Cougars, Colonials through to CJ finals
BY TIM MORRIS Staff Writer
Tiffany DeTulio figured if she could knock some shots down early, it would help get the Colts Neck Cougars going.

"I knew I had to come out scoring," he said. "When I'm scoring, it lightens things up for the team."

DeTulio had it going early from beyond the arc nailing a trio of 3-pointers in the first quarter against Hunterdon Central, which got Colts Neck going and leading to a 56-46 win. The victory put the Cougars in last night's NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV championship game at Sayreville High School against defending champion Trenton Central.

The Cougars took a 15-6 lead after one quarter in Friday night's sectional semifinal behind DeTulio's shooting. Brooke Hampton and Lauren Clarke took over in the second period and the Cougars pushed the lead to 27-12 at the half. Clarke and Hampton kept it going in the third quarter to stretch the lead to 19, 39-20, late in the period.

Still, head coach John Truhan did not think that his club had the game in the bag.

"This was a senior-driven team, Truhan said of the 22-win Hunterdon Central Red Devils. "I was never comfortable at all."

Sure enough, with the Cougars facing foul problems for the first time this year (DeTulio and forward Brittany Howes fouled out), the Red Devils mounted a big fourth-quarter comeback.

Led by Sidney Jaques, Jaime Ericson and Taylor Bruzzio, the Red Devils had the ball down seven, 45-38,with 3:58 remaining.

All season long Truhan has noted that Crystal Butler provides the Cougars with defensive intensity off the bench and the senior would promptly make the defensive play of the game. Entering the contest after DeTulio fouled out she deflected a pass that led to a turnover. Colts Neck cashed in on its end on Howes' basket and Clarke followed with a basket and the lead was back up to double figures, 49-38.

The Red Devils (22-6) never got closer than eight points the rest of the night and the Cougars were on to an anticipated showdown with the defending champion, the Tornadoes.

Clarke scored 17 to lead the 28-1Cougars with Hampton netting 16 and DeTulio 13. TheCougars outshot theRedDevils frombehind the arc, 7-2.Hampton connected on two and Clarke and Butler each had one to go with DeTulio's 3-pointer.

The Shore Conference Tournament champions took a 26-game winning streak into the sectional finalwith TrentonCentral.

Howell (20-5), the only team to beat Colts Neck this year (the team's were 1-1 inANorth sharing the title), almost set up a rubber match with the Cougars. The Rebels gave Trenton Central all it could handle in Friday night's semifinal at Trenton. The Tornadoes had to go to overtime before besting the Rebels, 56-52, and setting up its matchup with Colts Neck.

Michelle Blum led the Rebels with 18 while Denise Crudup added 13 and Jacquie Ward with 11.

Freehold Borough advances

While Colts Neck went forward to the Central Jersey Group IV title game, Jen Brzucki's Freehold Borough Colonials advanced to the CJ Group III championship game thatwas playedMonday night atWest Windsor-Plainsboro North High School.

The Colonials beat Middletown South in Freehold on Saturday, 71-58, to reach the sectional final for the first time in school history.

Freehold Borough was in control of the game after outscoring the visiting Eagles 20-12 in the first period.

Shannon Mayrose and Sehmonyeh Allen each scored 17 points, team-high honors. The Colonials had four players scoring in double figures with point guard Alexandra Eagles netting 15 and forward Quasonna Moore with 11.

Solid free-throwshooting byEagle (7-10), Mayrose (5-7) and Allen (5-6) in the fourth quarter kept the Eagles at bay as they tried to get back into the game by fouling.

Middletown South (17-8) was led by Danielle Pankey's game-high 21.

The B North champions, now 22-4, met a very familiar opponent in the sectional final, Neptune. Freehold Borough beat Neptune three times, twice during the regular season en route to winning the division championship. The other win was in the SCT.

Neptune, 20-6, beat Ocean, 56-38, in its semifinal on Saturday.