Each will have a preview box in the paper that day of the game, but here is some additional thought.
Here is a ranking of the five local teams still playing from most likely to win a sectional title to least.
1. South Plainfield
2. Dunellen
3. Watchung Hills
4. Somerville
5. Immaculata
Most of that has to do with the quality of competition each team is playing. I love the way Immaculata is playing right now -- their senior leadership is a real classic high school sports story -- but Morris Catholic is soooooo good.
Forget its sectional final, I think South Plainfield is the favorite to win Group III at this point.
Watchung Hills can beat the Perth Amboy team I saw lose to South Plainfield in the GMCT semifinals. I'm not sure if the Warriors can beat the team that routed Piscataway on Friday.
Any team can win a low scoring game, and Rumson Fair-Haven loves to play tight games in the 20s. That's a dangerous strategy, especially when a player as good as Somerville's Caity Laub is on the other side.
Dunellen is playing with house money here. That's a great way to enter a pressure environment. Highland Park plays the better competition year-round, is the better story (the Owls were 0-20 last year), and has a distinct size advantage. With nothing to lose, Dunellen may be carefree enough to win.
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29 comments:
C'mon Ryan,
I hope Somerville beats RFH too, but it's a bit of a stretch to like them vs. what is one of the very best coached teams in girls basketball in the state. Btw, I hear the Rumson coach comes up here every year to scrimmage Bridgewater so his players can be more familiar w/ the gym & the dimensions, etc. But good luck to the Ville girls & their coaches - who are very likeable people.
I agree with the previous post. I follow the Ville and am a ville fan, but come on Ryan. To pick against Rumson, get serious! The Somerville girls have had an amazing season winning 20 games, making it this far and it is clear that Coach Swan always has them prepared as I feel he is one of the best coaches around. The Ville is 37 - 14 since he has taken over. I'd like to check that against some of the other coaches in the area. He and Hilgenberg have come in and turned the Ville and Lata around QUICKLY and in my mind should split Coach of the Year, although a little more credit goes to Jen H. for winning the counties. Keep in mind though, that she does it with a senior pt. guard and two guard while Swan's pt. guard and two guard are both sophs. With all of that being said, Rumson is the real deal and we as Ville fans cannot expect Swan and the girls to pull another rabbit out of their hat. Rumson must have some type of respect for the Ville because I have been at most of the Ville games and I have seen coaches with Rumson gear on at at least 2 or 3 of the games scouting them. Good luck Ville and if you lose don't worry. Rumson has won this 7 times in a row for a reason. They are THAT good.
Somerville over Rumson?
Very risky pick, Ryan. Very risky.
^But to add, I'd be thrilled if that were to happen. And I also really think that Rumson is overrated this year just because of their coach and the conference they play in. We'll see.
Hilgenberg may have a sr point and two guard while ville may not. however ville has two senior forward/posts. Which immac doesnt even have one
You are correct that the Ville has two forwards who are seniors and Immaculata doesn't really use a post game, but if you know anything about basketball it is a lot nicer to have your experience be at the guard spot because guards have the ball most of the time. Young guards make young mistakes, which is what the Ville has. Immaculata doesn't make a lot of mistakes because of the senior leadership at the point and 2 guard. The Ville will struggle with the loss of Laub next year and will miss Bradley on the boards, but for Lata next year will be a real struggle. That is not a knock on the younger players at Lata, it is more of a compliment to Melone and Bay who have done a great job of carrying them. Then again, Lata can have kids from multiple cities and counties playing for them, so maybe they will get some freshman in or transfers.
Lata has definitely benefitted from the experience of it's 3 Sr's who not only lead them but are the heart and the soul of the team, but the two Jr. starters are excellent and will see much more of the ball next year. Britney is tops defensively and can shoot very well, right now the ball goes to Bay most often for obvious reasons. Meg is also a great defender and rebounder and has some good shooting games. Shauna who is only a freshman will be a key ball handler for Lata plus there are some excellent shooters on the bench, they just have to get used to the speed and ferocity of varsity play.Every year Lata suffers from a lack of height, the advantage I see in this is that Lata players have to be very versatile, fast and strong defensively and this is why they have been successful. They can't always rely on easy points to tall centers so by working harder they are better players. Just my obervation. Versatility is key. So many of the "star" players seem to rely on one or two plays and when they get shut down the team doesn't do well because they have learned to rely on them. Look at #8 ranked AHA's top scorer and candidate for Bergen's POY, once her drives to the left were stopped she couldn't do a thing.She only scored the bulk of her points when Lata stopped playing.Look at MSD with almost all starters taller than Lata's. Lata doesn't always load points on the board but they also keep other teams from doing that, that comes from athleticism, basic skills and good coaching. Melone and Bay have had a tough time (for a while)in some of the past games doing what they do best because the other team guards them close, but the other players pick up the slack until they can get some breathing room. If Jen is coaching next year I'm sure she will again highlight the talent and do a good job bringing out the best of the supporting cast.
Congrats to both Somerville and Watchung Hills on amazing seasons. I was at the Watchung game last night and was just amazed at how far this coach and her group of players have come. I didn't think they had much of a chance going into the game with such a size differential (Perth Amboy had 2 girls at 6'3") but really believe that if their offense had shown up before the 4th quarter, they could have pulled it off. Watchung's defense is just incredible. Even though they lose their top player next year, those juniors (Zigarelli, Schaffer, Riley) are top notch. Can't wait to see what Coach Whelan can do next year.
Congrats to Somerville as well on a fantastic season. It's hard to accept that Caity Laub probably won't be part of the Courier first-team all area (how could you possibly move Jenkins, Kopecki, Kutch, Melone, and Carr down to second team???) but she is a very special player. Somerville will miss her greatly next year. However, Somerville county basketball is going to be radically different next season as new players, many of whom have been overshadowed by the big 6 just mentioned, will step up. I expect Somerville to take a run deep into the county tournament next season with 5 (Grunwald, Callendar, Black, Lazauskus, Kaschak) VERY talented now sophomores, next season juniors, at the disposal of Coach Swan. Powerhouse teams this year (such as Immaculata and Hillsborough) will probably have rebuilding years, although it's too early to say for sure whether they will have a successful season while teams like Montgomery and Somerville I can see doing very well next year. Until next winter!
^Somerset county basketball***
Just an interesting note aside,, the girls are from the Ville, but they all live in the 'burg (Branchburg) and outside of Somerset County, most people have never even heard of our small town! three girls at Lata are also 'burgians. Goes to show just how strong the rec programs are like here, soccer was strong too!
Good Job Branchburg!
First of all, Branchburg is in Somerset County.
Also, more importantly, there are girls from the town of Somerville on the SHS B ball team, too.
And, most importantly, it doesn't matter which town they come from because they are a TEAM. A TEAM with great girls who played their hearts out as a TEAM and had a great season for Somerville High School.
I could be wrong but I suspect the Lindsey Melone as player of the year article was written awhile ago.
When will Mr. Dunleavy be constructing the Melone Monument in front of the Courier-News Building?
Compare and contrast the Watchung Hills-Amboy story and the Morris Catholic-Immaculata story:
Please note that Kopecki is a "senior guard" and "leading scorer" while Melone is an "emotional leader" and "floor general" with "...trademark will-her-team to victory performances".
Watchung had their "best season" while Immaculata has a season of "improbable happenings and great stories" and their "senior leadership is a real classic high school sports story". Watchung lost by 4, Immaculata by 21, and I know Perth Amboy is not Morris Catholic...but enough already.
Lindsey Melone is a great high school basketball player and a seemingly nice kid, Hilgenberg a great coach. Megan Kopecki is a great high school basketball player and a seemingly nice kid, Whelan a great coach. There are lots of great high school basketball players and great coaches in the area.
Why the difference in these two articles? The Immaculata article reads like an editorial media guide piece! Is Ryan gonna read it at their banquet?
Mr. Dunleavy seems to have a profound lack of understanding and knowledge of Skyland Conference/Somerset County basketball history. Immaculata has a powerhouse and historic girls basketball record. Watchung Hills does not. Much of their success has been due to Kopecki's courage, strength, leadership and performance and Whelan's coaching.
Lindsey exhibits many great characteristics in a student athlete. She is a terrific point guard and team leader. She also led her team to a County Championship this year. It should at least be recognized that Megan Kopecki has the same personal/athletic/leadership characteristics.
I recognize that Immaculata won the County championship. It should be noted that Watchung Hills was champion or co-champion of the Skyland Conference for the last two years, and Lindsey Melone couldn't beat Megan Kopecki over the last two years.
Please do not take this as denigrating a fantastic girls basketball player, coach or program...just pointing out that there are others just as deserving of accolades.
Catherine Carr is already a lock for POY. You can't not give it to her, sorry.
Cat Carr is another one that doesn't get the same admiration from Ryan that Lindsey does. But then again, neither does Kutch, Jenkins, Laub, etc.... Lindsey's a great player but I would also like to see some 'editorial media guide' writing about the other talented players in our area. There are certainly enough of them that deserve the same type of accolades that Ryan gives to Lindsey.
I think Catherine Carr has gotten far too much recognition. I think she is the one who seems to always be featured, just cause she scores a ton.
Jenkins, Kutch & Kopecki all don't get nearly the amount of credit as they deserved. P-Way won multiple conference/counties. Hillsboro won counties 2 years with Kutch, 3 Conferences. And Kopecki, won counties once and co-conference champs this year
Just because a newspaper writer won't recognize this, doesn't mean that the people around you don't see it. Good jobs girls!
"When will Mr. Dunleavy be constructing the Melone Monument in front of the Courier-News Building?"
"Lindsey Melone couldn't beat Megan Kopecki over the last two years."
"Please do not take this as denigrating a fantastic girls basketball player."
Hey "anonymous"...for someone who felt the need to write on book on how you're not denigrating a fantastic girls basketball player, you sure go about it in an interesting way. Sounds to me like you feel Ryan was denigrating Megan Kopecki. At least have the courage (yeah, that'll happen) to sign your post next time. Only someone close to the Watchung Hills "family" or Megan Kopecki's family would look at how he described the two players and feel like he was touting one player at the expense of another. Quite an example you're setting.
Remember, it's high school girls basketball.
Thank me later, Ryan.
This is pure insanity.
You are making a case for one high school player by tearing another one down?
Maybe if you made an intelligent case for Kopecki or whomever without dissing a 17-year-old kid, you would have an ounce of credibility.
Shame on you. And if you are an adult, shame on society.
Interesting...I read that blog as a 'diss' on Ryan, not Lindsey.
I'm just glad I don't have his job because no matter what happens, he's going to be criticized. Good luck to all the incredibly talented seniors who are discussed on this forum. It's a shame you all can't be "Player of the Year".
By the way Ryan, at least one criticism here is justified -- your pick of Somerville to beat Rumson was BRUTAL.
the morris cathlioc immaculata game... the ref's were horrible.. the one guy called the whole game... they had a delayed reaction on every single call...
in addition morris cathlioc played more dirty than any other team i have ever seen.. coincidence how they took melone out in the first half with a knee to the groin by their 500 pound football player on the court...they were all monsters and you can see by the fouls they think they play rugby... the coach had them fouling up until one minute left in the game.... and they were up by 20 points... i cannot believe no one is talking about this...someone said "hey white you play dirty" their coach turned around and said yep...now shut the hell up"...gotta love those cathlioc school coaches!!
props to immac for staying together as a team this season...hilgenberg is a great thing for that program...
You can’t compare the WH/PA game with MC/Lata on basis of points…it was an incredibly emotional game and anyone not able to acknowledge that would be heartless. The MC coach didn’t even have the grace to acknowledge that Lindsay’s injury made a difference, his comment” We wore them down”, god forbid that he admit they got lucky. No one at that game can deny that Lata was neck and neck with MC until LM went out. Lata did the same to MSD, faced a taller, stronger, deeper team and with just about 5 players pulled away at the end. If that’s not a great sports story, then I guess I have the wrong idea about what sports are about.
I read the long post about Dunleavy's coverage of Melone and it was definitely NOT directed at the player. It was spot on.
Melone is certainly a fine player, but so are a number of other girls in the area and they get nowhere near the dramatic, glowing C-N coverage LM does.
Why is that? And why would anyone say it's a knock against the player to ask that question?
I think the focus on POY is out of control. Ryan, you opened a can of worms by asking public's opinion, it's been obvious that self-interested parties (parents?)have "anonymously" been lobbying for their kids...kinda like the pre-oscar nomination frenzy. Just by pre-announcing 4 years ago who the top players would be I thought was a mistake. Focus on "teams" not individuals, this is High school not the pro's. I love b'ball for it's excitement, I hate it for it's propensity to focus on only one or two players. It's not fair to those players because people will tear them down out of jealousy or because of the constant jostling for the most attention and it's not fair to all the other pretty good players out there. The media is partly to blame, the shameless over-zealous parents & other self-interested parties are totally to blame. Really, after all this madness, how can you pick one player? Pick a team instead...pick the entire graduating class for making this one of the more exciting seasons of basketball in a while. Yea I sound naiive, but enough is enough!
Why do away with Player of the Year? I don't think anybody suggested that. It seems to me that what people would like to see done away with is the constant drum-beating in an influential local media outlet on behalf of one particular player. Especially when it starts from Day 1 of the season. Hmmm. Or did it begin Day 1 of last season? Or maybe even before that?
And not only C-N is guilty of it. I was at the Lata/Ville game (like all local b-ball junkies). When Lata had a big lead and benches were cleared at the end, Melone was left in the game to finish and scored the last three baskets against what was esentially some of Ville's JV team. That looked to me, at least, like a move made to be sure someone would end up high scorer. And of course C-N came through and trumpeted that Melone had scored the last 6 points of the game to cap off her many other dramatic accomplishments. You would have thought from the article it was Melone and 4 of the cheerleaders against the Ville team (I'm exaggerating a little, sort of like the article did).
It's that kind of thing that gets people annoyed and provokes some of these comments.
And, no, I am not attacking a 17 y/o girl. And, no, I am not an over-involved parent or anyone with an interest in seeing any particular player chosen as Player of the Year.
And to dismiss every one of these criticisms as having come from one or the other is an attempt to dodge the issue.
ryan treats laub the same way as carr - somerville also plays the minor league schedule and is touted as all world - in four years what large school have they beaten?
Somerville beat Bridgewater(which is a large school) I'm sure you could get their record from the athletic office if you need more info. The Ville won their conference, is a group 2 school not 3 or 4, and played in the group 2 finals. Don't dismiss their accomplishments because they are group 2 and in that section of the Skyland Conference.
Also, can we stop tearing apart young women who are good players, please!
All these bitter comments just demonstrate that America's love of "idol" worship has filtered down to the HS sports level. Reporters need a good story, it's easier to focus on one player. Why do you think we're sick of Paris Hilton? I know all the girls being mentioned and they are great kids but I got tired of seeing the same girls in every photo, (never saw one of Dana from Ville - a 4yr varsity plyr.) you would think at times that the other players didn't exist and that is a shame. All season on countless teams I've seen players left in for stats so the headlines are always the same. why do certain players always get steals, rebounds noted in articles when you know others did just as well?...look no further than the golden ring of college scholarships..it always comes down to that and always will. And as long as we have constant 'discussions' about who is the "best" there will always be jealousies, rivalries, lobbying etc. I worry about the pressure on these kids, I've seen many of them cry when they don't have a good game..not good. The media is at fault but it's our culture and need for "stars" that fuel the problem.
In reading the comments about the players mentioned in various posts(Jenkins, Laub, Melone, Kopecki, Kutch), I'd leave it as they are all young ladies who have put in a lot of hard work in improving their basketball skills. I know a couple of them and besides being good basketball players, they are nice kids. Let's hope their hard work is rewarded with some scholorship money toward their college educations. I'd take any of them on my Team and who really cares about the POY designation. They all had good seasons and their teams were very successful as well.
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