Hawks enter state tourney playing well
BY SHAWN LAYTON
Staff Writer

EDISON - The J.P. Stevens High School girls basketball team gained some much-needed momentum heading into this week's state tournament with a win over Keyport on Saturday.

With the win, Stevens improved its mark to 15-9 on the season.

The Hawks took on Keyport, also state tournament qualifiers, for a tune-up prior to Tuesday's meeting with Irvington in the opening round. As the tournament's No. 6 seed, Stevens played host to No. 11 Irvington with the hope of advancing to the second round to take on No. 3 seed Piscataway today.

Against Keyport, head coach John Spiess had the luxury of playing his starters just a little more than two quarters as the Hawks ran away with a 53-19 victory. Stevens opened the contest with a 14-3 run in the first quarter and all but ended the game with a 25-3 run in the third quarter.

"It was a good game for us," Spiess said. "We wanted to play before the state tournament and it fit in both teams' schedules. Our players performed very well."

In just 2 1/2 quarters, Stevens' Bobbi Van Fleet pumped in 18 points and Kathryn Ruhno sank four three-pointers to finish with 15 points. Van Fleet also snatched seven rebounds and five steals while Ruhno collected three swipes and dished out five assists.

"We played well as a team and we finished with 18 assists," Spiess said. "That shows that we really moved the ball around. It was a good sign heading into the state tournament."

The Keyport win got the Hawks back on track after a disappointing 52-41 loss to a strong Hillsborough team. Brittany Mullings led Stevens with 16 points, eight rebounds and seven blocked shots. Hillsborough was paced by Kelsey Kutch's 20 points. Teammates Ebony Jones and Heather Neumann finished with 13 and nine points, respectively.

Prior to the Hillsborough loss, Stevens made an early exit from this year's Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament. The No. 7-seeded Hawks were bounced from the tournament by an upset win from No. 10 Bishop Ahr.

"We lost the same way they lost to us earlier in the season," Spiess said. "We won the first contest with a solid fourth quarter, but this time the tables were turned. Bishop Ahr sank nine of 10 free throws in the fourth quarter to beat us by seven. What goes around, comes around."

The Hawks may have had the higher seed in the game against Irvington earlier this week, but they were not taking anything for granted.

"Irvington is a very good No. 11 seed," Spiess said prior to Tuesday's game. "They are an excellent team and we will have to play very well if we want to beat them. If we look ahead to Piscataway, our season could end."

Notes... While the Hawks opened with Irvington on Monday, a handful of other local teams are also launching their state title bids this week.

Colonia's girls, the seventh seed in the North II, Group IV bracket, took on 10th-seeded Union on Monday, with the winner to travel to Perth Amboy today to face the second-seeded Panthers.

Bishop Ahr's girls have a tough task ahead of them tomorrow when they face the St. John Vianney Lancers in the first round of the Non-Public South A tournament. The Lancers, seeded fourth, were one of the Shore Conference's hottest teams over the last two months before falling to the eventual conference tournament champion Red Bank Catholic Caseys in the semifinals last week. Prior to that, SJV had won 16 games in a row, including wins over RBC and Rumson-Fair Haven, the sixth-ranked team in the state. The winner of tomorrow's game gets top-seeded Camden Catholic on Saturday in the semifinals.

In boys' action, both St. Joseph and Bishop Ahr were in action last night in their Non-Public South A openers. St. Joseph, the eighth seed, hosted ninth-seeded Holy Spirit, with the winner to face top-seeded Holy Cross tomorrow in Delran in the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, the Trojans, seeded seventh, took on 10th-seeded Notre Dame yesterday, with the winner to get second-seeded St. Augustine tomorrow in Richland.

Colonia's boys, the top seed in the North II, Group III bracket, got a first-round bye, and as such will take on the winner of yesterday's Middletown South-Scotch Plains game tomorrow. Following their disappointing showing in the GMC Tournament, the Patriots are anxious to defend their sectional title and hopefully make another run at the Tournament of Champions.

In North II, Group IV, Edison got the 16th seed, and took on second-seeded Linden on Monday in the first round, while Metuchen, the ninth seed in Central Jersey Group I, faced Henry Hudson yesterday in Highlands, with the winner to take on top-seed Dunellen tomorrow in the quarterfinals.