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February 21, 2012 I Volume-I I I I ssue-2

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It’s not like the Jefferson girls’ basketball team has never played fortitles before – they’ve just never played for this title. The Falcons undercoach Jim O’Connor have played championship-caliber basketball in thepast; they just haven’t gotten this far playing under the auspices of theMorris CountyTournament.

Jefferson will have thechance to earn a bit ofMCT history when it playsChatham in the title game.The third-seeded Falconsearned that right with a 47-39 triumph over seventh-seeded Randolph in thesemifinals at FDU-Florham. No.1 seededChatham defeateddefending champion anddivision rival MorrisCatholic, a fourth-seed in athrilling 44-40 overtimecontest in the othersemifinal.

The Falcons have thereputation for playing great basketball. But because they were the onlyMorris County school in the now-defunct Sussex County InterscholasticLeague, they would play in that league’s post-season festival and not theMCT.

“It’s great for us,’’ O’Connor said. “It’s great for our program. It showsthat we can play basketball pretty well and on a big stage. Even thoughwe were in the SCIL Festival, I remember coming to Morris County towatch the games.

“It’s a great atmosphere. It feels good to be part of 27 schools in MorrisCounty.’’

In the three years since the SCIL dissolved, the Falcons have growninto MCT contenders. Two years ago, Jefferson made it to thequarterfinals. Last year, Jefferson was eliminated by Chatham in the

semifinals. O’Connor believes previous experience with playing at FDUhas helped this time around.

“It is uncharted waters for us,’’ O’Connor said. “When we got here lastyear it all seemed like a blur. We were going home on thebus and we had lost. This year we took our time andeverything seemed to be kind of in slow motion.

“I told them, (in the shootaround) that this time let’senjoy it, take a look around, take a deep breath and thenwe have to take care ofbusiness.’’

The other MCTsemifinal betweenChatham and MorrisCatholic was the battlethat everyone expected.There is plenty ofhistory between theNJAC IndependenceDivision rivals. The 32-30 victory theCrusaders postedagainst the Cougars inlast year’s MCT Final

still stings for some of the Chathamplayers.

Amanda Berntsen scored 21 pointsto lead the Cougars. The seniorforward had four of her team’s sevenovertime points including a pair of freethrows with four seconds left to cementthe triumph. “I think I’ve matured a lotand I’m learning from my mistakes,’’Berntsen said. “We have seven seniorson the team and we’ve been playingtogether for so long. We were thinking that we didn’t want to feel like wedid last year -- that’s just kind of what drove us.’’

“I’m happy for them because there is a whole lot of unfinished

business from last year’s final,’’ Chatham coach Joe Gaba said. “Witheverything that we’ve done this year, it would be tough not to go back.’’

The Cougars advanced with the help of a solid defensive performancefrom Lauren Winschuh, who had four blocks and 11 rebounds overall.Her last rebound was important because she was fouled after reboundinga Crusaders’ miss and hit two free throws with 12.5 seconds left to makeit a 42-37 game.

“We had to play defense and limit how many second chances MorrisCatholic had,’’ Gaba said. “We had to rebound the ball.They can put five kids on the floor that can all score.Lauren Winschuh came up big.’’

The championship game will be played on Friday, Feb.24, at FDU-Florham. Tipoff time is set for 7:00.

Wildcats RoarThrough its MCT semifinal victory, Jefferson still has

only one loss all season. Fittingly, the team that handedthe Falcons that loss will also be playing for atournament title.

High Point returned to the finals of theHunterdon/Warren/Sussex tournament with an easy 53-32 win over Delaware Valley. The defending championWildcats have not really faced a serious challenge in theirthree victories to reach the final game, but faces a NorthHunterdon team with three Division I recruits in the final,Feb. 24 at Phillipsburg High School.

Of course, the Wildcats have plenty of talent as well.They have filled in well for the graduation of superstarLeanna Tallamy with a defense-first approach. GuardsNikki Hull and Brianne Woop lead the way, supported byAmber Reiley, Steph Peterson and Kirsty Gartner. HighPoint is 21-3 after its semifinal win.

Girls Basketball: County Tournament ReviewBy Mark Kitchin – Staff Writer

Jefferson's Sammy Lapszynski (42)goes for a rebound

P h o t o s b y :

Mark K i t ch in

4 / ASMNorthern Review Vo lume- I I Issue-2 2 /21 / 12

Last year, Morris County ruled the ice as localteams swept all three hockey state championships.Twelve months later, some of the contenders aredifferent, but Morris County has a very real chanceto dominate the trophy celebrations at thePrudential Center once again.The state playoff pairings came out too late to

be included in this issue, but here is a look ateach of the three groups and the chances forNJAC-area teams:

Public AMorris County teams

should get the top threeseeds in this group, andan all-Morris final is areal possibility.Defending state champion

Randolph is expected to bethe top seed after a regularseason in which it lost onlyone game while capturing theMennen Division. As usual,the Rams have many of theattributes of achampionship team: astrong goaltender (MikePollio), plenty of depth,and a commitment todefense and hard work.Those qualities have addedup to state tournament successyear after year for Randolph. Themain question for the Rams iswhether they have enough goal-scoring power to overcome ahot netminder.If anyone is going to knock

off Randolph in the states, itwill likely be either Morristownor Morris Knolls. The Colonialshave enjoyed a dream season, rolling tothe Halvorsen Division title and a rankingin the state’s top five. Led by talentedoffensive players Zach Mourad and JordanKlotz, plus freshman goalie Shane Brown, Morristownhas proved itself ready for top-level competition. The onlydoubt appears to be the Colonials’ lack of experience; theymissed the state playoffs last year and feature a youngdefensive corps.Morris Knolls has been a bit more inconsistent but also

possesses the talent necessary to compete for the title. Withan experienced goalie in Trevor Tironi, the Golden Eagles cancompete in the kind of low-scoring games that usually markthe late rounds of thestate tournament.Billy Nichols andJack Monahan key theKnolls attack.If anyone outside

Morris County is tochallenge that trio, itwill likely be one ofthree SkylandConference teams:Ridge, Montgomeryor Bridgewater-Raritan. But theresults of regular-season matchupsbetween the teamscertainly favors theMorris Countysquads. MiddletownSouth from the Shore

Conference could be a potential dark horse.Three other Northwest Jersey teams will also play in Public

A. Newton-Lenape Valley enjoyed the greatest season in itsshort history, winning the NJIHL Western Division whilelosing just three regular-season games. A win in the statetournament would be a great way for NLV to cap its year. Asolid Roxbury team is definitely capable of winning atournament game as well, while Mount Olive, which

competed in the lowest division in Morris Countythis year, may find itself with an extremelydifficult first-round matchup.

Public BIn the four years since the creationof the division for smaller publicschools, Morris County teamshave won it twice. Those twochampions—Kinnelon, whichwon in 2008, andChatham, the defendingchamp—both have areal shot to earn thetrophy again this year.

Kinnelon had some toughtimes this season, but also some

tremendous shining moments,including back-to-back wins overRandolph and Morris Knolls. Withone of New Jersey’s top goalies inThomas Huber, the Colts willalways have a chance to win.

BrianGnadand BrianKruser areamongKinnelon’skey skaters, andwhile the Coltsmay not have the top-level scoring talent it didfour years ago, this team issurely capable of getting on arun.Chatham, which lost a

number of key players fromlast year’s state champs, hasstill found a way to puttogether a season worthy of aTop 20 ranking. Seniors TripBurke and Scott Kepler have

led a group ofyoung players,while goaliesJordan Boles andA.J. Albanesehave been solid.The Cougarscould also have akey motivationon their side, aslongtime coachHarvey Cohen iswidely expectedto retire afterseason.Other top

contenders inPublic B includeTenafly, whichhas posted an

impressive record, albeit against less-challengingcompetition; Brick Township, one of the state’s traditionalhockey powers which has enjoyed another solid season; andSummit, which recently posted an upset win over Ridge.A potential dark horse in the field is Mendham, which has

competed well against tough competition this year. TheMinutemen beat Morristown in December, and hadrespectable results against several Mennen Division teams aswell as a narrow loss to Bridgewater-Raritan recently. A number of other local teams from lower divisions also

earned playoff berths. Park Regional, the winner of the HaasDivision and a Haas Cup finalist, is a team capable of makingsome noise, with a tough goalie in Connor Vorhies.Pequannock, the other Haas Cup finalist, enjoyed a bounce-back season and would love to cap it off with a win in thestate tourney as well.Madison had a .500 record at the cutoff date and will be in

the tournament; the Dodgers may get a difficult draw. Spartawill also be in the field; the Spartans won the Sussex Cupagain this season but will also likely face a first-round roadgame.Two other teams—Parsippany and Montville—were one

game under .500 at the cutoff and would have to be admittedto the tournament as at-large teams. Montville has a strongercase, playing a significantly more-difficult schedule, butthere’s no guarantee the committee will let the Mustangs in.

Non-PublicEveryone expected a dominant year from Delbarton, and

through the regular season the Green Wave has lived up tothose expectations. Delbarton has run roughshod through

Randolph’s Brad Lindquist

C o n t i n u e d o n n e x t p a g e

Skat ing to the Rock: HockeyState Playoff PreviewBy Paul Mencher – ASM Northern Review Managing Editor

Randolph Goalie MIke Pollio

New Jerseycompetition, barelyeven facing a challenge,and won seven of eightgames against out-of-stateopponents as well.The Green Wave has a surfeit

of talent. John Baiocco, JoshMelnick and Drew Melanson leadthe offense, but Delbarton can getscoring from numerous sources.Tommy Davis and TommyMuratore anchor the top-notchdefensive line, and the GreenWave also has a superior goalie inColton Phinney. If anyonedefeats Delbarton in thestates, it will be a majorupset.While Gordon Conference

teams like Don Bosco Prep andChristian Brothers will be

mentioned as possiblechallengers, the New Jerseysquad that gave the GreenWave its toughest gamethis season isMorristown-Beard, a2-1 contest in earlyJanuary.The Crimson has

been predictablyinconsistent for a

young andinexperiencedsquad. Butits recenttriumph inthe Prep Bstate

tournament showed the team’s potential. Tom DePaoloand Luke Moser form a dynamic scoring duo and PeterAlevras has been strong between the pipes. Morristown-Beard could be positioned for a strong run.The only other area team in this division is Pope John,

which qualifies automatically as a Gordon Conferenceteam. The Lions showed some improvement this season,but not as much as they had hoped. Still, Pope Johnshould be able to compete with all but the top few seeds inthis bracket, so an upset win is certainly possible.The opening rounds of the state tournament take place

the week of Feb. 27. The semifinals are set for MennenArena on March 6 and 7, and the finals will be played atthe Prudential Center in Newark on Friday, March 9.

Morristown-Beard Goalie Pete Alevras

www.asmnorth.com ASMNorthern Review / 5

P h o t o s b y :Pau l Swenson

www.photosbyswens.zenfol io.com


NJAC teams may not have capturedany team wrestling championships thisyear, but the conference should be well-represented when the individual statetournament takes place in Atlantic Cityon March 2-4. The road to the finalsbegan with district tournaments this pastweekend.

While Sussex County has won moremedals in recent years, Morris County isexpected to take a step forward this timearound, with an especially strongcontingent of contenders. Here's a lookat some of the top wrestlers to watch asthe tournament heads into the finalrounds:

106 pounds

JAN ROSENBERG, MORRIS KNOLLS

This senior took third place last year at 103 pounds,and is considered the top wrestler at this weight in NewJersey this year. Rosenberg spent a good part of thisseason wrestling at 113 pounds, where he defeatedChristian Innarella ofDelbarton but also sufferedhis only loss of this year.Since dropping down to106, Rosenberg has beenimpressive, including his9-4 win over HanoverPark’s Anthony Cefoloin the Morris Countytournament final—no small feat,since Cefolo isranked secondin the state atthis weight.And therecould beanNJACpartyonthe

podium in Atlantic City, with Delbarton’s TravisVazquez, Randolph’s A.J. Vindici and Lenape Valley’sPeter Lipari all serious medal contenders. ButRosenberg is the clear favorite as he looksto cap off his career with a statechampionship.

113 pounds

CHRISTIANINNARELLA,DELBARTON

Thissophomoremade animmediateimpactwith theGreen Wave lastyear, finishingseventh at 103 as afreshman. This year,Innarella suffered acouple of losses at theBeast of the Easttournament to start theseason, then the dual-

meet defeat to Rosenberg. Since then,however, he has been unbeaten and hardlychallenged, winning the MCT and theDistrict 9 title. His most impressive wincame in the team state tournament, a 5-2 victory over Brenden Calas of SetonHall Prep (a defending statechampion). Innarella is currentlyranked second at 113 behind NorthBergen’s Luis Gonzalez.

285 pounds

MIKE SPENCER, PEQUANNOCK

In a wide-open heavyweight field, Spencer is amongthe contenders to emerge as a state champion. Thesenior is undefeated at 36-0, having captured countyand district titles. He survived an overtime battle inthe county final with Jermaine Eluemunor of MorrisKnolls, who is also ranked among the top eightheavyweights in the state. That was a rarity forSpencer, who has 23 pins this season, many in mere

seconds, and has seen just four matches go the distance.Heavyweight is always a tough one to predict, and thisyear even more so than ever, but Spencer appears to bea real title contender (and Eluemunor can’t be countedout either).

126 pounds

STEVEN CHURCHILL, NEWTON;

NICK ANDERSON, DELBARTON

A couple of guys to watch in this weight class.Churchill, whose brother Steven was also asuccessful wrestler at Newton, is undefeatedthis season after reaching Atlantic City last yearat 119. The

senior is rankedslightly ahead ofAnderson, ajunior, who alsogot a taste of thestatetournament in2011 and islooking formore. WhileAnthony

Ashnault of South Plainfield is the clearfavorite in this weight class, both of thesewrestlers have a strong chance to end uphigh on the podium.

152 pounds

DILLON ARTIGLIERE, ROXBURY

Just a sophomore, this undefeated wrestler isthe higher-ranked of Roxbury’s two strongmiddleweights. Artigliere won a region title lastyear as a freshman but missed out on a stateplacing. He has come back even stronger thisyear, storming to a Morris County title and a

District 2 championship. Artigliere defeated Kittatinny’sClarke Moynihan during the season, his likely top challengerin this year’s Region 1 tournament, but has his sights set evenhigher.

Mission: atlantic city


Nick Anderson

Christian Innarella

Dillon Artigliere

Jan Rosenberg

Mission: atlantic cityNJAC WRESTLERS EXPECTED TO EARNLO T S O F HA R D W A R E A T ST A T E FI N A L SBy Paul Mencher – ASM Northern Review Managing Editor

170 pounds

RYAN HARRINGTON, MENDHAM

Despite going through the entire seasonunbeaten, Harrington somehowmanaged to stay under theradar last year on hisway to winning the160-pound statechampionshipas a junior.This year,withMendhamposting anunremarkableteam record,Harrington hasonce again receivedlimited attentiondespite his remarkablesuccess. In both theMorris County tournamentand the District 1 event,Harrington won each matcheither by pin or technicalfall, and he has done thesame to nearly everyopponent throughout theyear. While he has notfaced a great deal of elitecompetition during thisseason, Harrington has lastyear’s experience to fall backupon, and is considered theclear favorite to stand atop thepodium again in AtlanticCity.

Others to watch:

Max Rogers, Delbarton – This 120-poundertook home a 7th-place medal last year and isconsidered a likely place-winner this season. Rogerscaptured a Morris County title and a District 2 titlethis year.

R.J. DeGeorge, Pequannock – Coming offhis third straight Most Outstanding Wrestler award atthe District 4 tournament, DeGeorge is also a MorrisCounty champion and probably the area’s top hope at132 pounds.

Jorge Lopez, Delbarton – This dynamicwrestler is no comedian when he takes the mat.

Lopez became only the sixth wrestler to win fourMorris County titles and is ranked in the topeight at 138 pounds. With his ability to makebig moves, he will be a handful for anyone.

Tim Garripoli, Roxbury – Artigliere’straining partner in the Gaels’ wrestlingroom is also a state-ranked grappler at145 pounds. This seniorplaced third in the regions lastyear but is unbeaten thisseason and is hopeful of amuch longer stay in AtlanticCity this time.

Keith Lemongello,Pequannock – Lemongello

gave Ryan Harrington his twotoughest bouts of the season at170 pounds, then made thedecision to drop down to 160heading into the Morris Countytournament. He won the title there,as well as at District 4, and isconsidered a likely place-winner inAtlantic City.

Kevin Button, Mendham –Harrington’s training partner has madesome noise of his own at 160 pounds and

the senior has a realistic shot at earning a medal inAtlantic City.

Jake Connelly, Newton – He has not received astate-wide ranking, but Connelly is undefeated thisseason and appears to be the top 220-pounder inRegion 1. Like heavyweight, this weight class can besomewhat difficult to predict and a spot on the podiumis hardly impossible.

P h o t o s b y :

Rober t Ha r r i sw w w . r o b e r t h a r r i s . s m u g m u g . c o m

Max Rogers


Keith Lemongello


When a boys basketball tournament reaches its final round witha fourth-seeded team facing a sixth-seeded team, it means thatthere have been a few surprises along the way. That’s the bestway to describe this year’s Morris CountyTournament.

Fourth seed Chatham will play sixth-seededMount Olive for the honor of capturing the title.Chatham only has one title in school history.That came in 2007, when current Penn Statecaptain Billy Oliver was a junior and the Cougarshad a magnificent run which included a 31-2record, a state title and a trip to the Tournamentof Champions.

Mount Olive only reached the final oncepreviously. In 1989, the Marauders toppledMorristown in a semifinal game but lost toDelbarton in the championship contest. That wasthe Green Wave’s first in MCT basketballhistory.

The Marauders worked through the tournamentthe hard way, battling past third-seeded anddefending champion Mendham and then second-seeded Morris Knolls. They relied on what theycalled the “Avalanche”: a barrage of shots andfurious defensive pressure that helps them put upbig offensive numbers before an opponent canblink.

It’s no secret that the Marauders have been thedarlings of the tournament because of thedifferent style of play and problems they pose opponents. Theysubstitute in shifts like hockey teams and focus on a quick hittingoffense that stresses 3-point shooting. Against Morris Knolls theywere down 21-7 after the first quarter but it didn’t seem to botherthem a bit.

“These kids are just resilient,’’ Mount Olive coach KevinMoore said. “Theydon’t think theyare going to lose.They play thatway. They neverget too high andthey never get toolow in the courseof a game. Theywere down bigtoday but theyknew they weregoing tocomeback. We justwaited for theavalanche.’’

A 26-11 second-quarter effort putMount Olive onthe right track onthe way to a 79-74MCT semifinalvictory. Althoughthe Marauderscouldn’t fullybreak away fromtheir opponents,they gainedenough confidenceto succeed againstEsaun Mobley,

Niko Kotoulas and the rest of the Golden Eagles who wereworking on a dream season of their own.

“In the second quarter we knew the avalanche was coming likecoach always says,’’ Mount Olive guard Justin Palanchi said. “It

always comes. Eventually we got the tempo the way we wanted.We know our shots are going to fall.’’

It was a gratifying victory for Moore,who coached the men’s basketballprogram at County College of Morris forsix years. CCM is the traditional host ofthe semifinal and final games of theMorris County Tournament. It is onlyMoore’s second year at Mount Olive.After organizing a turnaround season inwhich he improved the team’s victorytotal of 4 to 17 in his inaugural year, hetook it one step further this season byinitiating the new high-scoring GrinnellSystem.

Neither victory fully delivered thefast-paced tempo Mount Olive had beenlooking for but it has provided justenough of a jolt for the Marauders toadvance. They defeated Mendham, ateam that went on to earn an NJACNational Division co-championship withMorris Knolls, by a 61-51 score in thequarterfinal.

The Marauders’ success has been atrue team effort. They have any numberof three-point shooters. Kevin Millerand Jimmy Pastena have been veryeffective in the tournament but Adam

Cassidy, Palanchi and Kevin Schafer have also knocked downperimeter shots. So hasRashaan Spencer, who mixes itup with drives to the basketthat keep opposing defensesfrom cheating on theperimeter. Another key playerhas been 6-foot-7 center ZackHeeman. The sophomore is notonly a key scorer in the paint,but his defense allows theMarauders to go all out in theirtraps and pressures.

Mount Olive also defeatedHanover Park in the openinground in a sizable victorywhich set the tone for thetournament and confidencethat the Marauders couldcreate their avalanche-likevictories.

Chatham prevailed over20th-seeded West Morris in theopening round of thetournament and overcame fifthseed Madison 44-33 in thequarterfinals. In the semifinals,the Cougars were faced withanother Cinderella story whenthey battled eighth-seededRandolph.

Randolph, which only wonfour games last year, wascoming off an upset of No. 1seed Morristown-Beard in a71-62 overtime contest. Adramatic, game-tying three-point shot by the Crimson’sHarrison Rosemond at the endof regulation forced theovertime but Randolph, led byJulian Aiken’s 43 points,

prevailed in theextra session.

Aiken, theleading scorer inthe state with 27points-per-game,easily became acrowd favoritewith his twistingdrives andrelentless energy.The Rams alwaysget an addedboost when theygo deep in thetournament, sincethey host thequarterfinals eachyear, and thesemifinals andfinals are atCounty Collegeof Morris inRandolph whichnearly guarantees an overflow crowd to cheer them on.

Chatham has a storyline of its own this year. The Cougarssuffered a couple of key mid-season injuries, including the loss ofstarting point guard and returning top scorer Jonathan Berntsen.Morris Knolls's Niko Kotoulas

Boys Basketball: CountyTournament ReviewBy Mark Kitchin – Staff Writer


Mount Olive's Rashaan Spencer

Randolph's Aaron Harris

The Cougars brought up some jayvee players to fill the void.Those players, Luke Conrad, Scott Baker and Robert Raiola, havenot only succeeded as fill-ins. They are still earning major varsityminutes and have been crunch-time players in the fourth quarter.Raiola, a sophomore, made the critical defensive stop that gaveChatham its MCTsemifinal victory.

Berntsen, whosuffered a tornmeniscus and missed allof January, hasreturned, and while notplaying at 100 percentyet, is back to hisstarting role. JoeTimmes has been aworkhorse in bothpoints and rebounds andColin Brown, DrewBallard, ThomasStephan and manyothers have all fulfilledtheir jobs which includestifling man-to-mandefense. Even with theirdifficulties, the NJACIndependence Divisionchamps have quietlywon more than 20games and have not losta contest since Millburnbeat them in lateDecember.

In their semifinal, Chatham built a 37-22 halftime advantage,but Randolph spent much of the third quarter whittling away atthe lead. The Rams, who also received valiant efforts frombrothers Aaron and Ryan Harris, kept the pressure on theCougars. Meanwhile, the Chatham defense made every driveAiken attempted a torture test. They would hold him to 17 points,well below his season average.

The game would eventually hinge on a block-charge call, inwhich Raiola held his ground on an Aaron Harris drive, and thedesire of Berntsen. The senior guard scored nine of his team’s 12points in the fourth quarter and hit all the clutch free throws downthe stretch.

“This is what I had been working for,’’ Berntsen said. “Since Iwas a little kid I knew I wanted to come here and do this. I’vebeen working so hard for this.’’

When Chatham was knocked out of the MCT semifinals hissophomore year, Berntsen vowed to himself that he would get tothe title game before he graduated. Now it will be up to MountOlive and Chatham to battle it out to see whose destiny will befulfilled. The game is set for the CCM gym on Saturday, Feb. 25at 7:00.

This year’s tournament marked the first time since 1988 thateither Delbarton or Mendham failed to reach the Final Four.Those two schools have dominated the Morris County basketballscene for the last two decades, capturing 15 of the last 25 MCTtitles.

Lions roar into H/W/S finalHopes for a rubber match between Pope John and

Sparta failed to materialize. But the Lions willsurely still be highly motivated when they faceHunterdon Central in the finals of theHunterdon/Warren/Sussex tournament.

Pope Johnsailed into thefinal with a 67-43 thumping ofSouth Hunterdonin the semifinals.JermaineLawrence,playing his firstH/W/S gamesince becomingeligible daysearlier, scored 19points and added10 rebounds inthe victory.

Lawrencecaused a huge

furor in New York Citybasketball circles when he leftCardozo High School inQueens to enroll at Pope Johnin mid-January. The 6-foot-8forward is considered one ofthe top junior prospects in thenation. But his arrival inSussex County was muted,because Lawrence had to sitout 30 days under the transferrules. He started making upfor lost time by scoring 20 ormore points in his first threegames before the SouthHunterdon contest.

Along with JaQuan Bryantand Glenn Gavan, Lawrencecompletes a trio that will makePope John hard to beat notonly in the H/W/S final butalso the upcoming Non-PublicA state tournament.

Hunterdon Central denied an all-NJAC final when it beatSparta, 77-59, in the other semifinal, a game postponed fromSaturday until Monday night. Pope John will face the Red Devilsin the H/W/S title game at Phillipsburg High School on Friday,Feb. 24.

P h o t o s b y :Ed Leona rd

www.edleonardphoto.smugmug.com

Tr acy K l imek


Chatham’s Joe Timmes

P h o t o s b y :Rober t Ha r r i s

w w w . r o b e r t h a r r i s . s m u g m u g . c o m

Pau l Swensonwww.photosbyswens.zenfol io.com


There were times when Amanda Berntsen couldn’t understandhow her twin brother could be so cruel to her, but now she loveshim for it. Jonathan Berntsen is constantly reminded about histwin sister’s peerless performances in the classroom and on thecourt but he couldn’t be more proud of her.

In discussing any aspect of Chatham High basketball this seasonthe name of Berntsen is guaranteed to leave one’s lips. Amanda isthe top scorer for the Cougars girls’ squad while Jonathan runs theoffense and has come back from injury to lead the boys’ team.Both of them have helped their teams to the Morris CountyTournament final. When the game is on the line, the ball is usuallyin their hands.

They can understand why the situation might seem unique, butthe twin sports standouts -- leaders on their respective teams – feelit requires no adjustments at all. Since they started playingcompetitively in the third grade, the Berntsens have worked hardto make such a situation a reality.

“Once we started playing basketball we both loved it. We playedtogether and stuck with it,’’ Amanda Berntsen said. “I was gearedtowards basketball because of my brothers and my dad. We love towatch it, too. My dad (Torry) always says that it’s the best sportthat was ever created. So because of that I was kind of gearedtoward it.’’

Being able to practice anywhere there was a hoop and perfecther skills almost anytime appealed to Amanda Berntsen, who alsotried softball and lacrosse and continued to excel at soccer duringher high school career.

Jonathan Berntsenalso played baseballfor a time, but whenhe saw the wayChatham crowdssupported theirbasketball teams, hedecided to stick tohoops exclusively.

Understanding thecompetitive naturesof the ChathamTownship athletes,it’s easy to see whyboth of them are onthe road to success.Whether it’s on acourt near theirhome, or in thechurch gym at LongHill Chapel—wherethe Berntsen familyhas been entrustedwith their own key—the basketball neverstops bouncing.

“With Amanda there, it’s like having a rebounding partner soyou can get twice as many, or three times as many, shots,’’Jonathan Berntsen said. “Sometimes one of us will have to leaveearly because we’re fighting, so it gets competitive. That makes usbetter, more shots, competitive shots. And we’re going hard.’’

Their efforts have helped them reap rewards and overcomeobstacles this season. Amanda Berntsen averages close to 22points, five assists, four steals and a slew of rebounds. She hasover 1,700 points in a career that has also seen plenty of Cougarvictories. It’s also cleared the way to play basketball for Princetonnext year.

“She’s the most talented player I’ve ever coached,’’ Chathamcoach Joe Gaba said. “She’s a great shooter and she offsets thatwith being probably one of the quickest guards in the state. If yougive her space, she will shoot over you, and because you have tohonor her jump shot she usually gets to the basket.’’

She’s also a top notch defender who can limit talentedopponents to single digits. With an Ivy League future, Amanda issmart enough to realize now that she could never play Division I

hoops if she didn’treceive such toughlove from herbrother.

“He will win 90percent of thetime,’’ AmandaBerntsen said.“When I wasyounger and Iwasn’t as tall orstrong, I would getmy shot blocked allthe time and Iwould get reallyupset. He just keptreminding me that itwas only going tomake me better, andthat I was not goingto be playing girlsas big and as strongas he is who canblock shots. I knewit was making mebetter -- but I don’tlike to lose.’’

And she doesn’t on the court or in the classroom, earning heraccolades that can dent the ego of any competitive brother.

“Everybody frequently asks me, does it bother you that you areovershadowed by your sister?’’ Jonathan Berntsen said. “No, I’mhappy for it. It’s not that she’sput into the situation. She’sthe hardest worker I know.She’s smart. Everything shedoes, she puts her all into itand I really admire her for it.That’s why she’s sosuccessful.’’

Jonathan Berntsen has hadhis share of success on thecourt, too. He’s played varsitysince he was a freshman. He isa three-year starter in variousroles, but usually as a guardfor the Cougars which haveadvanced to the MCTsemifinals two of the last threeyears.

“This year he’s a littlestronger,’’ Chatham coachTodd Ervin said. “It’s hisquickness, his ball-handling.He’s not afraid so he gets tothe rack for us. He’s a reallygood shooter. He bringseverything physically for us.He sees the court really well.He’s a lot quicker than helooks.

“He’s competitive. He mightbe laid back when you talk tohim but when he’s on thecourt he is ready to go. Inpractice whatever drill we aredoing, he’s playing to win thatdrill. He’s improved so muchfrom last year by playingAAU and working out.’’

And, after tearing themeniscus of his right kneeduring a holiday tournamentgame against Morristown, onecan add tough, mature and

determined to the list. It wasthe first time he had ever beenseriously injured while playingsports.

“When I first did it I hobbledoff the court,’’ JonathanBerntsen said. “I tried to run. Ijust couldn’t. I waited for thenext dead ball and collapsed onthe bench. I was scaredbecause I didn’t know (if itcould be) torn ACL or tornMCL. I didn’t know how thatfelt.

“Once I started walking I thought, ‘Well, it can’t bean ACL, maybe it’s not that bad.’ It was a littlestabbing pain. It just didn’t go away. I iced it andwaited until halftime and went back on the court. Iwas able to play and run up and down.’’

But the stabbing pain continued, and after MRIsand consulting doctors, the result was surgery in earlyJanuary.

“I felt bad that it was during his senior year,’’Amanda Berntsen said. “I was really upset for himbut he was like, ‘That’s fine, I’ll be able to get back.

Don’t worry.’ He was the most optimistic person in the family. Ithink that was really good for him.’’

Amanda knew that her brother had a work ethic on the court that

Senior Amanda Berntsen

Senior Jonathan Berntsen


Chatham's Terrific Twins: BerntsenSiblings Leading Cougar Basketball To The TopBy Mark Kitchin – Staff Writer


matches hers and a toughness that may surpass it. She’s alsoappreciates that he has a friendly and approachable personalitythat makes him a good teammate and role model.

“All my friends think that he would make a good grade schoolteacher because he works well with all the kids,’’ AmandaBerntsen said. “They love him because he’s funny and knows howto talk with all of them.’’

Jonathan Berntsen rehabbed like a mad man to get his seniorseason back: three times a week at a medical facility, the rest ofthe week at home or at school with the aid of Chatham athletictrainer Mike Colavita. He still feels pain at times but it’smanageable. Every day he feels better and better.

“I also ride a bike and I ice it every day,’’ Jonathan Berntsensaid. “I’ve been pretty persistent with it.’’

When he was cleared to compete, he had no problem coming offthe bench to make his contributions. He’s slowly worked his wayback into the lineup for a team that stepped up and has not lost agame since he had his surgery. After the season, he wants tocontinue playing basketball, perhaps on the high Division III levelat Wheaton College in Illinois or maybe as a post grad in a privateschool.

The Berntsen twins have had very little opportunity to see eachother play for their high school teams. Their games are usually atthe same time, and if not, there’s usually a practice of some sort.

While they’d like to get a chance to see each other play, they’dmuch rather help Chatham put a few new banners on the gymwall.

“Growing up I’ve done so many sports with Jonathan,’’ AmandaBerntsen said. “He would be doing it with the guys and I would bedoing it with the girls, and we just grew up playing sports together.Being seniors and captains now I just feel like it’s so natural wherewe are right now.’’

P h o t o s b y :

Rober t Ha r r i sw w w . r o b e r t h a r r i s . s m u g m u g . c o m

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