Cougars seeking state basketball supremacy

Four down and one to go. When the Colts Neck High School girls basketball team won the Central Jersey Group IV state sectional championship on March 10, the Cougars pointed out that they needed five more wins to achieve their season's goal: winning the NJSIAA Tournament of Champions title.

ERIC SUCAR staff Colts Neck High School's Lauren Clarke drives between two defenders from Malcolm X Shabazz High School of Newark to shoot a layup during the Tournament of Champions semifinals March 19. Clarke scored 23 points in the Cougars' 58-48 victory. When this week began, they were only one victory short of that goal.

On March 19 in Toms River, the Cougars beat the defending Tournament of Champions title-holder, No. 1 seed Malcolm X Shabazz High School of Newark, 58-48, to advance to the March 23 Tournament of Champions final at the Izod Center in East Rutherford.

The Cougars (29-3) played St. John Vianney High School of Holmdel in the Tournament of Champions final and lost 56-44. (Due to press deadlines, the story will be in next week's edition.)

St. John Vianney (30-2) beat Paterson Catholic, 72-52, in the Tournament of Champions semifinals on March 19.

Following the win over Shabazz, Colts Neck Coach John Truhan said, "Our goal is not over. Our schedule is what's gotten us here. It prepared us."

Truhan was referring to the tough nonconference games the Cougars played during the season to get ready for the NJSIAA state tournament. One of those games was against Shabazz in January in the Dan Flynn Classic in Jersey City.

The Cougars lost that game, 55-53, but they learned a lot, like putting a team away when you have the lead. In that earlier meeting the Bulldogs rallied late from a sevenpoint deficit to beat the Cougars. But rather than demoralizing the Cougars, the loss only made them more determined.

"It was a close game," guard Lauren Clarke said of that first encounter with Shabazz. "The whole time (on March 19) that (earlier) game was in the back of our heads."

If Shabazz thought it was playing the same Colts Neck team, the Bulldogs were sadly mistaken. Shabazz led only once in the Tournament of Champions semifinals, at 6-4.

Every charge made by the Bulldogs was answered. The Cougars held their own under the boards against the more physical Bulldogs, and guards Brooke Hampton and Clarke drove to the basket at will.

"We kept attacking, looking to get them in foul trouble," said Hampton, who scored 16 points. "I was looking to attack more than I did in the first game."

Clarke, who scored a game-high 23 points, and Hampton led a 15-6 run that opened a 21-12 lead midway through the second quarter.

It wasn't all Hampton and Clarke, however. The play of forwards Brittany Howes, Emily Laurence and LeeAnn Lanza was very important. They did just enough to make the Bulldogs have to defend them and that opened up lanes for Hampton and Clarke to drive through. From the high post, Howes dished out a team-high three assists.

"We ran our Princeton offense," said Truhan. "We took what they gave us. If the backdoor cuts were there we took them or we drove straight at them."

Shabazz cut the Colts Neck lead to 25- 23 at halftime and tied the game twice early in the third quarter at 25-25 and 27-27. But Howes hit a pair of free throws, Clarke drained a three-point field goal and Hampton

went coast-to-coast with a rebound and just like that it was 34-27 Colts Neck. Shabazz climbed back to within two points, 38-36, at the end of the quarter.

Colts Neck began the fourth quarter with the ball and off a set play Clarke scored, was fouled and

hit the free throw to push the lead to 41-38. It was the start of a 12-4 spurt that lifted the Cougars to a 50-40 lead.

But the Bulldogs responded. A threepoint field goal by Ka-Deidre Simmons and a three-point play by Tiffany Green off a basket in the lane and a free throw cut the lead to just 51-48 with 1:23 left in the fourth quarter.

Was it déjà vu all over again for these two teams? No.

Tiffany DeTulio hit two free throws with :57 seconds left to extend the Colts Neck lead to five. Lanza hit two free throws with :31 left and the Cougars were safe with a 55-48 lead. Two free throws from Clarke ad one more from Lanza provided the final 10- point margin.

Howes, Laurence and Lanza combined for 12 rebounds and frustrated the Bulldogs' interior players by contesting every shot.

"We were digging in on defense," Truhan said.

In the Tournament of Champions quarterfinals on March 17, Colts Neck defeated Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School, 42-29, in Toms River.

What began the day after Thanksgiving as the team's mission became a reality as this week began with the Cougars heading to the Izod Center for the Tournament of Champions final.

"It's exciting," said Hampton. "I can't really tell you how I feel."

Clarke said, "It feels amazing, We keep making history."

They were hoping that history had one more chapter — state champions

"We're not satisfied," Truhan said after the Cougars' big win over Shabazz. "We still have four quarters to play."