Vol. 46, No. 6 Cherry Hill High School East: 1750 Kresson Road, Cherry Hill NJ 08003 Basketball Playoff Preview

Basketball PlayoffPrePreview 2012

“One game at a time”

“We’ve really got to lean on our seniors. Other than them, the other guys don’t really have the experience andthey ve got to follow the seniors’ lead,” said Mr. Dave Allen, boys’ basketball coach.

As the Cougars head into Tuesday afternoon’s opening round playoff game against Cherry Hill West, the seniorsare expected to carry the load if the team is to make a long playoff run. However, Allen is much more focused on theshort term.

“We’re trying to win, but we re taking it one game at a time. You’re one and done. You need to play your best bas-ketball,” said Allen.

Allen also looks forward to the guaranteed home court advantage the team will enjoy through at least the firstthree rounds of the playoffs if the team advances that far.

“Home court advantage is tremendous. You don t have to travel and take a bus ride. However, you still have toplay the game,” said Allen.

The Cougars enter the playoffs as the second seed in South Jersey in Group IV.

Inside This Issue:-Team Overviews -Starting Player Bios -Rosters -Winter Achievements From Other Sports

Five of the six seniors on the boys’ basketball team. Left to right: Tyler Berlinsky (‘12), Marc Schlessel(‘12), Jake Gurkin (‘12), Brett Roseman (‘12) and Jesse Gold (‘12). Taj Frazier (‘12) is not pictured.

Page 2 EASTSIDE Basketball Playoff Preview ‘12

Exciting regular season preludes playoffsThe boys’ basketball team began the regular season with a bang by winning its first ten games, surpassing the

expectations of many who expected the team to struggle early after losing star Chris Santo (‘11) to graduation.Throughout the season, the Cougars provided fans with a variety of dramatic moments, notably away upsets ofBishop Eustace and Eastern, who were both top-ranked teams at the time the Cougars defeated them.

“We always believe in exceeding expectations. We may not be the most talented individually, but we’re a very goodteam,” said Coach Dave Allen.

Boys basketball 2012 playoff starters

#0 Brett Roseman (‘12) Ht: 6’1#1 Hank Davis (‘13) Ht: 5’10#5 Tyler Berlinksy (‘12) Ht: 5’8#10 Austin Wetzler (‘14) Ht: 5’9#11 Andrew Brown (‘13) Ht: 6’2

#20 Kyle Bryant (‘13) Ht: 6’2 #23 Ravin Patel (‘13) Ht: 6’4 #33 Taj Frazier (‘12) Ht: 6’4#43 Andrew Soll (‘13) Ht: 6’5Record: 18-7 (as of February 24)

#2 Jesse Gold (‘12)Ht: 6’0 Guard

Throughout the entire seasonGold has thrived as the primaryball handler for the Cougars. Goldhas dished out 5.4 assists per gameon the season, serving as a stabi-lizing point of the team on eachpossession. Gold has also provenextremely clutch for the Cougarsthis season, making some of hisbest passes in the most difficultsituations.

#3 Jake Silpe (‘15)Ht: 6’1 Guard

At the beginning of the season,Silpe was an unknown commodityfor the Cougars, a freshman with agreat deal of potential down theroad. However, Silpe arrivedmuch earlier than many expectedin the third game of the seasonagainst then-top-ranked BishopEustace. Since that game, Silpehas been a starter.

#25 Marc Schlessel (‘12)Ht: 6’1 Guard

Heading into the season, manywondered who would pick up thescoring slack after the gradua-tion of Santo, East s all-timeleading scorer. However,Schlessel has consistentlyanswered the call for theCougars, averaging 19.5 pointsper game, making him a top-tenleading scorer in South Jersey.

#21 Gary Hettinger (‘13)Ht: 6’4 Forward

This season, Hettinger has done asolid job for the Cougars. Havingreceived little varsity time before thisseason, Hettinger was a questionmark for the team as a starter head-ing into the year. Hettinger hasproven to be a solid rebounder andscorer for the Cougars, averaging 6.9points per game and 4.8 rebounds.

#42 Jake Gurkin (‘12)Ht: 6’6 Center

Gurkin serves as the master ofthe paint this year for theCougars. Down low, he inhalesrebounds, averaging 9.4 pergame. He also is a prolific shot-blocker for the team, averaging3.5 per game, and provides avital scoring option for theCougars down low.

Rest of Varsity Cougar Roster

Basketball Playoff Preview ‘12 EASTSIDE Page 3

Girls enter tournament with injuriesWith an 8-15 regular season record, the 2011-2012 Lady Cougars are heading into the South Jersey Group IV State

Playoff Tournament as the 11th seed and underdog when they travel to Mt. Laurel for their first round matchupagainst the Lenape Indians on Tuesday, February 28. Unfortunately, the biggest storyline for the Cougars headinginto this game, and the playoffs overall is the team s banged-up frontcourt. The team s regular season leading scorer,Darby Festa (‘13), and defensive presence in the paint, Christine Goins (‘12), will both be on the sidelines nursinginjuries for the entire postseason, no matter how deep a playoff run the team makes.

Festa, a 5’10 guard/forward, led the team in scoring, putting up about 19 points per game over 21 of the team s 23regular season games. Goins, a 5’11 center, has made some key contributions to the team in her strong senior cam-paign. Goins hyperextended her arm during a game against Washington Township and Festa injured her ankle dur-ing the team s late season contest against Paul VI.

But, despite these two injuries, the Lady Cougars are motivated to win and expect nothing less.“You always have to expect to win,” said Coach Ms. Kim Keyack. “If you don’t, why are you even getting on the bus

[to go play].”Festa has great confidence in her teammates as well.“We ve really improved a lot over the season, so Lenape will be playing a really different team from the first time

we played them [this season],” said Festa. “We’re the underdogs this year, and we’re going in with something toprove.”

The people expected to fill-in for the missing starters are 5’7 guard Aliyah Godwin (‘15) and 5’1 guard RachelRivera (‘14). Godwin scored a career-high 19 points in the team s regular season finale victory over Burlington City.Keyack also hopes that guard Brooke Rose (‘13) will be successful in the playoffs as well.

With this new lineup, the Lady Cougars will definitely lack size, but if they fight and work hard, anything is pos-sible.

“Is this game going to be difficult? Yes,” said Keyack. “But is it impossible? Absolutely not.”

Other highlights from winter sports season-Both boys’ and girls’ swim teams won their sectional championships in exciting victories.

-Various boys’ swimmers have qualified for the individual state meet. Alex Dintino (‘12) qualifiedfor the 100 backstroke and 100 butterfly; Dan Hagedorny (‘12) qualified for the 100 butterfly;Mike Simunek (‘13) qualified for the 200 individual medley; David Rowe (‘15) qualified for the 100backstroke; Austin Weitz (‘12) qualified for the 100 breaststroke; Rowe, Weitz, Dintino andSimunek qualified for the 200 medley relay; and Rowe, Simunek, Eric Anderson (‘12) and FordScott (‘12) qualified for the 400 freestyle relay.

-Various girls also qualified for the individual state meet. Natalie Simunek (‘14) qualified for 100backstroke and the 500 freestlye; Jaimie Lynn Brookover (‘13) qualified for the 100 backstroke;Shelly Faykes (‘13) qualified for the 500 freestyle; Colleen Finias (‘13) qualified in the 100 fly; andMarlee Ehrlich (‘12) qualified for the 200 and 500 freestyle.

-Track star Alex Reber (‘12) won first place in the state Group IV meet in the 400.

-The boys 4x400 relay team, comprised of Marcus Phillips (‘12), Joe Pelligrino (‘12), Brad Krell(‘12) and Reber, came in second place in the state Group IV meet.

-Jared Athias (‘13) placed sixth in the state Group IV meet for high jump.

-Carmen DiTore (‘12) won won the District 27 championship in wrestling for the 170-pound weightclass.Layout, commentary and information by Jake Fischer (‘12)/Eastside Sports Editor and Max Cohen (‘12)/Eastside Editor-in-Chief. All photos by Rebecca Mulberg (‘12)/ Eastside Video Editor and Max Cohen (‘12)/Eastside Editor-in-Chief