12/13/2007 - Are You Ready for the Winter?
The sound sneakers make when they scuff on the hardwood of a basketball court. The bone-rattling, ear-piercing sound of a buzzer in a crowded gym. Sitting or standing in the bleachers of a gymnasium or a natatorium (which is a fancy word for pool) and sweating like your are shoveling asphalt in the summer, when in reality, you had to dig your way out of the driveway due to one of those special Sussex County snowstorms to get there.
Ah, yes, the sights and sounds of the winter sports season. I missed them terribly. After being out the Sussex County sports loop the last two-plus years, I can’t wait for the season to begin in earnest Friday night. And if the fall season is any indication of what is in store for the winter, it should be a dandy.
The winter sports season is unique in many ways besides the obvious one that all the sports except for skiing are played indoors. It is the longest of three athletic seasons, running from late November to late February, and for some lucky teams and individuals, it can last deep into March. It is also the most intimate, with games and matches being competed in close quarters with every comment a coach utters being heard. And on the flip side, every rude comment a “fan” spews is also audible.
Also, most of the competition takes place at night, which allows parents the chance to attend games after work, increasing attendance, especially at big showdowns. Ever try to get into the gym when Sparta and Pope John square off in hoops? I remember before PJ’s beautiful new gymnasium was built, fans would be turned away before the cross-town rivals did battle because it was a fire hazard.
I have a lot of fond memories from my years of covering the local teams during the winter. Here are just a few that stand out and in no particular order:
* Although Pope John dunked Vernon the other day, the classic match up between these schools for Sussex County Interscholastic League supremacy in the pool was always a thriller. From the overflow crowds, to each team chanting, it was always a spectacle. Throw in two Hall of Fame coaches in Ed Wynne from Pope John and former Vernon coach Bob Trenz, and you have a memorable evening.
* The other swim memory I will never forget was Pope John’s girls winning the then Parochial B state title over Red Bank Catholic on power points at the College of New Jersey. Red Bank made a valiant effort to tie the meet by splitting its bottom relay (swim term alert!) and the two teams had to wait for what seemed like an eternity for PJ to be declared the champs.
* The Saturday night final of the SCIL Basketball Festival at Wallkill Valley. The huge gym was always packed and you could count on Sparta’s girls always playing in the final (and usually winning it) and Newton’s boys shocking everyone with a run to the title game.
* Geoff Wendel and the Sparta boys basketball team shocking Old Tappan and its All-American Lenny Cooke in OT in the North 1, Group 3 playoffs in 2001. Cooke, a NBA flameout, put on a show, but it was Wendel and the Spartans that walked away with the win.
* Another memory also deals with Sparta, but this time in girls hoops. Watching Jessica Trainor, who went onto an outstanding soccer career at the University of Virginia, completely lock up future Stanford All-American Kelley Suminski of Mendham in the Group 3 state semifinals in the Spartans’ shocking win which served as a springboard to their third state title.
* Newton’s girls hoops team winning three straight North 1, Group 2 titles and advancing to the Group 2 final in back-to-back seasons, losing two heartbreakers. Liz Sisca, Sheakia Jackson and Erica Dardaganis always come to mind when I think of those teams as well as Kaitlyn Davey, who was tragically killed in a car accident a few years ago.
* And in a great sendoff, Bonnie Lewis coached the underdog Pope John girls basketball team in her final season to the Parochial A title game before losing to St. JohnVianney. Donna Dolan, Krista Hessler, Erin Sullivan and my broadcast partner at Mugs Media, Tara Petrolino, helped pave the way.
* I covered more wrestling early in my career, so I never got a chance to see too much in person of some of the great wrestlers of the recent past, like Tyler Milonas and Dan Valimont of Jefferson, and Zach Rey of Hopatcong, to name a few. But I loved watching the following grapplers: Matt Valenti, Steve Dalling and Roman Fleszar of Kittatinny, Ed Kreutle, John Shipley, and T.C. Meyers (wasn’t a state or region champ, but was tough as nails) of High Point, Brian Unkert of Pope John, David Hughes of Jefferson and any of the big, but nimble, Cofrancesco brothers of Pope John.
I also loved watching Kittatinny coach John Gill live and die with every move of his wrestlers. And you can’t beat the atmosphere of a High Point-Kittatinny showdown.
So, needless to say, I’m excited about heading out on those cold winter nights to watch the best the SCIL has to offer in hoops and wrestling, and hopefully, I’ll make some new memories.
SHOPRITE HAS THE ANSWER?-—The fall season is in the books and the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (you know I couldn’t go through an entire blog without mentioning the NJSIAA) has released the ShopRite Cup standings. That’s right. The ShopRite Cup. Never heard of it? Well, I vaguely recall it during my newspaper days. The Cup is an award for the best athletic programs in the state that compete in 32 sports sanctioned by the NJSIAA. Points are awarded for how schools place in the state tournament.
At the end of the school year, the top schools in all four public school groups and the two non-public groups are honored. The program, which is in its fourth year, is meant to provide a “positive spirit of competition” among the schools, according NJSIAA Executive Director Steve Timko.
A quick look at the standings shows one thing, the public schools in South and Central Jersey have a big leg up on their counterparts in the two North sections. Right now, the leaders are New Providence (North 2) in Group 1, Haddonfield (South) in Group 2, Moorestown (South) in Group 3, Hunterdon Central (Central) in Group 4, Immaculate Heart Academy (North) in Non-Public A and Holy Cross (South) in Non-Public B. Placement points are doubled in the case of an all-girls (like IHA) or all-boys non-public school.
The top-ranked school in North 1 is Ramapo, which is fourth in Group 3. No teams in the Mugs Media area are in the top 5 of any group. Does this mean there are better athletes and coaches in the south? No, but it is definitely interesting. A few years back the state, led by Don Smolyn of Lenape Valley, realigned (there is that dreaded word, again) the sections to even out the disparity in group sizes in each section. Years ago, a school that was Group 1 in the South, would be a pretty good-sized Group 2 in North 1, which is an unfair advantage come state tourney time.
I don’t know why the South dominates, but after living in the area for a few years many years ago, I can tell you our brethren to the south have a chip on their shoulders when it comes to competing against the North due to a perceived lack of respect and media coverage statewide. But I’m pretty sure when Paulsboro hits the mat in wrestling or Shawnee in any sport; they are not thinking about the glory that is the ShopRite Cup.
That’s it for now, see you on the sidelines.
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