Cherry Hill East Basketball Playoff Preview 2012

Vol. 46, No. 6

Cherry Hill High School East: 1750 Kresson Road, Cherry Hill NJ 08003

Basketball Playoff Preview

Basketball Playoff Preview 2012 “One game at a time” Pre

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.

“We’ve really got to lean on our seniors. Other than them, the other guys don’t really have the experience and they 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 seniors are expected to carry the load if the team is to make a long playoff run. However, Allen is much more focused on the short 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 basketball,” said Allen.

Allen also looks forward to the guaranteed home court advantage the team will enjoy through at least the first three 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 to play the game,” said Allen.

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

Inside This Issue: -Team Overviews -Rosters

-Starting Player Bios -Winter Achievements From Other Sports

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EASTSIDE

Basketball Playoff Preview ‘12

Exciting regular season preludes playoffs The 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 of Bishop 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 good team,” said Coach Dave Allen.

Boys basketball 2012 playoff starters

#2 Jesse Gold (‘12) Ht: 6’0 Guard Throughout the entire season Gold has thrived as the primary ball handler for the Cougars. Gold has dished out 5.4 assists per game on the season, serving as a stabilizing point of the team on each possession. Gold has also proven extremely clutch for the Cougars this season, making some of his best passes in the most difficult situations.

#3 Jake Silpe (‘15) Ht: 6’1 Guard

#25 Marc Schlessel (‘12) Ht: 6’1 Guard

At the beginning of the season, Silpe was an unknown commodity for the Cougars, a freshman with a great deal of potential down the road.

However, Silpe arrived much earlier than many expected in the third game of the season against then-top-ranked Bishop Eustace. Since that game, Silpe has been a starter.

Heading into the season, many wondered who would pick up the scoring slack after the graduation of Santo, East s all-time leading scorer.

However, Schlessel has consistently answered the call for the Cougars, averaging 19.5 points per game, making him a top-ten leading scorer in South Jersey.

#21 Gary Hettinger (‘13) Ht: 6’4 Forward This season, Hettinger has done a solid job for the Cougars. Having received little varsity time before this season, Hettinger was a question mark for the team as a starter heading into the year. Hettinger has proven to be a solid rebounder and scorer for the Cougars, averaging 6.9 points per game and 4.8 rebounds.

#42 Jake Gurkin (‘12) Ht: 6’6 Center Gurkin serves as the master of the paint this year for the Cougars. Down low, he inhales rebounds, averaging 9.4 per game. He also is a prolific shotblocker for the team, averaging 3.5 per game, and provides a vital scoring option for the Cougars down low.

Rest of Varsity Cougar Roster #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: 6’5 Record: 18-7 (as of February 24)

Basketball Playoff Preview ‘12

EASTSIDE

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Girls enter tournament with injuries With 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 matchup against the Lenape Indians on Tuesday, February 28. Unfortunately, the biggest storyline for the Cougars heading into 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 nursing injuries 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 23 regular season games. Goins, a 5’11 center, has made some key contributions to the team in her strong senior campaign. Goins hyperextended her arm during a game against Washington Township and Festa injured her ankle during 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 to prove.”

The people expected to fill-in for the missing starters are 5’7 guard Aliyah Godwin (‘15) and 5’1 guard Rachel Rivera (‘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 possible.

“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) qualified for 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 100 backstroke; Austin Weitz (‘12) qualified for the 100 breaststroke; Rowe, Weitz, Dintino and Simunek qualified for the 200 medley relay; and Rowe, Simunek, Eric Anderson (‘12) and Ford Scott (‘12) qualified for the 400 freestyle relay.

-Various girls also qualified for the individual state meet. Natalie Simunek (‘14) qualified for 100 backstroke 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; and Marlee 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 weight class.

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