By Jeff Appelblatt
Colts Neck High School’s girls’ basketball team had lost a few games in a row, dropping the team down to the .500 mark. However, when the team went to Freehold Township High School Jan. 11, the Cougars immediately demonstrated the skid needed to come to a stop.
It was their gym, but it was the wrong place and wrong time for the Patriots. Colts Neck held them to two points in the first quarter, paving the way to a 52-38 victory for the Cougars.
“We had a great game,” Colts Neck coach Glenn Jansen said. “Cara Volpe had a great game. It was a breakout game for her.”
Volpe scored 19 points to go with her 10 boards and five assists.
“Everytime we play [Freehold] Township, it’s a crosstown rivalry [and] you know it’s going to be a battle,” Jansen said.
Freehold Township’s coach thought he knew what his team needed to get done in order to compete with the Cougars, but it just struggled to keep up.
“We played them twice now. The leading scorer [for them] them [in the] first game was not the leading scorer this game. That’s a testament to the team. We tried to slow down Sam Roth and instead, [Jaime Prestigiacomo] had 15 points today,” Patriots coach Mike Stoia said after the game. “We knew [Volpe] was going to be consistently good, but we tried to shut down Roth and instead, [Prestigiacomo] went off on us.”
“Hopefully, third time’s a charm. We’ll just trying to keep getting better at what we do, keep building our team’s confidence and try to get over them the next time.”
The next time the teams face off will be Jan. 30 at 5:30 p.m. in Colts Neck. But each team has a bunch of games before then, and Stoia anticipates his team improving before that next matchup.
“We’re building [and] getting better. We’ll be more competitive down the stretch,” the coach said. “On any given night, any of our girls could go off.
“We just have to focus on staying together and fighting to the end.”
Freehold Township was back on the court two days later at Marlboro High School, where it lost a close one against the Mustangs, 45-43, despite 10 points from Brianna Cucinelli and nine apiece for Hailee Porricelli, Sarah Hayes and Sarah Hughes.
Colts Neck, meanwhile, pulled out a 50-47 win at Freehold High School Jan. 12 thanks to its outscoring of the Colonials, 16-9, in the fourth. Volpe led the way again for the Cougars, notching another double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
The Cougars played Neptune High School Jan. 17 and will travel to face Howell High School Jan. 19 at 3:45 p.m.
Freehold Township hosted Manalapan High School Jan. 17 and will play again at home Jan. 19 at 5:15 p.m. against its crosstown rival from Freehold High School.
