Cougars win school’s first divisional hoops title

Colts Neck boys
are A Central champions
By tim morris
Staff Writer

CHRIS KELLY Colts Neck’s Mike DeCorso shoots over a Manasquan defender during the Cougars’ home win on Feb. 10.

The Colts Neck Cougars express arrived on time. With wins over Manasquan, 56-52, and Freehold Borough, 56-40, last week, the Cougar boys won the Shore Conference A Central Division title outright with an 11-1 log.

Three years ago, the Cougars were a young team taking their lumps, but the freshmen stayed the course, trusted head coach Lou Piccola’s vision and rewarded his belief in them by steadily improving. This year, winning the school’s first SC division title, they were right on schedule.

"I’m so proud of my kids for staying the course," said Piccola. "We’ve come a long way. All of our eight seniors have made contributions.

"It’s been a team effort all the way," he added. "All of our kids have accepted their roles."

There is multidimensional guard Mike DeCorso, one of the Shore’s best. He’s averaging 18.7 points a game and scored 27 and 20 points respectively in the Cougars’ A Central-clinching wins last week. He’s the team’s go-to player and a leader by example by the way he plays both ends of the floor.

Forward Brian Burton is a terrific rebounder, and 6-8 Giulian Cristino brings defense and shot-blocking to the squad.

Todd Hampton, a junior, has blossomed into a top-flight point guard who distributes the ball to everyone.

Tom Demonico and Lance Mielke provide a different, change-of-pace look to the squad. Lou Beninato loves to play defense and he plays it well, and Lawrence Nikola can bring the team offense.

Together this team is stronger than the sum of its parts and the reason Colts Neck is 19-2 overall.

It’s been a steady climb to the top for Colts Neck. The Cougars won six games three years ago, but were .500 two years ago.

DeCorso, a starter since his freshman year and the school’s first 1,000-point career scorer, said that the second year was the key.

"It showed that all the hard work we were doing was paying off," he said.

Last year the Cougars had a winning record and made the state playoffs, and now they have taken the big leap from contender to champion in one year.

"I just think this is a good team," said Piccola. "All year we’ve made the big plays, made the big shot, gotten the big rebound when we needed it.

"It’s been that way for us all year," he added. "We’ve played extremely well in some games."

One of those games was Feb. 11 against Manasquan when the Cougars, with a win, aimed to take over first place all by themselves and clinch a co-championship.

It was the kind of game that makes high school basketball special. The Colts Neck gym was packed and enthusiastic, and a title was on the line. With DeCorso scorching the net for 27 points, the Cougars controlled the game from the outset and went on to avenge their only A Central loss, which was at the hands of Manasquan last month.

"It was an unbelievable environment," said Piccola. "The town came out and supported us. We were ready to play."

The win over Manasquan clinched no worse than a share of the division title with the rival team, but after beating Manasquan in the rematch, the Cougars were in no mood to share the title with them. To outright take it as their own, they needed to win their next game, against Freehold Borough.

"The scary game was Freehold Borough," Piccola said. "They were playing so well. Our kids stayed focused and understood what was at stake. We didn’t want a banner that read co-champions."

An 11-2 second quarter lifted the Cougars to a 28-16 halftime lead in Freehold. The cushion helped them offset a 16-11 Colonial edge in the third quarter. With a title on the line, the Cougars dominated the final eight minutes, out-scoring the Colonials, 17-8, for the final 56-40 margin.

DeCorso had 20, Hampton 11, and Burton 10 for the new A Central champions.

The season is far from over for the Cougars. They are the seventh seed in the upcoming Shore Conference Tournament, which begins Friday for them. It appears to be a slight for a team on a 12-game winning streak and 19-2 overall; however, the Cougars will use it as motivation to prove themselves all over again.

Then, following the SCT, it’s on to the Central Jersey Group II playoffs where they are the No. 2 seed. The state tournament starts March 3.

"We want to make some noise in the tournaments," noted Piccola.