MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP – A year ago, Middletown South held off Neptune in a defensive struggle, 38-35, to win the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III girls basketball championship.
The two teams met again in a championship rematch Tuesday with South again winning, but in a completely different manner as the Eagles rolled to a 69-42 rout in the title game before a sell-out crowd at the South gym.
Rumson-Fair Haven Regional’s hopes of a CJ II title, however, ended in heart-breaking fashion Tuesday as top-seeded Manasquan trimmed the Lady Bulldogs, 84-70, in overtime.
“Our transition from rebound to the basket was a thousand times better this year,” said South coach Tom Brennan in explaining the difference between the two teams this year.
“We needed to contain Marajiah Bacon and Desiree Allen,” he said. “Those two are electric players, and they also had nice shooters on the outside.
“We wanted to contain those two in the paint and then close in on their outside shooters.”
Actually, South was unable to stop Bacon, who scored 20 points before running into foul trouble in the second half. Its defense, however, shut down the other players.
“We start three sophomores,” said South’s Angela DeBartolome, one of the few seniors on the team. “We had a rough start to the season and our center got hurt.
“The chemistry also wasn’t there early in the season,” she said, “but we became more established after that.”
South jumped out to a 21-6 lead after the first quarter, making use of its superior size and physical play. Neptune never got back in contention and trailed 64-31 early in the final quarter before South’s reserves finished up.
Alexandra Balsamo and Stephanie Karcz led the way with 18 and 17 points respectively for South, who played South Jersey champion Timber Creek Thursday in a semifinal game.
Rumson rallied from a 14-point deficit in the second half against top-seeded Manasquan and tied the game at 66 on a three-pointer by Katie Foos at the buzzer, but Manasquan kept its poise and outscored Rumson, 18-4, in the overtime period to win going away.
By Jim Hintelmann
