The Shore Daily, 3/27/15
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Today marks the wrap-up of the 2014-15 Shore Conference basketball season, as we unveiled our Shore Sports Network All-Shore teams for the boys and the girls.
A pair of Bulldogs, Rumson-Fair Haven's Brendan Barry and Chris Champeau, were our Player and Coach of the Year, respectively, for their thrilling run to the program's first Shore Conference Tournament title. I think Barry separated himself with that huge SCT final and also had several other big scoring nights in the state tournament and in the regular season. Champeau was also the Shore Basketball Coaches' Association choice for COY. I agree after he helped the Bulldogs make history, although I do think Wall's Matt Kukoda deserves notice for taking the Crimson Knights from last place in Class B North to their first outright division title since 1974.
As for Matt Manley's first-, second-, and third-team All-Shore selections, I felt like the first team was a pretty solid group without many arguments, and then some second- and third-team spots are in the eye of the beholder. It's definitely no easy task to whittle down the top 15 players from a conference with 46 teams.
The biggest difficulty is always balancing the individual and team accomplishments. You'll have some people argue for players on struggling teams, "It's the best 15 players, not the best 15 teams, so if he put up big numbers, he deserves it." Then you'll have coaches and fans of successful teams say, "We won the (insert championship X), so how do we not have at least one or two players?!"
Plus, there's so many media organizations that cover the Shore now that usually everybody gets recognized in some way. It's always funny because when one of us puts a kid on first team, the reaction is, "Those guys are the real authority. They know what they're doing." When another media outlet (or us) puts the same kid on second or third team, it's, "Those guys are idiots, and that's not the real All-Shore team anyway."
You'll get reactions like, "You have no idea what it's like to be second team instead of first team. My son/daughter is crushed." Actually, I know exactly what that's like because I was the sixth guy in the competition for the five first-team All-Shore spots when I was a senior and made second team for the Asbury Park Press. Guess what, the sun came up the next day, my friends made some jokes about it at my expense, and life went on. If that's the worst problem you're going to have in your life, then you're going to have a great life.
Two first-teamers and a second-teamer will be back next season, as Barry is only a junior along with Christian Brothers Academy's Pat Andree, a two-time, first-team All-Shore selection who has a chance to become the all-time leading scorer of one of the Shore's most storied programs next season. Southern's Peyton Wejnert, who was second in the Shore in scoring, also returns next season along with third-teamers Sadiq Palmer of Red Bank, Ryan Jensen of Manasquan and Jimmy Panzini of Point Beach.
I know people will disagree with certain picks because that is the nature of All-Shore teams, and that's completely fair. I will say that no one does more homework than Matt. He sees more games than anyone, constantly speaks with coaches about players and keeps diligent stat records, so at the very least, plenty of effort gets put into these teams. Plus I throw in my opinionated two cents (of course) from the teams and players I've seen.
On the girls side, the Player of the Year could be the Player of the Millennium if we were voting on that, as Manasquan senior Marina Mabrey was the easy choice and will also be the state Player of the Year. Middletown South's Tom Brennan is our Coach of the Year after steering the Eagles to their first NJSIAA Group III title with a lineup of only six players and the loss of a Division I player to a season-ending injury in the preseason. This one was a little tougher because of the great job also done by Manasquan's Lisa Kukoda in steering the Warriors to the Tournament of Champions and SCT titles and the No. 1 ranking in the state. You could easily go with her and also have a strong argument.
Among the girls first-, second-, and third-team All-Shore picks, that top five really separated themselves. After that, I think there are plenty of arguments, although Neptune's Marajiah Bacon and Rumson's Grace Stant are solid second-teamers who are right there among the top seven players in the Shore. The Shore girls side is just so loaded with talent that there are multiple Division I scholarship players who didn't even make third team because there's more scholarship players than there are spots. First-teamers Stephanie Karcz of Middletown South and Kelly Campbell of St. John Vianney and second-teamer Kim Evans of St. John Vianney all return next season.
Thanks again to all the players, fans, parents and coaches who followed our coverage all season, and we'll work to make it even better next season and keep you updated with any offseason news.
BASEBALL
The Shore Baseball Coaches Association had its annual preseason sportsmanship banquet this week, where it honored all the division, county, Shore Conference and state champions from the 2014 season as well as the respective coaches of the year.
St. John Vianney's Mike Morgan, who was the SSN Coach of the Year, was honored as the Monmouth County Coach of the Year after leading the Lancers to their first NJSIAA Non-Public A title since 1981 and the final No. 1 ranking in the state. Jackson Memorial's Frank Malta, who led the Jaguars to the Group IV title for their first Group title since 1972, was awarded the Ocean County Coach of the Year by the SBCA. A pair of assistants, Mater Dei Prep's Mike Eckert and Central's Dennis Kopin, were the recipients of the Monmouth and Ocean County Assistant Coach of the Year award, respectively.
Also, Matt's great in-depth baseball previews have begun with a look at Class A North, where everyone looks to be chasing a loaded CBA team and ace Luca Dalatri. There will be more previews to come this weekend as we get ready for the start of the season next week, when hopefully it won't still be 38 degrees out.
FOOTBALL
One commitment to report, as Raritan senior wide receiver/defensive back Dylan Dewysockie will continue his career at Delaware Valley College, which finished ranked in the Top 25 in the country in Division III football this past fall.
BOYS LACROSSE
If you haven't checked them out yet, Bob Badders has a preview of all four boys lacrosse divisions in the Shore Conference, so get caught up now that the season is underway.
More on Friday:
- Today is a crucial spring training start for St. Rose grad Anthony Ranaudo in his quest to secure a spot in the Texas Rangers' starting rotation.
- The story of Damon Bailey, who was an Indiana high school basketball legend in the late 1980s. He was right up there with Chris Herren in my book. In his final high school game, 41,000 people showed up at the Hoosier Dome to watch him play.
- The Florida version of the NJSIAA is on the verge of being overhauled and possibly dismantled by the state legislature, with some arguing it would make kids transferring all over the place even worse instead of better.
- An Auburn gymnast who blew out the Achilles' tendons in both heels (that hurts just to write that) has made an inspiring comeback.
- Brady Aiken rejected the Astros' offer of a $5 million signing bonus after getting drafted No. 1 overall last June. Oops. Now he's having Tommy John surgery.
- Twitter legend Florida Man has better approval ratings than Florida's governor.
On tap for tonight: Come on, Gonzaga. You are my main hope to make some money off this NCAA Tournament pool. Must. Keep. Winning.
Also, former Manasquan star Michaela Mabrey and Notre Dame will be in action in the women's NCAA Tournament against Stanford at 10 p.m. on ESPN.
I'll end with an epic trying-to-dunk-over-a-car fail, plus a great tweet by Kentucky's Devin Booker after that hellacious beating they put on a West Virginia team that made the mistake of pregame trash-talking in the media that the Wildcats were gonna be 36-1 after the game.
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