Colonials cagers win B North championship
BY TIM MORRIS Staff Writer
It was a mixed bag for the Freehold Borough girls basketball teamlast week. The Colonials won the Shore Conference B North Division championship when they beat Monmouth Regional, 62- 53, Jan. 28, with Shannon Mayrose becoming the latest 1,000-point career scorer, and Matawan on Thursday.

Sandwiched between those division triumphs, they took on ShoreConference power Rumson-Fair Haven on Jan. 29. This game provided both teams with a chance to get a read on where they stood on the eve of the upcoming Shore Conference Tournament (SCT) and state sectionals (SCT starts Feb. 13 and the states, Feb. 25).

Defense won the night in Freehold Borough as the visiting Bulldogs broke open a tight game with excellent free-throw shooting by KateMiller in the final 1:25.

The game also gave a preview of what Mayrose and the Colonials will be up against. The Bulldogs' defense was focused on shutting Mayrose down.

"We were not going to let her [Mayrose] beat us," said Miller. "We were going to make someone else."

That is nothing new to the Colonials, coach Jen Bruzucki

pointed out.

"We've had teams face guard

and double team

Shannon," she

noted. "We need

our guards and forwards to step up.

"We were just

missing shots," she added.

Led byMiller, who had the hot hand, the Bulldogs quickly took ownership of theColonials' home court, racing out to a 15-3 lead.

But, back came the Colonials behind back-to-back 3-pointers by Jackie Scalgione and Ashley Lewis that triggered a comeback. However, the Colonials still trailed by eight, 21-13 at the half.

It was Freehold's defense's turn to pick it up in the third quarter, and Rumson went 4:15 without a point.

Mayrose found away to dent the Bulldog defense on the offensive glass. A pair of putbacks drew Freehold within three, 21-18,

Rumson countered with a 5-0 run before Mayrose ended the quarter with a basket and the Colonials trailed 26-20 with eight minutes to play.

Freehold started the fourth quarter like the third and scored four straight points to pull within a basket, 26-24. It remained a two-point game until Miller and Gabbie DePalo scored back-to-back baskets that pushed the lead to six, 32-26.

Back came Freehold with Mayrose scoring inside and Scalgione sinking a pair of free throws, and the lead was back down to two.

Itwas still twowith 2:37 left afterAlexandra Eagle sank a pair of free throws.

But, Miller would not let her team lose on this night. She scored on a driving layup to make it 36-32 Rumson and then went a perfect 6-6 from the foul line, as the final margin was not reflective of the competitive nature of the game.

"To come back like we did and get within two points shows their competitiveness," said Brzucki. "They don't like to lose. I'm very proud of them."

Miller led all scorers with 22 points as Rumson, last year's SCT finalist, improved

outright. to 15-5. De- Palo chipped in with 11.

Mayrose still managed to score 12 points, but no other Colonial reached double figures.

Freehold improved to 17-3 Thursday when the Colonials beat Matawan to wrap up the B North Division

Notes…Mayrose is the sixthColonial to reach the 1,000-career-pointsmilestone. She joined Liz Scharpf (1,580), Vicki Roy (1,302), Carla Brantley (1,276), Jen Towers (1,099) and Allison Calandrino (1,023) in the club. She has a good chance of catching Scharpf, a 1995 Borough graduate, and becoming the school's all-time leading scorer.

The division title is the first for the Freehold Borough girls since 1980.

Colts Neck, Howell and Freehold Township have all qualified for the SCT and state tournament.