Rebels Rout Lady Braves to Clinch Class A North Title

The Class A North crown belongs to the ladies of Howell High School.

The Rebels grabbed an early lead and never relented in Tuesday's home win versus the Manalapan Lady Braves.  Howell's sixth straight victory clinched the Class A North title and kept the Lady Rebels unbeaten in nine tries versus divisional opponents.  For Manalapan, the defeat marked their seventh in a row.

Howell claimed an early 10-6 edge after the first quarter.  It was as close as this game would get.

The Lady Rebels boasted a 13-2 scoring advantage in the second to propel them to a 23-8 halftime lead.  Howell senior Kaitlyn Schmid contributed all five of her points in the first half to lead the effort.

Howell continued to build on the lead in the third and stretched it to twenty one by quarter's end.  Manalapan's offense showed life in the fourth, scoring eleven points, but by then the game was all ready out of reach.

Rebels senior Alex Milne had a game high 10 points to go along with 8 rebounds.  Howell coach Bill Gallacher commented on his senior following the win.

"She's been providing great defense on the bigs that we've been playing.  Earlier in the year she was getting in a lot of foul trouble.  But she's been putting herself in better position on defense so she's not getting those fouls.  She's been contributing point wise too," said Gallacher.

Senior Sarah Olson added eight points as eight Lady Rebels players contributed baskets to the win. 

Howell (15-2, 9-0) will look to complete an unblemished run through the Class A North schedule as they visit Freehold (17-3, 7-2) on Thursday at 5:30 P.M.  The Lady Patriots will attempt to avenge a January 18 defeat at the hands of the Rebels.  Freehold lost the game 44-41 but nearly overcame an eleven point fourth quarter deficit.  Coach Gallacher knows his team is in for a challenge.

"You better be ready to play because Coach Sciarappa is probably the best coach in the Shore Conference, if not one of the best.  You can never out-coach that guy.  Even a veteran team like us got a little rattled the first time around.  We held on for the win.  They'll throw all kinds of wrinkles at you.  You gotta be ready," stated Howell's coach.

Leading the effort for the Lady Braves was freshman Samantha Meier.  The center pulled down six rebounds while connecting on four of six shots from the field, totaling eight points.  Freshman Cat Traina scored six and senior Christina Minneci tallied four points, four rebounds, and four assists.  Coach Scott Horton discussed his team's effort against the Class A North champions following the game.

"They're a good team. I thought we defended real well.  Offensively, we didn't handle the half court pressure well. We didn't handle the basketball well," Horton said.

Manalapan (10-10, 3-7) will host Class A South champs Jackson Memorial (16-4) in their final home game of the season, Thursday at 5:30 P.M.  With two games remaining in the regular season, the Lady Braves need one more victory to clinch a berth in the Shore Conference Tournament. 

Standing in their way is a talented Jackson team led by 6'2" Rutgers bound center Christa Evans.  Coach Horton spoke about the center and what his team needs to do to neutralize her.

"She's great.  She's so unselfish.  She will give the ball up.  And I'd like to see her give it up.  We have to help in the post more than we do.  We normally stay one on one.  That's the biggest adjustment.  One on one we could be in trouble, so we're going to have to help on her," Horton explained.

Though they've dropped seven straight games, the Braves coach knows his team is still capable of making noise in the post season.

"I told them, you played good defense.  If we can be crisper on offense, get one of these next two, and somehow get into the Shore Conference Tournament, I think we can beat anybody."