Eisenhower girls complete perfect season on hardwood
Generals win county championship
BY TIM MORRIS Staff Writer
It's not often that teams get to set school records, but that's exactly what the Eisenhower school's sixth- and seventhgrade girls basketball team did in 2007-08.

The Generals, coached by Donald De- Jianne, made school history by completing the first undefeated season. They went 14-0 winning the regular-season division title and the Monmouth County League championship. The Generals beat an equally undefeatedMarlboro squad in the final, 26-22.

DeJianne said he had an idea that his teamcould have a special season because all of his starters had played as sixth-graders.

Camerin Spahn (forward/guard), Kim Dana (guard), Sara Cobb (forward), Cristina Lupo (forward) and Delaney Boyer (guard) were the starting five who had gained experience last year. All the team needed was to fill in a few players in the rotation. Tara Surick and SamanthaKandell helped solved that with fitting into the rotation with the starting five. The Generals were ready.

"I knewwe could be one of the best teams in the league, but it doesn't always work out," he said.

It worked out this winter for the Generals as they met and passed every test including a major one presented by Marlboro in the league championship game.

Eisenhower was not a small team, but Marlboro had bookends upfront in Megan Hilla and Sydney Krug who presented matchup difficulties for the Generals.

"I talked to the girls before the game and we decided to go with a matchup zone and thenwe switched toman toman," notedDe- Jianne. "We had to play an error-free game."

Trailing 18-17 entering the final quarter, Eisenhower outscored Marlboro 9-4 in the fourth quarter to pull out a 26-22 win and preserve its perfect season while sending Marlboro to its first lost.

The Generals, who had made just one 3- pointer during the season, got two from Dana including a crucial trey in the fourth. Cobb and Boyer sank clutch free throws late that clinched the victory and the championship for Eisenhower.

Throughout its perfect season, it was a toughman-to-man defense and a balance offense that were the team's trademarks.

The Generals had something else going for them; basketball smarts.

"They're basketball players," said De- Jianne. "They love to play."

That enabled the Generals to present multiple offense looks to teams. They could attack teams in a number of different ways. DiJianne pointed out that it's difficult for seventh-grade teams to run a variety of offenses, but because of the team's basketball IQ, they were able to pull it off.

After finishing the regular season 12-0, Eisenhower opened the playoffs against Wall, a team that had taken them to overtime during the regular season. There was no repeat of that seesaw battle in the rematch. The Generals coasted by double figures, leading by as much as 20 points.

"We showed improvement during the season," said DeJianne.

The Generals received help from everyone on the team during the season, which was the biggest reason they were able to complete an undefeated season.

Katie Cerio, Gabrielle Bartolomei, Brittany Gordon, Ashley Bailey, Kerry Luttrell, Sydeny Weise, Brianna Morello, Kristina Pagano and Laura Wrolesky provided solid play for the Generals.