JVAces

The Lady Patriots Keep Winning

While most of the basketball talk in the hallways of Wayne Hills High School revolves around the resurgence of the boys team and their fan group the Gifford Goonies, the Lady Patriots are having another fine season under Coach Bill Percey.

The Patriots struggled with tough losses to Fair Lawn and Old Tappan, but they responded with a huge win at Northern Highlands. Then, in the West Milford Holiday Tournament, they were the champions for the second consecutive year after knocking off Pompton Lakes in the championship game. PG Linda Stambouly was named the tournament MVP after her unbelievable all around performance, which consisted of nine points and six steals.

After the tournament, Wayne Hills lost a tough game at home to a very tough Ramapo team, but bounced back with wins against Clifton and Demarest.

However, their statement win at rival Demarest came with a huge cost because Stambouly suffered a knee injury that has kept her out the last few weeks. The loss was a huge one for the Patriots because not only is Stambouly a four year varsity player, but she runs the offense and is the Patriots main threat from downtown.

Other players have stepped up for the Patriots in Stambouly's absence. Sam Levine has scored in double digits in four of the last six games, including 17 in an upset win on the road against Fair Lawn. Becky Olles has averaged aroud eight points per game over the last six games, and she has been a great rebounder on both sides of the glass.

When you talk about Wayne Hills Girls Basketball, Holli Bastinck is the one player coaches always game plan to shut down. Bastinck was a first team All-County selection as only a sophomore last year, and she has only elevated her game to greater heights this season. Besides being a force down on the block, Bastinck has added a nice touch on her mid-range jumper. However, her biggest improvements have come from the free throw line. According to maxpreps.com, Bastinck has shot 76% from the foul line this season, and she will be hard to stop if she can keep knocking down free throws at that rate. Bastinck has a double-double in 13 straight games for the Patriots, and she has also played great defense for the Patriots down low. The Patriots other forwards/centers, Clare Sisco and Bridget Greenwald, have done a great job off the bench for the Patriots. Both players have provided key low post scoring and rebounding, and they have made big plays when Coach Percey has called their number.

While the Patriots have beaten the teams they have been expected to beat, the big question will be whether they can beat the elite teams in the NBIL and Passaic County. Wayne Hills has lost to top NBIL foes Old Tappan, Ramapo, and Pascack Hills this season. The Patriots will not face Pascack Hills again, but if they want to make a deep run in states, they will have to go up against strong teams such as Ramapo and Old Tappan.

If the Patriots want to compete with the elite teams, the Patriots need to improve their shooting from the outside to help give Bastinck some scoring help. Wayne Hills also needs to continue to be aggressive and drive to the basket because they will get better shots and they will have more attempts at the free throw line. The Patriots are an excellent free throw shooting team, and free throws could be the difference between winning and losing a close game.

The Patriots came away with a huge win by mowing the lawn in a seven point victory at Fair Lawn. But that will hopefully be the first of many wins against top notch teams. Wayne Hills has two big games the next two Thursdays against the Golden Knights of Old Tappan and the Green Raiders of Ramapo. This is the Patriots' chance to make a statement to the elite teams in the league.

Andrew and I will have more basketball updates as the season progresses.

Wayne Hills Basketball Believes

It was December, and the Wayne Hills Boys Basketball team was still searching for answers.  After coming up short in another loss against league power Northern Highlands, the Patriots were still unable to finish out games.  However, whatever Coach Jim Catalano told his players during their week off for Christmas break and into their holiday tournament, the advice must have stuck.

A month and a day since their last loss, the Patriots (12-2) currently are running on all cylinders in the competitive NBIL.  Recently, with a huge upset victory over previously unbeaten Pascack Hills, the Patriots clinched their first berth in the state tournament since the 2003 season. To put that in perspective, it has been so long, that the last time the Patriots were in the playoffs was when now NFL tight end Greg Olsen was pulling down rebounds for them. Also, with the Passaic County Tournament seeding meeting set for tomorrow Wednesday January 23, the Patriots have an opportunity to earn a high seed anywhere from the 3-8 seed.  In itself though, it is just a huge accomplishment in itself for the Patriots to have this much confidence and respect, especially after their performance in previous seasons.

Just one year ago, the Patriots were 6-16 and struggling to find consistency on the court. Still, the future looked bright, as the Patriots had no seniors leaving last season, and they returned three starters heading into this season. Now with an 11 game win streak, the Patriots have finally found a confidence and toughness in which they were searching for all of last year.

Three year starting guard Steven Lequerica has shown that he is a leader on the court, along with his great shooting and quickness, he has vastly improved his defensive game for the Patriots. Lequerica won the Jack Reilly Tournament MVP in his heroic efforts vs. Old Tappan, and the wins in the tournament ultimately built the win streak that they are currently in. Justin Hourihan and Travis Della Volpe have done a fantastic job at the other guard positions, with Della Volpe primarily handling the point guard duties with Hourihan providing stingy defense and a good sense of basketball knowledge.  Forward Joe Russo has also done a fantastic job this year, as he worked extremely hard in the offseason on fine-tuning his shooting from the perimeter and his ability to drive to the basket. Also, Russo's defensive game has picked up considerably, as he has given opponents consistently a hard time whenever he covers them.  Arguably, one of the main differences though in this year's team is the presence of 6'7 sophomore center Chris Fonti. Fonti is the force that the Patriots needed in the middle to win games, and now with him in the starting lineup on a consistent basis, the Patriots can only be more dangerous.  Seniors Chris Lala and Stephen Spazante also have provided great depth of the bench, with Lala in relief of Fonti when he needs a break and Spazante gives the Patriots an extra shooting threat from the perimeter.

With all of the pieces in tact, and the belief of winning in the player's minds, the Patriots will only find out their true destiny by ultimately playing for the ultimate goal of winning a league, county, and state championship. It should be a fun tournament season, and I sure cannot wait until the seedings come out tomorrow night. David will have the girl's write-up done soon, whenever he feels up to it, so just be patient folks.

Indoors and Insane

First post in a while...  The indoor track season has been under way for about a month now and has been impressive so far. For those who don't know much about it, in between Cross Country and Spring Track there is an indoor season in the winter in which meets are held at numerous indoor facilities. For the North Jersey athlete most will be @ FDU in Hackensack, Rockland Community College, Drew University, The Toms River Indoor Complex or the 168th St Armory in NYC. Most schools have programs, but many small schools do not, I personally was able to run my first indoor race ever last friday @ FDU after being approved by my town BOE. It's alot harder than it seems, tight turns, and dry air, but its good to be racing again and back in the swing of things.

       Some impressive runs so far have been from numerous athletes.... Chris Trautwein of Ridgewood has run in the 4:20s for the mile already, and run 2:40 for the 1000m; Tommy Gaidus of N.Highlands has run 2:44 for the 1000m; Leighton Spencer and Rafael Vargas of Don Bosco Prep have run 9:54 and 10:00 for the 3200m.

Super Impressive was Sarah Pagano of IHA's  5:11 and 5:20 for the 1600m in the past 2 weeks, truly impressive for her.

Nick Vena a freshman of Morristown broke the Freshman National Record for the shotput this past week as well...

   Coming up - The State Group Relays this weekend.....   The Varsity Classic Meet on Feb 4th, 1000m run was truly spectacular last year, hopefully better this Year!.... Paul Schwartz of The Record invites a STACKED field of 1000m runners and last year the State Record was broken by two people    Jason Apwah of Roxbury and Max Bruno of Indian Hills, Max set a Junior Class National Record with his time at that meet..... Lets see what Paul can get together for this year.    PHOTO COURTESY OF NJRUNNERS.COM/Pat Monteferrat

Super Bowl Predictions Anyone?

Personally i believe if the cowboys can step up their defense and have enough of a pass protection to get them past the giants defensive line, they will beat the patriots in the superbowl.