Rebels are quietly successful on hardwood
BY TIM MORRIS Staff Writer
It's about time that the Shore area took notice of the Howell High School girls basketball team.

JEFF GRANIT staff Freehold Township's Stephanie Cardamone (No. 31) is fouled by Howell's Margaux Pickell as she goes up for a basket in the Patriots' 42-32 loss on Jan. 3.

Under the radar, Bill Gallacher's Rebels have been one of the area's winningest programs, with two trips to the Central Jersey Group IV championship game in the past three years and three Holiday basketball titles in the past four.

All the Rebels have done this year is hand Colts Neck (WOBM Tournament champion) its only loss of the season, and win the Bayshore Holiday Tournament by beating a good Cardinal McCarrick in the final, 62-53.

The 6-1 Rebels have several things going for them in 2007-08. They return four of the starting five who caught fire in March and advanced all the way to the Central Jersey title game. Seniors Michele Blum, Denise Crudup and Margaux Pickell are the heart and soul of the team.

"Denise plays great defense on point guards and handles the [defensive] pressure," Gallacher said.

Pickell provides defense, shot blocking and rebounding. When she is scoring 8-10 points a game, the Rebels are a difficult team to defend.

Jacquie Ward is the fourth returner, and she is just a sophomore. She picked up where she left off last year as a frosh, providing strong play on both ends of the floor along with increased scoring. She was the Most Valuable Player of the Bayshore tourney. She scored 16 points in the championship game.

Lauren Lucey, a junior forward, completes the starting five. She adds rebounding and defense up front. She came up huge in the win over Colts Neck, scoring 15 including eight in the fourth quarter.

Sarah Olsen, a freshman forward/guard, forward Sabrina Jarmolinski and center Maggie Gilbertson are the first players off the bench and are a big part of the team's rotation. Jarmolinski is a pure shooter who can score points in a hurry, while Gilbertson, at 6-0, adds rebounding and defense. Olsen has the ability to spell Pickell and Lucey under the glass and help out offensively with her dribbling and outside shooting.

"We play very good defense, and our attack is pretty balanced," Gallacher said.

That balance was on display in the Bayshore final at Holmdel High School. In addition to Ward's 16, Blum and Crudup each had 12 and Pickell pitched in with nine. Crudup joined Ward on the All-Tournament team.

The Rebels beat Red Bank Regional, with Ward scoring 19 in their Bayshore opener, and took out defending champion Monmouth in the semifinals with Crudup holding Golden Falcon star Tia Curtis to just 10 points.

Middletown South has ruled the A North Division the past two years, and Howell is among the teams that would like to dethrone them in '08. The Rebels got their first crack at the Eagles Monday at home. The Eagles were 4-0 in divisional play entering the contest, while Howell was a 3-0. They will play the second time on Jan. 31 in Middletown.

Colts Neck has just that one loss to Howell in the division. The Cougars play South tomorrow night in Middletown (6:30 p.m.) and again in Colts Neck on Feb. 4.

Howell and Colts Neck will play for the second time on Jan. 17 in Colts Neck.