, just a couple thoughts on the battle of Gloucester City:

I thought, for a moment that Catholic's scoring woes had taken a much-needed rest, but they walked in the door just in time to rescue Gloucester. The Lions also did plenty to rescue themselves, hitting big shots to take big chunks out of a big lead, but the last minute of the game nobody scored. I felt like a more offensively confident team might have found a way there, but those GC girls's egos haven't had the easiest time of it. My heart broke for them because they really played their hearts out, especially Alyssa Reiter. The look on Lisa Gedaka's face afterwords was painful to see, because I know she was thrilled with the way her team played for 31/2 quarters.

I thought there maybe one tactical error on the part of GC -- and I preface this comment by stating that I believe Lisa G. is solidly in the top five GB coaches in this area, and this is strictly a hindsight thing. But Chelsea Connor picked up her fourth foul pretty early in the fourth quarter, and Reiter was able to take her consistently off the dribble. As far as GC was concerned, I would have liked to see them go at Connor a bit more one-on-one. I know she can block shots, but every time she tries she risks the whistle. You get her out of there, you take away a good foul shooter and unclog the post a lot. Again in hindsight, she ended up deciding the game with defense and 6-for-6 from the line.

Congratulations to Gloucester, though. That's a great win in extremely exciting circumstances, coming from way back in front of a packed gym. Kelly Cerrone hit a big shot, Havers hit a couple, even Erin McAdams chipped in with an unlikely three. If she can hit that shot more consistently in the future, and I expect her to, teams are going to have to guard her more closely, she'll have more room to make plays with the pass and she'll turn into a really dynamite HS ballplayer.

Palmyra 62, Florence 42

This was my first game of the season in one of my favorite divisions, the Burlco Freedom. The teams from this division don't often crack the T20, but the rivalries are fierce. Palmyra-Riverside is probably the bloodiest of these rivalries, but Palmyra-Florence -- at least in girls' basketball -- apears nearly as spirited.

This is also my first time seeing Lailah Pratt play. She's pretty good, though I'm sure I didn't see her best for a number of reasons. She did go 16-for-18 from the free throw line, which is a nice state no matter what level or even gender you're talking about. Those were some of the toughest 21 points I've seen in a while, because Florence usually got its money's worth. I might have done the same thing, because she's obviously got the ability to sink you if you don't slow her down somehow.

I thought Florence played awesome in the first quarter, and was extremely unlucky to be up by just one. Lakia Artis couldn't miss from long range, and her 10 first-quarter points were the only thing keeping Florence from a big edge. When the Flashes came back to earth, Palmyra just kept going, scoring 16 in each of the first two periods. Lauren Jacobsen's game was interesting -- kind of a point center at some moments -- but she ran into early foul trouble. The team's real point guard, Carly Blanton, was fun to watch too. She's like the rivalry -- a lot of spirit.

Walt Burrows and Bob Viggiano both warned me that the Florence gym is always really really hot, but I didn't notice any difference from other gyms. I came prepared, dressed in layers and ready to shed down to a t-shirt, but I didn't need it. I think one of the things that makes the Burlco Freedom so cool is the gyms, many of which seem to be old and creaky, with those skinny kinds of floorboards. Sitting in the bleachers, I could feel every bounce of the ball and when Jacobsen and Palmyra's Lindy Iannacone collided late in the game and both went down, the thump was so strong I wondered how either could have stood up. But thankfully, both eventualy did and -- unless I'm mistaken -- everyone escaped the game without serious injury. It's kind of a miracle, because those girls were taking no prisoners whatsoever.

One last thing about this game: Florence coach Vince Cipriano had one of the best quotes of the year, which may or may not make the paper depending on the personal whim of the CP copy editors. He was unhappy with his kid's scatterbrained mistakes in the last three quarters, and said, "This is a bad country to be weak in and it's a bad country to be dumb in. Right now we're weak and we're a little bit dumb." I think some of the right-leaning sports desk might balk at putting the words "bad" and "country" next to each other in print, but I thought the quote was hilarious. And it wasn't meant to really down the players, other than to say they have to play smarter or expect more games like tonight's.

I'll be at another rivalry game tomorrow afternoon -- Gloucester Catholic at Gloucester -- and I'm looking forward to watching the Lions' red-headed freshman point guard, who finally has a name attached to her in my head. "Erin McAdams" is a phrase I've heard from several people in the last couple of weeks, as well-meaning folks have endeavored to help me out. In any case, I'm looking forward to it. See you there.

Response to dtsfan

First of all, I don't remember screwing the chapter with the Heather Kile story, unless you're referring to the quotes by Trish Green. (For those who don't remember, a couple of years ago I wrote a story about former Holy Cross and Swarthmore star Heather Kile, who was a cadet referee at the time.) But I don't think you can tell that story without someone to voice the concerns that so many seems to have. I'm not interesting in putting out propaganda for anybody, even an organization which I believe in and admire, like WC5.

Second, you're wrong in saying the section of the story in today's paper about the sixth man t-shirts was a manifestation of my opinion. It read, "Haddonfield left feeling like the referees should have been wearing them." Given the quotes that appeared -- even disregarding all those that didn't appear -- isn't it clear that's the way Haddonfield felt?

Third, I don't think officiating is easy. In fact, I think it's extremely hard, especially in basketball. I've spoken with lots of referees and when they tell me it's hard, I not only believe them, I imagine it's harder than I could even understand. But to talk to them after a game -- to quote the refs -- would only throw gas on the fire in addition to singling out the officials involved. As I said in the previous post, I think it was a case of decent officials having an off night in a very big game. It was definitely a judgment call including the stuff in the story for the paper, but I think the fact that two experienced reporters saw the same things, heard the same things and essentially wrote the same thing ought to tell you something. As for this site, I'm entitled to do pretty much anything I want to here, though I don't believe I've acted irresponsibly anyway.

Heights 46, Haddonfield 33

I had too much to do last night, in the way of updating records and finishing the stuff for Saturday's Varsity section, to even think about posting about this game, but I knew I'd have to come back to it today, however briefly.

Coaches complain about refereeing all the time, especially in this sport, but I almost always ignore them when it comes times to write the stories. Those of you who picked up today's edition or read the story online already know that I couldn't -- or at least I didn't -- do the same last night. Part of it was that both coaches were in off moods after the game. I couldn't figure out quite what Hamburger was upset about, but Mancini was seriously ticked. He's not normally a quote machine, and I was struggling to get him going, asking standard questions you ask a coach whose team just came up on the short end of a big game. The questions sound inane, and in point of fact they are inane, but they're really just ways to let the coaches say stuff like, "You know, it's a long season and it's not over. We'll get back to work tomorrow and try to learn from this. (Inset other team) deserved to win today, but I think we've got better games ahead of us. We'll take it one day at a time and hopefully things start to go our way." That's not the kind of answer I was getting from Mancini. All he really opened up about was the officiating, which I actually agree was a factor, especially in the first half. (I have a post or two about officiating in me, but that's for the future. For now, just know that I disagree with the annual uproar against WC5 for some very important reasons.) So while I would go a certain distance to protect a coach from what many would see as bad judgment, he didn't give me (or Pete from the Inky) much else to go with. And he wasn't all that civil, which didn't help either.

As I said, I'm not totally unsympathetic to Mancini's feelings. In fact, when I talked to Sam Carter and asked her how she turned the rebounding so hard in Heights' direction, she said something very much like, "I started pushing them down and it was a lot easier." Now, maybe she doesn't know she's not allowed to do that. It seems unlikely in a player of her skill and experience, but it definitely lends credence to a Mancini comment like, "(Carter) gets away with a lot."

Officials are human, however, and as entitled to a bad night as any player or coach, so I tried to stay away from specifics in the game story. I don't think it's any more fair to dwell on those mistakes as it would be to mention a girl bricking a couple foul shots that could have tied the game in the middle of the second quarter. Nobody was saying the refs at last night's game were out to get Haddonfield, they just didn't have the best night.

Carter played a nice game, and because somebody had mentioned she probably belonged on the list of All-SJ midyear candidates, I watched her a little more closely than I might have. She definitely has incredible ability, but I couldn't help thinking she should have been dominating that game. She was taller and bigger than anybody else out on the court. I know she had a sprained ankle, but she claimed it didn't bother her after warm-ups, and I'll give her a pass on running the floor for that anyway. She has very good hands to go with her strength, and she was able to do a lot of things one-handed, where most female players need two. At times, however, she needed two and used one anyway, and that's problematic when there are so many fundamentally sound girls out there. Overall, I think she has awesome promise, and could well dominate the league as a senior, even with a talent as bright as Meredith Kennedy on her own squad.

Refs or no, Kennedy was the star of the game last night. I was impressed as ever with her and Ryanne Donnellon, and the two girls may be forever linked in my mind after this. Donnellon's game seemed more about spot-up shooting and Kennedy's was about more getting to the basket, but I know both has each capability. I saw the same ability to be creative in traffic, perhaps with a little edge to Kennedy for a couple of truly awesome baseline drives. Donnellon's stroke from the outside is pretty, and when she made her first I thought she might never miss. But of course, she did. It happens to all shooters, even the great ones, which brings me to my final point.

When I talk about Haddonfield to other folks, one phrase keeps coming up: "They do what they do." And Mancini sort of said it himself in that excruciating post-game interview last night: "We are what we are." I know the Dawgs can shoot, but they've hit a very cold couple of weeks and I think, with the game in reach as late was halfway through the fourth last night, it might have been time to call an audible and try to get to the basket a few times. Donnellon was the only one doing it last night, and she was in foul trouble from the first quarter on. I never count shots, mostly because I can't do that and count rebounds and assists and steals at the same time, but partly because the stats would be ugly on most nights. But I wish I had counted the Haddonfield threes in the fourth quarter. I bet they took a three on more than half their possessions in the final period. Lupinski made one, but they had just one other field goal in the entire eight minutes.

Anyway, enough. I'm headed up to Florence tonight to see the Flashes take on Lailah Pratt and Palmyra. Florence could clinch a playoff berth with a win. Should be interesting. See you there.

Paul VI 58, Washington Twp. 45

This wasn't a division game, but the atmosphere was all charged up anyway.

Maybe it was the desperation that PVI has been under for the last few weeks, needing to win every single winnable game to make the playoff. Maybe it was the Maids one win away from clinching its own place in the postseason. Maybe... probably, actually... it was a rowdy bunch of fans. I was sitting at center court, about halfway up the bleachers just on the visitors' side of the gym, and some Washington Township students were sitting right in front ot me. If the Paul VI players hadn't responded so well to their relentless heckling, I would have said it crossed the line. It was kind of funny after a while. During a lull, one of them yelled out the unimaginative, "You suck," and one of the Reillys let go what I could only describe as "a withering stare," right at the guy. Late in the game, with Megan Montchyk going to the line every 20 seconds or so and drilling her shots, the Township fans got desperate and started asking for prom dates, which I mentioned to Montchyk after the game. She just said, "I've already got one." It struck me as funny enough to include in the "Inside the Game" box that goes along with the game story in the paper.

Speaking of the story, there was a real space crunch tonight and quite a bit of it got cut off, including Washington Township coach Donna Costa's take. The quote I used, or tried to use, was kind of innocuous, but she was not happy with somebody. I had neither the time nor the inclination to delve any further than that in our conversation, but apparently there were Maids who did not play with the urgency Costa was looking for. I won't even speculate on who that might be.

Anyway, after seeing PVI play for the first time, I can see how they might give any team trouble. They're not only tall, they're very long. I lost count of the times they affected Washington Township shots that looked open just a split second before, barely outreached a better-positioned Minutemaid for a rebound, or made an unlikely catch in the low post. Washington Township's defenders were taking risks on some of those plays, seeing they had equal position with the offensive player, but the PVI girls would just pluck the ball out of the air and turn unguarded to the basket, the WTwp defender having gambled herself out of the play.

I was also impressed with the PVI aggressiveness in transition. Maybe four or five times, they threw long over the Township pressure to a teammate breaking behind the D. It really looked like a football play, where a wideout catches the safety flatfooted and the QB just throws it out there, letting the reciever track it down. Except this almost always worked because they could let the ball bounce. That's the kind of risk that even turnover-phobic coaches can like, because it loosens up the pressure and makes the other team think, plus it often yields a layup, which all coaches love to see.

I was impressed with all five PVI starters today, though it was difficult to tell them apart at times. All those Reillys look alike, and their numbers are similar. Plus Meg Harker is tall too, with a number consecutive with the Reillys. I thought I was going to have a tough enough time differentiating between Amanda Jennings and Kate Montgomery on Washington Township, but unfortunately for Costa and the Maids, those two never got hot at the same time so it wasn't that hard for me.

Washington Township certainly didn't play the same level of game they did last week against Cherokee, but I think they just went to the well one too many times. The players seemed maybe a little too comfortable with the idea of being a fourth-quarter team, and a 10-point deficit wasn't as daunting as it should have been. If they're going to win the division and/or go far in SJ Group 4, Washington Township is going to have to play with some leads, or at least keep it real close. There are only so many miracles in the bag, and a team never knows when they're going to run out.

I was very happy for the Eagles, however, as it appears they're over the hump as far as the playoffs are concerned. All they have to do, it seems, is beat Little Flower and not lose to Camden County Tech, and they can just play the Eustace game for gravy. I have to figure out where they should be ranked now, though there are some more games between now and then. They don't really have any bad losses, and if they avenge the one to BE, I could see them jumping into the Top 10, by virtue of the wins over Haddonfield and Washington Twp.

Speaking of the Haddons, Heights might have been guilty of looking ahead today, and Haddonfield almost got caught too. Collingswood took out HH one game before Thursday's home showdown with the Dawgs. Big win for the Colls. I almost went to that game, but I'll just have to catch Collingswood sometime soon. I will, however, be at the big Thursday game, which is now just for a share of the Colonial lead. Haddonfield almost let chaos reign in the Colonial, but pulled out a two-overtime win at Audubon. That was the Green Wave's second 2OT game in a couple weeks, and I feel bad for them. A win there could have repaired the damage done in a loss to Paulsboro and put them back on track for a playoff berth, which now looks like a real long shot. Anyway, if Heights beats Haddonfield Thursday, they'll both have two league losses and they'll have split with each other, leaving the stage open for a spoiler. Collingswood has three losses with wins over Haddon Township and Heights; Haddon Township has two losses with wins over Haddonfield and Sterling; Heights already has wins over Sterling and Haddon Township; Haddonfield has victories over Heights, Collingswood and Sterling. The Silver Knights would appear to be in the worst position, but they have just three losses, plus a win over Collingswood and the biggest X-factor in the league with Kate Brennan, depending whether she's healthy.

So, the game that promised to tie everything up in a nice neat bow now offers little of the sort. If Haddonfield wins, however, it will definitely be difficult for anybody to wrest the conference title from their grasp entirely. Basically, I'm predicting right now that the Colonial champ will have three league losses, and anybody who finished with just two will look like a runaway champ.

Anyway, see you at Heights.

New C-P T20

I'm pretty tired today, and the changes weren't monumental, so I'm going to keep the analysis brief. In any case, here goes:

1. the Irish
2. Gami
3. Wilson
4. Spirit
5. Boro
6. AC
7. RV
8. CH East
9. OCity
10. Haddons
11. Billstown
12. the 'Maids
13. Cumberland
14. the Hearts
15. Heights
16. BE
17. PVI
18. Cherokee
19. Pennsauken
20. EHT

Almost: Mainland, Moorestown, Sterling, Pleasantville, Cinnaminson, NBC, Colls, HTwp, HC, Delran

I finally have the top the way I really, really wanted to put it at the beginning of the season -- CC, Gami, WW, Spirit -- but now with the addition of two more transfers, who knows how good Spirit really is. And Wilson has played better and better, Gami has struggled, and Boro still hasn't lost to anybody from SJ.

I feel good about the top of the list, though, and even the rest of the ranking is probably one of the most comfortable of the year so far. The only real hemming and hawing on my part came at the very ened, where I wondered what to do with Mainland after the bad loss to Pleasantville and the good one to Gami. Eventually, I decided to put the winner of the Pleasantville-Egg Harbor Township game in at No. 20, and it turned out to be EHT. Further, I decided that I could not drop a team (Heights) that did not lose, even though the team they lost to the week before lost to an unranked squad.

It sounds confusing, but trsut me when I say that this was an easy week.

Midyear All-SJ candidates

Remember, there are only five places on the All-SJ first team, and five on the second team. That's all the CP names, and then we do two teams each for Group 4, Group 3, 2, 1 and Non-Public.

So this is a list of girls that I feel have earned consideration with their play in the first half of the season. This is not to say somene not on the list cannot make one of the two All-SJ teams for the CP, but it just means they aren't on my radar screen yet. I full expect, and hope, to be surprised later on in the season.

Anyway, in no particular order:

Centers:
Rashidat Junaid
Sara Mostafa
Chelsea Cole

Power forwards:
Erin Floyd
Laura Sweeney
Ivy Abiona
Chelsi Johnson

Small forwards:
Tasha Cannon
De'ree Fooks
Katie Piekielski
Elise Graham
Katie Brennan
Kiesha Beavers
Tara Booker

Shooting guards:
Jessica Gerald
Brittany Smith
Ashley Baker
Meredith Kennedy
Christine Matera

Point guards:
Jordan Sykes
Jasmine Crew
Shinaa Cross
Ryanne Donnellon
Lauren Howell

Dark horses:
Mary Beato, Lindsay Hudspeth, Krystal Lazos, Keyona Grant, Gina Catanzariti (sp?), Aiesha Alleyne, Lauren Gregg, etc.

Now, there are names I left off the list on purpose and there are names I left off because they simply slipped my mind, and I'll leave the reader to speculate on which list any given omitted player belongs on. Also, there are teams out there I have yet to see play a full game. Mainland spings to mind, and Briglia or Cohen may belong on that list, but I saw the Mustangs play like two meaningless minutes at the end of the Heights game, so I couldn't say. Also, somebody like Coleman from Pleasantville may belong, but I only saw her on a bad day.

As I mentioned before, there's a lot of season left. These are just the kids that have made an impression so far, and considering there are only 10 spots up for grabs, there's a pretty good chance that at least eight or nine, if not all 10 of the eventual All-SJ players are listed above.
In the next couple of days, I'm going to try to rig up a midterm Coach of the Year candidate list, so stay tuned.

Washington Twp. 59, Cherokee 53, OT

There was a moment, in the middle of this game, when I thought about Laura Sweeney as a first-team All-SJ player, meaning she was one of the top five players in the whole area regardless of grade. I can't say that's where I ended up, but the fact that she was there -- maybe not quite a Cannon or Junaid but right there with absolutely everybody else -- speaks to how well she was playing. Now she and the Chiefs just need to finish.

Now, I've never been all that impressed with Washington Township in the past, considering all the kids in that school and the relative lack of championships and big wins. But it was impossible not to be impressed with the Maids once the fourth quarter began tonight. Off the top of my head, they scored 26 points in the first 24 minutes of play and 33 in the last 12 minutes. Montgomery was money, Kool-Aid was money, so was Petell, Messick, Fort. Everybody had their moment, in fact, and some had a lot of them, and that definitely includes the freshmen, Dana and Shawna Wert. I don't think either one scored tonight, but they affected the game with defense, poise and huge rebounds. Watching Dana and Tara Mangold go eyeball-to-eyeball -- shoving, snarling, biting, the whole bit -- two thirds of the way down the court every time Cherokee inbounded was really a thrill, especially when I imagined doing it for two more seasons after this.

After watching tonight, I realize that the Olympic American has come a long, long way from the wasteland it was back in 2003, my last full GB season. It may not have the star power of the Oly National or the tradition of the Colonial, but it does have one thing over everyone else: there isn't a bad team in it. Case in point, my choices for tonight's coverage were down to the game I attended and Lenape-Pennsauken. In one, the winning team came from behind to force overtime, and the other one was a one-point game. There have been a couple of blowouts, but they have all be surprises.

I've been getting a lot luckier lately with the games I've been picking. I didn't get to see CC-BTech, of course, but my game Thursday -- Salem came back from 16 down to beat Pitman on the road -- was a white knuckler, Spirit-Wilson was very good, so was Cinnaminson-Delran. Williamstown-Kingsway was a comeback upset, and Audubon avoided getting upset at home against Lindenwold, but it took two overtimes. The only clunker I threw in the middle or all that was Wildwood-Pennsville, but that was more about Troiano than the game, of course. In fact, I'd have been dying of nervousness if that had been close since the whole reason I was there was to see Wildwood win.

Anyway, all praise to the basketball gods for the recent good luck, and here's hoping it continues.

I had a nice conversation with Dom Reitano before the game, about a whole bunch of different teams. The best revelation was that the red-headed point guard I saw play for Gloucester is a freshman, and I'm not the only one who thinks she's awesome. I'm hoping to see the Lions play this coming week for real for real. Dom told me her name, which I have of course forgotten, but when I see it I'll remember it.

I noticed there were a few coaches in attendance tonight, which is not a surprise at all. Not only was Township-Cherokee a can't-miss good game, but it was a Friday night. Normally the Friday schedule is very slim pickings, and I would know. I have to pick a Friday game to cover every single week, and sometimes it's extremely difficult to find one that doesn't look dreadful. There are always games that turn out to be good, but a lot of Fridays it's next to impossible to figure out which ones they'll be.

I'm going to end this now, but when I get finished, but there will be another post forthcoming pretty quickly, as in maybe 30 minutes from now. I'm going to put together a list of All-SJ midyear candidates, giving everybody a chance to tell me where I've gone wrong. Should be entertaining.

The fun begins

I was flipping around the net, waiting to fall asleep just now, and I decided to check out the CP's Varsity forum, which has proved to be mildly amusing the few times I've been there. I don't know how many folks actually use it, but I do take pride in the fact that it's seen more action than any of the other CP forums, save perhaps "General Discussion."

Anyway, I saw just now that somebody (apparently a reader of this blog) has seen fit to rip me for not being at the CC-Bloomfield Tech game, asking how I could possibly miss it. Never mind the fact that a reader of this blog would have already seen my explanation, which I will not repeat. The real point is:

Who the hell do you think you are to suggest I'm not doing my job?

Yes it was a big game, yes it was bound to be exciting. So I made sure that the paper was there, respresented. I cannot be everywhere, and I particularly cannot be everywhere "you" want me to be. I cannot substitute anyone else's judgment for my own, and that includes every single player, coach, parent and fan out there. The only people who get to question that judgment and expect me to listen are my bosses, and so far as I know, they don't. I work way too hard to have to answer to anybody else.

As far as the coverage of the game goes, I think Mike Radano did a great job, and everybody had to be happy with the placement as the center package on the front page of the sports section. And in case anyone's counting, that THREE straight girls' basketball center packages, from Wilson-Spirit to CC-BT to Troiano's record-breaking win (at which I was the only reporter, inexplicably). I honestly don't think anybody can touch us on high school sports in this area anymore, so much that the competition is no longer fun. I try my best to take that coverage to another level despite the fact that I don't necessarily need to, but if folks think I/we aren't doing enough they're free to look elsewhere, and the best of luck with that.

And one more thing: in the future, those who would like to ask me a question can do so via email, or preferably, in the comments on this blog. An actual name attached would be a nice gesture as well. I'm not hiding, and I alone assume resposibility for the stuff I put on here. I chose to respond to this criticism in a place where everyone will know the words are mine, and since the outlet for comments is available to everyone, I do wish that more would use it. Speaking from the boys' soccer experience, the more comments there were, the better the content tended to be.

I'm aware that some folks respond to blog posts at the nj.com forum where I put up what I call "the alert," but to be honest, I only skim the stuff that's there. That whole scene is kind of nauseating, even more than I remember, and I'd rather just use it for what it's worth and leave the rest. On the contrary, I have often responded to blog comments in the past, either in the comment box itself or in later posts. It's always been an avenue for dialogue between a lot of voices, as opposed to the few that seem to rule at nj.com. I'll still post the alerts because it has proved to be a reliable way to bring people to this site, but don't count on me reading any responses there.

Congratulations Dave Troiano

Wildwood beat Pennsville 58-36 tonight, giving Troiano the SJ record for career girls' basketball victories all by himself, at 504. The record used to belong to Sterling's Bill Ulrich, who has more than 600 career wins spread over the Knights' boys' and girls' programs.

I was impressed with the Warriors in the second half, and Troiano made all the adjustments he needed to make. Pennsville is a hard-working, earnest team, but outgunned today. They do move the bal pretty well in the half-court set, and Coach Norman Dale would have been a fan of them; I counted 15 passes before they shot on one particular possession.

Other stuff that went down tonight: Williamstown consolidated its Trico Royal supremacy with a win over Cumberland... Penns Grove created more havoc in the Trico Classic with a win over Salem, as did Gloucester by beating Pitman. Looks like Glassboro is back to being the favorite there... Pleasantville took out Mainland. Those girls must be playing a hell of a lot better than they did when I saw them in a blowout loss at Ocean City. Now they just have to make the playoffs... West Deptford won its second straight game (had to give some props to my childhood hometown)... CH East and Washington Township stayed neck and neck in the Oly American. Looks like that's coming down to their second meeting of the year, winner take all... Haddonfield staved off a third straight loss, storming back tobeat Sterling on overtime. The Silver Knights continue to be a hard-luck squad... West Tech won its ninth game of the year, moving to within a win of the playoffs with almost three weks left to the cutoff... Holy Cross clouded the Burlco Patriot with an overtime win over Delran...

One troubling thing that I have yet to follow up on: the score sheet for the Wilson-Eustace game shows only "hurt" next to Ashley Baker's name. I'm almost positive she was fine after the Spirit game, so I'm wondering what might have happened. If it happened today, it was early in the game because she did not score.

I'll be in the office tomorrow chasing down various things and working on the stuff for this weeked, i.e. Player of the Week, notebook, cover story, stats and standings, etc. I'll be back out ther on Thursday, however, for Salem at Pitman. With both teams coming off losses, there should be a sense of urgency in the gym, at the very least. See you there.

CC and BTech

I'm a little disappointed at not being able to be there for this one, but I have two state-mandated official days (and nights) off a week, and my wife has claimed this one. Taking it back would have been techically possible, but not in my best interest by a long shot.

Anyone actually going to the game is likely to have left home by now, but I figured Al Dyer's comments about the two teams and how the game is likely to play out deserved to be given some kind of forum.

According to the Wilson coach, who has prepared for and played both of these teams in the last few weeks, the game could come down to refereeing. He said that if the game gets the kind of officiating that BT is used to in the north, they could definitely be trouble for CC because they'll try to mug Rashidat out of her game. If the refs call it close, like it usually is down here, CC will win because BT has no straight-up answer for the big girl inside. Also, he said that the Irish will need more than Crew to bring the ball up the floor against their pressure, that Jaz by herself isn't enough to overcome their speed and athleticism. That means Matera and that means Gallagher, I'm guessing, putting the ball on the floor successfully in traffic. If the Irish can avoid fear and hesitation, they can beat the pressure and dominate in half-court sets with team D and Junaid-first O. The Wilson game should have been a nice warm up, as far ad pressure, but the Irish have obviously not yet faced the kind of test they'll get tonight, in a matter of minutes, actually.

In all honesty, I do have a rooting interest for this game, as I'd really like to see the newly-crowned CP No. 1 represent, and I'm always for SJ teams against out-of-area squads. I was disappointed to see Gami get punched in the mouth like they did yesterday by Council Rock North. That was not a superior team, but they were better yesterday. Gami came out flat, and never quite recovered.

Those kids of losses hurt a lot because, in general, I think this area gets disrepected from all sides -- North Jersey and Pennsylvania -- athletically and culturally. And any time one of our teams loses to one of theirs, it's an opportunity lost.

All this is by way of saying Game on, Irish. Red Bank Catholic has one loss, Notre Dame has one loss, Holy Spirit has one loss and St. John Vianney has FIVE. The No. 1 seed and home-court advantage is there for the taking, so this is a good time to cast off the albatross of underachievement.

New C-P T20

This list is tentative, pending the results of Sunday's five Cougar Classic games. Though I won't go into it now, I've already worked out all the permutations of what could possibly happen on the court, from a Mainalnd win over Heights to Gami losing to Council Rock North. Obviously the Wilson-Spirit game has huge implications, and trust me when I say it's causing some time-crunch consternation on the part of the folks at the C-P office. If Wilson wins -- and I give the Tigers a 50-50 shot -- I haven't decided yet whether I'll move them up to No. 3, where I think they belong, or stick with the process and opt to move Spirit down to No. 5, keeping the undefeated teams together near the top. Of course, if AC beats Boro, that decision gets simple. I'm not saying I have a rooting interest, other than to make my life easier.

Anyway, here's how it stands after Saturday's games, and how it will stand if there are no "upsets" on Sunday:

1. Gami
2. CC
3. HSpirit
4. Boro
5. Wilson
6. AC
7. RV
8. Heights
9. CH East
10. Cumberland
11. OCity
12. Haddonfield
13. Williamstown
14. Washington Twp.
15. Sacred Heart
16. Eustace
17. Paul VI
18. Cherokee
19. Pennsauken
20. Mainland

Almost: Moorestown, Eastern, Gloucester Catholic, Haddon Township, Kingsway, Timber Creek, Collingswood

This week was extraordinarily difficult, thanks to Tuesday's shuffling. A seemingly unprecedented number of ranked teams lost this week, and many of the giant killers went and lost themselves in their next game, complicating things further. Kingsway might have been in with a win over GC, for instance. Many of the teams that made the rankings this week have a loss to an unranked team, but they all have quality victories cancelling those losses out.

Haddonfield was one of the most problematic teams. On a two-game skid, the Haddons still haven't lost to a bad team, and both defeats could be seen as special circumstances. As I wrote a couple posts ago, Haddon Township is one of those throw-out-the-records opponents that always plays the Dawgs close, and Paul VI had its back against the wall playoff-wise. Those factors, coupled with the undeniable weight of victories over ranked teams like Heights, Sacred Heart and Cherry Hill East, kept Haddonfield safely in.

Williamstown was in danger of falling out, but a decisive victory over Sacred Heart on a neutral court kept the Braves afloat. Williamstown beat the Lions, who beat Eastern, wwho has beaten Cherokee, who has beaten Cherry Hill East, who has beaten Williamstown. What a tangled web we weave, but it's a web that caught the Braves before they fell too far.

Eustace was another conundrum. Again, Saturday's game was pivotal because Lazos came back. Much like RV, which played with an ailing Chelsea Cole for the first few weeks of the season, BE had some uncharacteristic losses. Truth to tell, Paul VI's win over Haddonfield was a factor as well, because it made Eustace's win over the Eagles look all the better.

Cherokee made its first appearance in the rankings this week, and that won't change no matter what happens Sunday. Congratulations to the Chiefs on their American-stirring win over East. That result, along with losses by Williamstown, Pitman, and Cinnaminson, means many of the division races in SJ are now a mess, with the notable exception of those in the CAL. Gami, OCity, Spirit and SHeart are all in command of their divisions, but in the western part of the area, only CC, Willingboro, Trenton Catholic and Timber Creek can say the same. And it wouldn't take much for them to fall into disarray, either.

Mainland and Pennsauken make return appearances. Kevin Callahan came back from Thursday's Pennsauken game singing the Indians' praises as loud as he could.

Lastly, Paul VI makes it in this week despite being only 5-5, but I couldn't have kept the Eagles out if I had wanted to, reasonably. They have exactly zero losses to unranked area teams, and a win over Haddonfield sealed the deal.

As I mentioned, I'll be at the Cougar Classic Sunday primarily to cover the Wilson-Spirit showdown, but I'm planning to go and watch a few of the preceding games. they're all interesting matchups, and I can't wait to see how they turn out.

Love & Basketball

I've done five or six little features on different girls around the area -- on Cannon, Junaid, Mostafa, Piekielski, etc. -- and part of the deal is asking dumb questions about players' favorite foods, music, and movies. And just about every time, the girls mention L&B, a movie I have never seen.

Well, I got in from work at like 1-1:30, and the flick came on cable, so I decided to watch. I'm now sitting here on my couch with the laptop on my lap, tapping out random thoughts:

Nice line: She disses the Clippers, saying "Last time they won, Dr. J was a nurse." Pretty sweet.

There's no way she'd get T'd up just for staring an opposing player down. I'm guessing they're trying to make the point that girls are treated differently, that the bravado boys find commonplace isn't tolerated in the girls' game, but I don't think that's true. Well, maybe in 1987, or whenever this is supposed to be set. I was like 10 years old then.

He's not that good. The same actor was a hotshot tailback in the Program a few years before this, and he was a lot more believable in that role. I wonder if he ever worried about being typecase as a cocky athlete. But in this role, he's not doing it for me. There's no way a dude that small gets to the rim that easy. He's no AI.

I don't get it. I know it's just a movie, but how does she go from not being recruited at all to getting a ride to USC? Not likely. Maybe East Stroudsburg, or Towson State, or Wabash College. Not a Pac-10 program, though.

I think they're setting somebody up for a knee injury. Maybe it's just the fact that I've torn up my knees twice or three times each, and that's the way I always think. I don't know which one is going to get it, but it's a feeling I have.

Uh oh, his mom's a drunk. Or the dad's a womanizer. That's life in the Association, I guess. Even the Clippers have groupies.

Hey, the USC men are playing Temple!! This is the obligatory "she passes him in overall awesomeness" montage. Why do the men play in an arena and the women in what looks a whole lot like a high school gym? I don't know any big-time schools where the women don't play in the same building as the men's team. They may never fill the seats like the men can, but they play on the same court.

She takes a charge to win the game. Nice. Shows the maturation process. It's a lost art. I can't figure out who the opponent is, but the colors suggest Louisiana Tech, which was indeed a huge power back in the late 80's.

Temple wins! If you were here, you'd hear me singing the TU fight song right now.
I'm not feeling all that sorry for Q. As I mentioned above, he never had much game to begin with, and now the spell is broken. On the flipside, I'm now feeling like Monica's the one that's going to get injured.

I feel bad for the PG than Monica went and Wally Pipped. (If you don't understand the reference, just google it.) Some coaches hold to the idea that you can't lose your spot because of injury, but others call those rules off. Personally, I think it doesn't make much sense to worry a player about his or her spot on the team so much that they rush themselves back from injury. I think it's usually better to assure a player that the place will be there when he or she is fully healthy, but not before.

Wow. Q's mom was a groupie too. Now he's gonna declare for the draft. I'm thinking bad idea. Ever since the plays of Sophocles and before that, pride has never been rewarded in any moive or play I've ever seen. I'm guessing the moral of this film isn't going to be, "School is for suckers."

The guys in Q's room are playing a decidedly old-school video game, and now Q is stepping out on Monica. That's pretty cold. He isn't even trying to hide it. I've long since lost my patience with him. I'm not really understanding why she loves him, to be honest. His game is his only redeeming quality, so far as I can see, and if that's why she likes him then she's just the same any everybody else.

The commercials have been on for like 40 minutes.

So now it's 1993, and Monica is playing in Europe. I guess she didn't make the 1992 Olympic team, or they would have shown us that.

Oh look, it's Wally Pipp. A loser again, this time for some Italian team. Monica's lonely and Q's a scrub. Whoops, it is him with the knee injury. His mom cut her hair, he hasn't see his dad in five years and it's a torn ACL. I'm surprised. I really thought it was going to be Monica who blew out a knee.

She's back. With flowers. This actress has done a good job affecting the growth of the character. She seemed like a high schooler when she was in high school, and now she seems like a self-actualized adult. It's a subtle progression, but nicely done. The actor playing Q made no such arc, but then again, I think that's sort of the point of the character. He doesn't grow up.

And in walks the obligatory chicken-headed fiance, wiggling that ring finger. Monica is disappointed, but I'm not. He's not worth it.

Here's the mom-to-Monica talk: "You never appreciated me." "You sold yourself out." Ouch, mom sluggs her. "You never came and watched me play." "I always thought you were pretty."

Now Monica's working in the bank, and Q is rehabbing. I can tell you from real experience that rehabbing an ACL tear is painful business. The ache is nauseating sometimes, especially in the weeks right after the inury. Every time you twist it just barely wrong, you could go blind it hurts so bad.

Now where's the WNBA in all this? Did that not start until 1996? Maybe that's what happens at the end of the movie, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I remember the league started up on the heels of some Olympics or other, and I thought it was Barcelona but I guess it was Atlanta. That would make sense, since I know Rebecca Lobo was in the first draft class, and she was a junior or a senior at UConn when I started as a freshman at the University of Missouri, in 94-95. On a related topic, how much does it suck that Philly doesn't have a WNBA franchise? This must be the biggest market in the country without a team, unless Chicago doesn't have one either. Off hand, I can't think of the team's name, if they do.

She's loved him since she was 11, and it just won't go away. She should see a doctor about that.

One-on-one for your heart. Cute.

So do they play with a women's ball or a men's? I can't tell. He's not moving all that well. It's game point and she misses a layup. He pulls a spin move and wins the game with what should have been an called an offensive foul. She had position.

Double or nothing? Aw. The chicken-headed stweardess is benched.

Monica Wright-McCall. Clever. Sitting right there next to Lisa Leslie. And courtside baby makes three. I figured she'd finish in the WNBA. We never find out if he made it back from the knee injury or not. I'm guessing no. He was talking about going back to school, so maybe he lacked the desire. It's hard enough for stars to overcome that sort of thing, let alone a scrub who isn't getting any help from anybody.

So that's the end of the flick. Not bad. I guess I can see why its appeal to so many players in that it's one of the few sports movies I can think of that's skewed even a mildly a "chick flick." Most of them align themselves more closely with war movies than romances. Plus, the main characters in the movie harbor and live the same dreams that most young players do, of recruitment, college glory and a place in the pros.

I will say that they made it all look way too easy. When they were 11, they just said, "Im going to be a great baskebtall player." They weren't partcularly good when they were 11 -- or at least he wasn't -- and they made it seem like desire was all that the kids needed. For a more truthful account, I'd refer anyone to one of my favorite movies, Hoop Dreams. Of course, that one's lacking most of the romantic storyline.

Delran 39, Cinnaminson 34

And then there were four.

Gami, Catholic, Spirit and Boro are the last four undefeated teams standing in SJ right now, and all of them face decent tests this weekend at the Cougar Classic. Cinnaminson put up a good fight earlier this evening, but much like Haddonfield on Tuesday, it just wasn't their night. Teams that rely on shooting are especially susceptible to the bad night, whereas balanced teams, and squads built on defense and rebounding, can usually fend off the cold streaks a little better.

I was impressed with both teams tonight, espcially on the defensive side of the ball. Cinnaminson PG Colleen Gannon reminded me of her older sister Cait, especially with the quickness of her hands. Ally Rodolico had a great game for the Bears, doing a little bit of everything. I know she's their best player, or pretty close to it, but it seemed like it could be anybody on either team on any night. I love watching those kinds of teams play, because they play without fear. When a team has a star or two, the pecking order tends to be very rigid, and the role players seem like they're afraid to take big shots. Every member of the two squads I saw tonight will probably have the ball for a big moment this season. Tonight it was Rodolico and Caitlyn Simmons for Delran. Tomorrow it'll be somebody else.

I talked with Holy Cross coach Fred Phillips before the game, and I'd like to thank him for shedding light on the situation after the game I saw against Eustace. Suffice it to say, HC has some of the same issues that plague every HS basketball program in existence. I look forward to seeing the Lancers play again soon, and wish them the best of luck against the aforementioned Bears on Tuesday.

Saturday is my day to toil away in the office, mostly typing in wrestling results, so I won't be out there covering any of the many terrific games. I'm a little sad about that, but I can't be everywhere. I'll be at the Cougar Classic on Sunday, covering Wilson-Spirit, and I'll probably come early to watch another game or two.

See you there.

Upset Tuesday, and the lovely Colonial

My sister claimed I apologized too much in my boys' soccer blog posts, and since pretty much all of those apologies were for missing days, I'm not going to start that again this time. Y'all will just have to trust that I was just too busy with other girls' basketball-related stuff.

Anyway, Tuesday turned into Super Tuesday with the upsets, didn't it? I know that BE was without Lazos, but still, that margin to Pennsauken didn't make that much sense. Then the Indians go and validate that win by spanking Eastern last night and Cherokee takes out Cherry Hill East. Now there are zero undefeated teams left in the Olynpic American, East is 3-1, Washington Township is 2-1, and Pennsauken, Cherokee and Eastern are all 2-2. Call me crazy, but I think 7-3 is going to be enough to win that division, and I'd be more amused than shocked if 6-4 turned the trick.

The other race to destabilize on Tuesday was the ever-riveting Colonial. That group of teams may well not be as strong as they have been in the past -- certainly the late 1990s were a Colonial renaissance that may never occur again -- but the intensity never diminishes. Tom Mulligan, architect of the upset over Haddonfield that threw a spotlight on this chaos, made an apt comparison, I think, when he likened the Colonial to the Philadelphia Big Five in college basketball.

A little story: When I was at Temple, I covered what may have been John Chaney's most talented team, the 1999-2000 squad led by PG Pepe Sanchez, with Quincy Wadley at SG, Mark Karcher at SF, Lamont Barnes at PF, Kevin Lyde at center, and Lynn Greer coming off the bench as the sixth man. This is a team that was slaughtering opponents by 30 and making it look easy, holding them under 40 points most of the time. They went into top-ranked and undefeated Cincinnati, which featured future NBA lottery picks Kenyon Martin and DeMarr Johnson, and kicked the crap out of the Bearcats in February. So the tournament season is coming, the top teams are dropping like flies and it seems like the Owls are a shoe-in for a No. 1 seed as long as they hold serve. Well, the last game of the regular season was against St. Joe's at the Palestra, and the Hawks wouldn't get Jameer until the next season. They were a nice team, led by Marvin O'Connor, but they were an NIT team and Temple had Final Four expectations.

Didn't matter. Temple played as hard as I've seen them play, but there was just no way talent was going to decide that game. St. Joe won in overtime. The Owls went on to win the A-10 tournament, winning the final by like 35, but the NCAA Tournament committee -- much like the NJSIAA seeded process -- didn't believe in the magic of rivalry games. All they saw was St. Joe's middling RPI number, and that was enough to drop Temple to a No. 2 seed and send them to Buffalo, instead of giving them a No. 1 and sending them someplace nicer. Buffalo is my bad-luck city and has been since I was swimming invitational meets there as a high schooler, and that luck held true. Temple was beaten in the second round by Seton Hall, in overtime.

Now, I won't pretend that a girls' basketball game between Haddonfield and Haddon Township is as important as all that, or that the gap between those two teams, talent-wise, is near as big as it was between TU and SJU back then, but that stuff happens all the time when players and coaches know each other so well that there are no shortcuts. Those teams in the Colonial can't outthink each other, and nobody's going to be impressed with anybody's win-loss record because they know each other better. I think it allows the teams to play loose, and that's why crazy stuff tends to happen.

To some extent, most divisions have a little bit of this element working, but the Colonial is on a level. I think it's because, like the Philly Big 5, it's geography-based, with bordering towns involved every night. In the Olympic or the Burlco or CAL or the Trico, you may drive 30-40 minutes to play a division opponent. And some of the Colonial schools aren't so close, but you can live in Haddon Township and WALK to three opponents' home gyms in under 30 minutes. Hop on your bike and you could add a few more (as an aside, I always thought Gloucester and Gloucester Catholic would be great Colonial schools, but that will never happen). Proximity makes a difference, not just because it brings more folks out but because the players have been mixing it up since they were like three years old. And the size of the schools dictates that many of the kids face each other in at least two, and sometimes even three seasons.

As time goes by, I understand my soft spot for the Colonial better and better, because it's almost a nostalgic version of high school sports. The way things used to be everywhere.

New C-P T20

No preamble this time. Without further ado:

1. Gami
2. CC
3. Spirit
4. Boro
5. Haddons
6. Wilson
7. AC
8. CH East
9. RV
10. Heights
11. Eustace
12. Williamstown
13. Eastern
14. Sacred Heart
15. Wash. Twp.
16. Cumberland
17. OCity
18. Timber Creek
19. Cinnaminson
20. Pitman

Almost: Moorestown, Cherokee, Paul VI, EHT, Holy Cross, Mainland, Hammonton, Pennsauken, Kingsway

I decided to take as much pressure as possible off Wilson and give them the underdog, hunter role they love so much, at least as far as the rankings are concerned. I don't think they're going to easily escape the target that comes with being the TOC winner, but at least they can go into the Spirit game with a lower rank.

This is the first week of the season in which the rankings include all the remaining undefeated teams, Pitman passed its Glassboro test to make it in at No. 20.

The big mover, of course, was Timber Creek, which moved down. I know this team is very capable. In fact, I believe they were the near equal of Willingboro when I saw them play over the holidays, but a loss to 2-5 Clearview is tough to swallow. My faith in the Chargers kept them in the T20, but they're going to have to start winning games to stay there.

The new teams are Ocean City (which got some strategic lobbying from an "unbiased" relative of mine, not that they needed it this week), Eastern, and the aforementioned Panthers of Pitman. Eastern has supplanted Pennsauken as the out-of-the-blue Olympic American contender, thanks to a one-point victory over Cherokee this week. The closest thing to a guaranteed win in that division is Lenape, and they were supposed to be the best team there. I understand that Brooke Keenan isn't playing, but it still goes to show how balanced -- and therefore how exciting -- that division race is; a team can lose one borderline all-star and go from the top to the bottom.

I didn't go out to cover a game today, but I was at the Haddonfield-Collingswood boys' game for about three quarters on another story. Man, that place was jammed. Talking to Nancy O'Neill the night before, I had been wishing that those two school had scheduled a boy-girl doubleheader for today, but after seeing the crowd at Collingswood's gym, I thought, "Maybe next year, when Brian Zoubek's taken his act to Cameron Indoor."

Boy-girl doubleheaders are a great idea, especially for the girls' teams, because it gets more people out to see both games. Every time I've been to a girls' game that goes on just before a big-time boys' game, the girls players raise their level of play to meet the heightened atmosphere. The problem, at least in the regular season, is the JV teams, since there are always a few players who split time between varsity and JV. But this shouldn't be a problem on a Saturday. Simply shedule the girls' JV at 10, the girls' varsity at 12, the boys varsity at 2 and the boys' JV at 4. Those who want it can have a quadruple header of high school basketball, and plenty of people get the benefit of the varsity boy-girl. The only danger is that so many girls' fans stay that some boys' fans get left out in the cold, but that's just more incentive for all the fans to come watch both games.

It would have been a nightmare today, but in general I think it's something schools should do more of. I know it's a pain in the ass, but there's a solid number of families out there with kids on both teams, who never get to see them play on the same day. Plus I know the Collingswood girls were disappointed at not getting to see the big game today.

Anyway, I've been in the office all day long and I'm tired, so I'll see y'all later.

Gami 56, AC 51

Wow. Two good games in a row. I'm probably going to have to do three or four blowouts' worth of pennance for these indulgences.

Having never covered a game at Absegami before, I was impressed at the size of the gym. I wonder what it would be like with all the bleachers pulled out and full, or if it ever gets like that. Maybe for wrestling meets. It has some kind of old school, shadowy quality that I can't put my finger on but that I enjoyed. It reminded me of the gyms I'd watch older relative play in when I was little, or maybe just the size of it made me remember being small. I'm sure there are bigger gyms out there -- Cherry Hill East, Timber Creek and Holy Spirit spring to mind as possibilities -- but they're all so well-lit that some of the effect seems lost.

Anyway, this is the second game in a row where I saw Gami struggle to get it rolling offensively. The last time was against CB East at the Boardwalk Classic, and that team was definitely trying to slow the Braves down. Today, I wouldn't say AC was looking for a half-court game at all, but Gami just couldn't figure out how to effectively attack the Vikings' zone. It might have helped if early three-footers had gone down, but once that confidence was lost in the post, Gami's height advantage -- which was huge -- seemed to matter less and less.

Tasha Cannon is, of course, awesome, even though she didn't set the world on fire stat-wise today. She was the best player on the floor, clearly, and a real factor on the boards despite giving up as many as 10 inches in height. She's obviously a Player of the Year candidate, though it's way early to be talking about that. I made the mistake during the boys' soccer season of laying out the POY discussion after about a month, just to make things interesting, and I paid for it for like three weeks. So I'll talk about it in another month or so.

I was impressed with te AC supporting cast in the second half, especially Aliyah Montague and Ashley Ingram. If the Vikes had shot the ball in the first half like they did in the second, it might have been Gami playing catchup the whole game. But that's always easy to say.

There weren't too many upsets waiting for me when I got back to the office. EHT beat Hammonton, but EHT is a team I can't figure out. Lose to OC, then beat OC. Beat Wildwood Catholic by 30 but lose to Lower Cape May by 12. This last bit of info is just the latest in the roller coaster. I'm tempted to throw them in the rankings at No. 20 and see what happens, but there are probably more consistent teams out there. OC will probably go in, however, especially since they play AC on Monday. That should be nice.

That's it for now. I'm spending the afternoon in the office tomorrow, catching up on some stuff. I'll try to check in during.

CC 73, Wilson 70

I've got to keep this monumentally short because it's like 2 a.m. and I still have stuff to do before I can go to sleep. But I needed to make sure to say that this afternoon's game was the best I've seen so far this season.

Some revelations:

Shinaa Cross is a hell of a player. She really came into her own today and hit some heavy shots down the stretch. Against one of the top backcourts in the state, she more than held her own. Dyer attributed much of the difference to making Cross the point and moving Baker to the 2. That puts the ball in Cross' hands pretty much every possession. Good move today. I can't wait to see more from her.

The third quarter was a thing of beauty, which is really something in the world of girls' basketball. I counted a total of 22 points in one 2:23 stretch in which I also counted two, maybe three very quick empty possessions.

Rashidat is a little quicker than the last time I saw her play, her sophomore year. She actually put the ball on the floor a couple times today, to break the Wilson pressure. I'm not saying it was an unmitigated success, but she had a nice game. I recorded seven blocks in my notes, but the possibility remains that there were more.

Jasmine Crew has certainly figured out the PG position. When I saw her at Spirit last year, she was obviously playing alongside Jordan Sykes, and therefore was more in the SG role. I don't know if she took a single three today, choosing to penetrate and either take a 12-footer or dish to somebody wide open. It was a masterful performance, but it also made me wonder whether there will every come a game when she and Matera both catch fire at the same time. Looking back at the box scores, I don't think it's happened yet. Matera is too good a player to be boxed up in the shooter's role, but with Crew taking such good care of the point, it would be easy for her to just sit down on the wing and wait for jumpers to come her way. The stretched where CC got in trouble today were the ones where they stood around and didn't play aggressively. Against Gami, both of those guards are going to have to make the Braves pay because Junaid isn't going to have whole lot of room in the lane.

That's all I have time for right now. I'll try to get some more in later. I know I've written that like five straight times and it's never happened, but this has been -- and continues to be -- a berzerk week.

But it's almost over. And then I can sleep.

Gloucester beats Wildwood

I was at this game not to cover it -- which was good because bumper-to-bumper traffic on Route 130 got me there with a minute left in the first half -- but to work on a feature for later in the week. Nevertheless, it was one of the better games that I've seen this season. This must, MUST have been Gloucester's best game of the season. The Lions were down by 10 when I got there and went on like a 30-12 run fueled by pressure defense and great shooting. Chelsea Connor blocked like five shots, DJ Havers had an unstoppable three minutes and the role players all hit big shots.

But I was really taken with number 10, the Gloucester point guard. I don't know what her name is, but I'll figure it out soon. The word's tenacity, I think, or maybe it's intensity or temerity, but she had it. I only saw her shoot once or twice from the field and it wasn't particularly pretty, but I started out at Temple covering a sterling silver game manager who couldn't shoot all that well named Pepe Sanchez, and I'm partial to that type of player. In girls' basketball, especially in close games, those sorts of guards are worth their weight in gold. Plus she looked real tough.

The Trico Classic continues to get crazier and crazier. I think everybody's got a division loss now that Wildwood and Glassboro have lost (the Bulldogs went down to Pitman). So, before the season, I figured Glassboro, Salem, Wildwood and Gloucester would slug it out, but now Penns Grove and Pitman have both upset that order, and there was a close shave back there with Clayton too.

Actually the Classic isn't the only crazy division. Cherokee handed Pennsauken its first loss tonight, and Eastern laid the smack down on Lenape. Crazy. Lower Cape May beat EHT, which beat Ocean City last week, which beat Mainland today. That's pretty crazy too, in a way. Mainland, LCM and Oakcrest are all average or better teams, but it looks like the CAL American II is down to OC and Hammonton for now. Whoever comes out of there could have a few division losses, though.

I didn't cover a game today because I'm taking a couple of days to work on the final chapter of a staff-wide book on South Jersey Eagles fans, but I'll be back out there on Thursday for CC-Wilson. See you in on Federal Street.

New C-P T20

I've been sick these last few days, so I haven't been able to post at all. I'll try to get to some of the other stuff that went on in the interim, but the season lurches on so I can't promise anything. Anyway, here's the new rankings:

1. Gami
2. CCatholic
3. Wilson
4. Spirit
5. Willingboro
6. Haddonfield
7. Williamstown
8. Timber Creek
9. Atlantic City
10. Washington Twp
11. Cherry Hill East
12. Rancocas Valley
13. Haddon Heights
14. Bishop Eustace
15. Sacred Heart
16. Mainland
17. Pennsauken
18. Cumberland
19. Hammonton
20. Cinnaminson

Almost: Cherokee, EHT, OC, Lenape, Paul VI, Pitman

Now, I oroginally had Trenton Catholic ranked, but I was informed by an editor that we don't cover the Iron Mikes and they can't be ranked. Which is strange because they play in the Burlington County League. The school is not geographically in the traditional seven-county South Jersey area, but neither is anothe Burlco League school, New Egypt, which spent all fall ranking in field hockey. In any case, for those who wondered why TCath was missing (and will apparently continue to go missing) that's the reason. Contact my bosses if you disagree.

As expected, the T20 underwent a major overhaul since opening night. Most of the changes are self-explanatory to anything who was paying attention, and I don't have the time or the energy (still have some flu-like symptoms) to go through them all, so suffice it to say the decisions were as tough as ever. It probably would have helped to have another set of rankings before the holiday tournaments, since there was still a certain sense of guesswork going on. The toughest decision was probably the one that left both Cherokee and Lenape on the outside again, and I expect one or both of those teams to earn their way in eventually. But for both those squads, they had a loss too many this time around.

There are plenty of big games coming up this week, none bigger than Wilson-Catholic on Thursday, the subject of the column in Monday's edition of the C-P. Wilson actually has a bear of a week, with Paul VI on Tuesday, CC on Thursday and two-time defending Group 1 state champ Bloomfield Tech on Saturday. Then the Tigers play Holy Spirit next week at the Cougar Classic, so good luck to them, and they get some points for sheer fearlessness. Should be fun.