\ \\ III \(, COMMUNICATIONS, INC. PUBLICATION Jira&rr and THE TIMES of Scotch Plains - Fanwood Thursday, March 13, 1997 Page 15 THE WEEK IN SPORTS Hauser's Hoops ters Attain Some High Expectations

By DAVID B. CORBIN Megan Devitt, a junior center, was S/in tally Written fur Vie We.Mfleld Ltatler and The Times 18 points and 19 rebounds. Legoncs also effective under the boards both offen- had four steals and two assists. Weslfield High School Girls' Basket- sively and defensively with a total of 71 Alcna Lygate, a senior guard, finished ball Head Coach Kathy Hauser's one rebounds. Devitt added 75 points and with six points, seven rebounds and two major goal this season was to qualify for eight steals. steals. the North Jersey Section 2, State Tourna- Senior guard Kathcrinc Ball scored 19 The Blue Devils will graduate seven ment. points, pulled down 21 rebounds, swiped seniors this June: Ball, DeSantis, Dou- On March 3, the Blue Devils defeated eight steals and set up six assists. glas, Kemps, Lcgones. Lygate and Will- Linden High School, 64-54, in the first Junior guard Colleen Ryan scored 57 iams. round of the state tournament. It was the points and grabbed 21 rebounds. Ryan The teamwork and camaraderie of the first time the Blue Devils have qualified also had seven steals and four assists. entire Blue Devil team enabled them to in 15 years. Suzanne Vinegra sank 23 points, pulled improve from a team which finished four Under Hauser's direction, the Blue in 26 rebounds, grabbed eight steals and games under .500 in I996toateam which Devils improved from last season's record set up three assists. finished five games over .500 in 1997 and of 9-13 to finish 14-9 this season. Senior center Samantha Lcgones had qualified for the state tournament. The Blue Devil girls took second in the Watchung Conference American Divi- sion behind the very talented Elizabeth High School team and were listed eighth in the Union County rankings.

Senior forward Amy Williams led the Blue Devils in scoring with 260 points and hit 74 of 111 from the foul line for a 67 percent average. Williams pulled down 152 rebounds and grabbed 69 steals to lead Westfield and was second on the team in assists with 29. David B. Corbln for The Westfleld Leader and The Times Senior Co-Captain Jen Kemps sank SETTING UP THE BULLDOG...Blue Devil 160-pounder junior Mike Baly attempts to straighten the left arm of 186 points which was third highest on the opponent Matt Formatto of Watchung Hills High School in an effort to tilt him to his back for added points. Baly was team and contributed 28 assists, also third. successful in this attempt as he rolled up a 22-7 technical Fall in 4:50 in his preliminary round bout at the Region 3 Kemps had 36 steals and 37 rebounds. tournament held in Union on March 4. Baly advanced to take third, which qualified him lor the stale tournament. From the foul line, Kemps hit 36 of 63 attempts.

The Blue Devils other Co-Captain, senior Tara Douglas sank half of her foul Baly and Drown Qualify for shots, scoring 9 of 18, and had a total of 35 points. Douglas pulled in 30 rebounds and grabbed 11 steals. Sophomore Liz McKeon was second in scoring as she totaled 207 points. Wrestling Super Regionals McKeon brought down 131 rebounds which was second on the team and was By DAVID B. COR BIN Lee Loewinger of Scotch Plains-Fan- Whippany Park in 3:41. third in steals with 57. McKeon sank 38 Specially Wriltenfnr The Wextftelil Leader and The Time* wood won his 119-pound bout with James Gulya of Scotch Plains-Fan- of 72 foul shots. Westfield High School junior 160- GuillermoGatonofBarringer, 13-0. Next, wood was denied his chance of advance- Senior center Nicoie DeSantis fin- pounder Mike Baly and Scotch Plains- Loewinger faced a very tough Lee David ment at the 145-pound class when Pat ished with 83 points and contributed 18 Fanwood senior 171-pounder Steve of Parsippany and was defeated, 14-3. Reilly of Bayley-Ellard recorded an 8-2 assists. DeSantis was third on the team Drown wrestled their way to third-place decision. with 86 rebounds. DeSantis had 18 steals finishes in the Region 3 tournament held Anterior Pctitfrere of the Raiders lost a Raider heavyweight Jim Fee ley was and hit half of her foul shots, sinking nine. at Union High School on March 7 and 8. licartbrcakerto Rich Jeukinsol Irvington pinned by Grcp White of Shaba//, in the Their third-place finishes enabled them II igh School at the 130-pound class. In a preliminary round Junioi guard Vicki Nusse amassed 107 .r,.r^,», . David 8. Corbln tor The Westtleld Leader and The Times to advance to the preliminary round of the battle of two very quick and physical points and led the Blue Devils in assists rOGEI HER IN UNITY...Members of the Westfield High School girls basket- state tournament held on March 11. also wrestlers. Petitfrere was leading Jenkins, Cranford High School 215-pound wres- with 36. Nusse's 63 steals was second ball team assemble at mid-court prior to their Union County Tournament game at Union High School. 6-5, with seconds remaining, only to be tler Niki Fekcte pinned his way to his highest on the team. Nusse collected 51 against Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School. Amy Williams, No. 20, and Jen rebounds and hit 13 of 24 from the foul Kemps, No. 23, urge their teammates to put their hands together while Samantha Baly, now 26-3, easily defeated Matt slapped with a one-point penalty as time second consecutive Region 3 champion- line. Legones, No. 22, joins in on the activity. Formato of Watchung Hills by recording ran out to send the bout into overtime. In ship. a 22-7 technical fall. Next, Baly faced overtime, Jenkins caught Petitfrere off Sophomore 125-pounder Donny District 9 champion Ryan Nichols of guard and look him to the mat to gain the DeFilippis of Seton Hall Prep won the Blue Devil Boys Capture Hanover Park. Baly scored on three 8-6 overtime victory. Region 3 Outstanding Wrestler Award. takedowns, two three-point near falls, an At 140, junior Raider Luke Cerchio DeFilippis pinned Kimo Geter of Eliza- Girls Basketball escape and a reversal to win by a 13-4 was stopped by Kevin Monaco of beth in 3:53 of the 125-pound finals. majority decision over Nichols to ad- Ili-hli^lils # National Track Title vance to the semifinal round. The Weslfield High School boys track Senior Malt Elmuccio ran the anchor In the semifinals, Baly squared off team traveled to Massachusetts and. on 1,600 and Mike Krug ran the 1.200. Ryan with a familiar opponent, Jason March 8, raced away with a national title Stefiuk ran the 800 leg and Sieve Dennis TUESDAY, MARCH 4 Crutchfield of Rahway High School. Baly NORTH 2 GROUP 3 in the distance medley relay. The Na- ran the 400. Elmuccio ran the 1,600 in started off as if il would he business as Roxbury 45, Scotch Plalns-Fanwood 27 tional Scholastic Championships was held 4:13.4 and Krug ran ihc 1.200 in 3:07. usual by scoring on two takedowns and a The first half looked promising for the at the Reggie Lewis Center. In addition, Westfield's winning time two-point near fall to forge ahead to a 6- Raiders as their defense held tight, giving The Blue Devils turned in a time of was the eighth-fastest in state history. 1 lead by the start of the second period. them a 19-14 lead; however, Roxbury 10:16.56 which beat the time turned in by The Blue Devils also beat their previous Baly continucd.out-pointing Crutchfield. erupted in the third quarter to spew in 19 Burnt Hills-Ballston Lakes by more than Union County record of 10:24.77 which 6-4, in the second period. In the third points while holding the Raiders to six. two seconds. was set last year. period, the tragedy happened; after add- Now ahead by eight points, Roxbury The time was the fastest time in the Elmuccio also placed fifth in the boys ing another takedown, Baly was himself turned on the defense, holding Scotch country recorded this winter, and was the 800 in 1:54.50 which was the 10th fastest taken to the mat by Crutch field and rolled Plains-Fanwood to only two points in the 17th fastest all-time in scholastic history. time in the state all-time. to his back for the fall in 5:24. final quarter. Sophomore Niki McCoy sank 11 points The loss to Crutchfield put Baly in the . for the Raiders, seven of which were in Bridgeman Blasts a 300 as • consolation round for third place against the first quarter. Melissa Hicks hit for Aaron Morton of Plainfield High School. nine points, Kim Bethea sank five points Determined to qualify for the state and Christine Bowers added two. Devils Roll to Section Crown tournament, Baly put on a takedown clinic Roxbury improved to 14-11 and ad- by taking Morton to the mat four times vanced to the next round of the North 2, By: ANDREW SHANNON bowled games of 205, 232 and 191. and showed total mat control by adding Group 3 tournament while Scotch Plains- Spet tally Written for Hie Weslfield Leader and The Times Theefforts of Bridgeman and his team- two reversals and a locking hands penalty Fanwood dropped to 10-12. The tension mounted as Blue Devil mates enabled Westfield High School to point. Morton scored all but two of his junior bowler Scott Bridgeman neared win the team title. The Blue Devils fin- ished with a pin count of 2.931 followed points on escapes allowed by Baly for WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5 the perfect 300 mark, but Bridgeman kept by West Orange High School with 2,692 strategy purposes. The final score ended NORTH 2, GROUP 4 his cools and blasted out his final strike to and Union High School with 2,677. "It in Baly's favor, 13-6. Bloomfield 62, Westfleld 39 record his first 300 game. "After the 1 lth wasn't the individuals who won this for District 12 champion Drown started Powerful 14th ranked Bloomfield, strike, I told myself I couldn't miss this us, it was the entire team working to- his successful move by pinning Eric Diaz known for it's full-court press, used an one," quoted Bridgeman after bowling gether that won this." said Tirone. Junior of Colonia High School in 5:45 of the effective offensive attack to subdue the his perfect game. Tracy Masino, at anchor, added a 485 quarterfinal round. Before the fall, Drown Blue Devils in Bloomfield, 62-39. Bridgeman also rolled a 202 and a 224 series and sophomore Brett Rosenblatt wasall over Diaz, scoring fourtakedowns, Bloomfield raced to a 15-7 lead after to amass a 726 total pin count and place rolled a 452 series. an escape and two near falls. the first quarter and led 28-18 at the half. first in the individuals. The 300 game and Drown faced first-seeded Steve Karlik With a 21-10 run in the third quarter, the 726 series set an all-time Weslfield of Roselle Park High School in the semi- Bloomfield extinguished any flicker of High School record. Head Bowling Coach The Westfield High School bowlers finals and was defeated, 7-0. hope for victory by Westfield. Mike Tirone stated, "To bowl a 300, for will compete in the State Championships Sophomore Liz McKeon and junior anyone to bowl a 300 at any level, is an to be held at Carolier Lanes in North In the consolation round. Drown and Megan Devitt put in 10 points each lor the incredible feat". Brunswick this Saturday, March 15 as Elijah Roberson of Newark Central gave Blue Devils while senior Amy Williams Sophomore Evan Baum bowled a 640 Bridgeman, Baum and Shannon will be the fans a thriller. The bout was loaded scored eight points. Jen Kemps and Tara series to finish fourth in the individuals competing for the individual title. "Hav- with several near takedowns and physi- Douglas had four point apiece and Vicki and senior Andy Shannon rolled a 628 ing three bowlers qualify individually is cal punishment. Despite being taken to Nusse added three points. series to place fifth. Baum rolled games one of the greatest accomplishments the mat in the first period, Drown quickly Bloomfield High School boosted its of 233, 208 and 199 while Shannon Westfield has ever had," stated Tirone. DavldB. Corbln for The Weslfield Leader and The Tlmas escaped to end the period with Roberson WHOSE FOOT IS THIS?...Senior 130-pounder Antenor Petitfrere of Scotch already impressive record to 22-2 and ahead, 2-1. Drown reversed the tables in Plains-Fanwood finds a foot in this entanglement with junior Rich Jenkins of Westfield High School fell to 14-9. the second period by scoring a takedown Irvington during their preliminary round bout of the Region 3 tournament and of his own after Roberson escaped earlier wonders how to get out of it. Petitfrere did escape the entanglement and in the period. NORTH PAROCHIAL A proceeded to excite the crowd as they battled to a 6-6 tie which forced the match THURSDAY, MARCH 6 With the score tied, 3-3, Drown went into overtime. Jenkins got a takedown in overtime to win 8-6. ahead by one point when he escaped the Immaculate Heart 46, Union Catholic 37 grasp of Roberson. With seconds remain- Immaculate Heart High School of ing, Roberson dove for the legs of Drown Westwood knocked the Vikings out of TERMINOLOGY: CONSOLATIONS: the North Parochial A tournament, 46- and took him down just outside the cirele d.-Won by decision-3 team points of the mat for no points. Now, with only WEIGHT BREAKDOWN: 37, in Westwood. p.-Won by pin-6team points Union Catholic held a 9-6 first quarter four seconds left in the bout, Roberson md.-Majordecision-4team points 103: —Joe Crecca (Cranford) d. Larry being distraught was caught off guard by tf.-Technical (all-Steam points Levinstone (Whippany Park), 10-6 lead but Immaculate Heart battled back 112: — NaveedKawaja (Columbia) d. to take a 17-15 lead at the half. The a keenly alert Drown as he took Roberson CHAMPIONSHIPS: to the mat, inside the circle, to add two Rich Sachscl (New Providence), 9-4 Vikings came to within one point by the ,, WEIGHT BREAKDOWN: 119: — Nick Cilento (Colonia) p. Joe end of the third quarter but were out shot more points to his score to register a 6-3 103: — Bret Vandervecr (Governor victory. Pan/.arella (South Plainfield), 1:06 19-11 in the final quarter. Livingston) d. Anthony Politi (Hanover 125: — Mahfooz Naematullah Union Catholic senior Lauren Park), 8-3 (Parsippany Hills) d. Willie Corbisiero Majchrzak struck for 16 points and junior District II 140-pound champion Onur 112:—Craig Frost (Roselle Park) md. (Johnson Regional), 5-4 Devin McDonald hit for eight points. Jen Tezucar of Westfield High School de- Tommy Docrr (South Plainfield), 9-1 130: — Chris Johnson (South Britton scored seven points and Kathryn feated Kevin Monaco of Whippany Park, 119: — Shawn Stuebcr (Rahway) d. Plainfield) d. Phil Hay (Linden), 4-3 Rooney had four points as Sharon Kaus 10-3, to advance to the semifinals where Lee David (Parsippany), 8-7 added two. he faced eventual winner Mike Prnreof 125: — Donny DeFilippis(Scton Hall) 135: —Dan Hoppe (South Plainfield) Immaculate Heart upped its' record to Millburn. Priore beat Tezucar, 12-4. p. Kimo Geter (Elizabeth), 3:53 d. Dennis Marcantonio (Governor 20-3 while Union Catholic lowered to Tezucar wrestled Jeff Gallicchio of 130:—James LaValle(Hanover Park) Livingston), 3-2 16-7. Roselle Park and was defeated in 3:01 to md. Bill Crecca (Roselle Park), 19-8 140: —Jeff Gallicchio (Roselle Park) place fourth in the Region. 135: —Jay Smith (Rahway) md. Phil p. Onur Tezucar (Westfield), 3:01 Torino (Roselle Park), 13-4 145: — Phillip DeBarry (Elizabeth) The 125-pound District 12 champion 140: — Mike Priore (Millburn) d. won by injury default over Todd Dewitt Easter Plant Sale Tony Melendez of the Raiders, lost his Rickey Stoeckel (South Plainfield), 4-3 (Johnson Regional), 5:04 To Raise Funds to Send bid to advance when he was defeated by 145: — Eric Swick (Roselle Park) d. 152: — Kevin Langereis (Hanover Willie Corbisiero of Arthur L. Johnson Chris Madia (Parsippany Hills), 5-3 Park) d. John Leone (Boonton), 6-2 Raiders to Seattle High School of Clark, 10-3. 152: —John Ertle (South Plainfield) p. 160:—Mike Baly (Westficld)d. Aaron- The Raiders, representing the Scotch Junior Blue Devil 112-pounder Jeff Kevin Kolbeck (Roselle Park), 4:54 Morton (Plainfield), 13-6 Plains-Fanwood High School boys' Ki vctz missed his opportunity to advance 160: — Allan Hay (Linden) md. Jason 171: — Steve Drown (Scotch Plains- varsity soccer team, will hold their when he lost a close 2-0 bout to Rich Crutchfield (Rahway), 16-3 Fanwood) d. Elijah Roberson (Newark annual Easier Plant and Decorative Sachscl of New Providence High School. 171: — Sieve Karlick (Roselle Park) Central), 6-3 Planter Sale, Saturday and Sunday, A takedown scored by Sachsel in the first md. Anthony Cardinalc (South March 28 and 29. period was the only scoring which oc- Plainfield), 15-4 189: — John Ferguson (Governor The hours of sale are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. curred in the bout. 189: — Niki Fcketc (Cranford) p. An- Livingston)d. Steve Siciliano(Madison), at Park Middle School and Scotch 4 crnii/ntn • ^••..,...... Matthew Schwab lor Tha Wostttold Laadar and The times Raider 103-pound freshman David thony Infuntini (New Providence), 1:22 7-1 Plains-Fanwood High School. . 215: — Simom Ziohro (Linden) d. A S1R1KING EXPERIENCE...Junior Scott Bridgeman of Westfield High Loe winger pinned Brian Harms of Seton 215: — Jimil Johnson (Colonia) d. All proceeds go toward the costs of School dazzled howling fans by rolling a perfect 300 during the North Jersey Hall Prep of West Orange in 2:37, then William Colbert (Rahway). 4-2 Eric Swank (Parsippany Hills), 9-2 sending the team this summer to par- Section 2 boys' bowling qualifiers at the Bell Clair Lanes in Montclair on March was pinned by JocCrccca of Cranford in Hwt: — Anlonio Oaray (Rahway) p. Hwt: — Mike Munoz (Roselle Park)d. ticipate in the Diadora Cup in Seattle. 8. liridgeinan rolled a 726 series, sparing no mercy to his competitors as the Blue the quarterfinals. Mike George (Hanover Park), I-03 Malt Fleming (Columbia), 4-3 Devils won the town title.