Sussex County Sports Blog

By Dan Cleary

10/29/2009 - Great Start To H/W/S Tourney

This is what a county tournament is all about.

Yes, there have been some scheduling glitches due to the rain, and in field hockey, the early start of the state tournament, but other than that, the first Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex Tournament has been a great success.

When the idea of a tri-county tourney was first brought up last spring, I thought it was a great idea then and I still do. I know there is a faction of people out there who wanted to do a Sussex County tournament now that all the schools in the county do not play each other due to realignment.

But I think a strictly Sussex County event would have been more of the same as the large schools from the old Sussex County Interscholastic League would have dominated and we would hear the same complaints about competitive balance.

With the advent of the H/W/S Tournament, schools from Sussex get the opportunity to see different styles of play and a 19-team event is certainly more exciting and unpredictable than a 10-team tourney, in my opinion.

A country tournament also serves three purposes. It allows teams that didn’t have a great regular season a chance at redemption; it gives good teams an opportunity to strut their stuff and it is great preparation for the state tournament.

And a quick look at the boys and girls soccer, field hockey and cross country tournaments illustrates that point.

First, look at the cross country tournament. Wallkill Valley’s boys team nipped Newton for the overall team title beating out powers like Pope John, Delaware Valley, and Hunterdon Central.

What a great accomplishment for a small Group 2 school. The Rangers did it with outstanding pack running as they didn’t have a finisher in the top five. Wallkill had a good regular season, but winning the first-ever H/W/S title was history-making and something the Rangers will never forget.

And speaking of history-making efforts, how about them ‘Cats up in High Point? Under first-year coach Jason Potzner, the girls soccer team has earned a berth in the final after scoring three straight upsets.

High Point came into the tourney under .500 and was seeded seventh. But the young Cinderella ‘Cats hit the road and knocked off No. 2 North Hunterdon 1-0, No. 3 Pope John 1-0 in OT after losing to the Lions in the regular season 3-1 and they punched their ticket to the final by topping No. 4 Voorhees 2-1.

I had the chance to call the Pope John win, and you could just tell how confident this young bunch was, even though they were the underdogs against PJ.

Potzner has done a great job of meshing the outstanding young talent on his club with the returning upperclassmen. It is a sophomore-laded squad, but seniors Alayna and Alyssa Donadio and Christina Kehoe have done a tremendous job during this run.

The Wildcats have a tough task on Saturday when they face top-seeded Hunterdon Central at 1:45 p.m. at Pope John. But who is to say High Point can’t win? After watching the Wildcats beat Pope John on its own turf, I’m not counting them out.

Now onto the soccer machine that is Newton. Coach Pat Brennan has guided the Braves to one championship already this season with the Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference Freedom Division title under the Braves’ belt and they are poised to win possibly two more.

Newton came into the H/W/S tourney as the top seed in Sussex and the Braves have earned a spot in the final by winning its three games by a combined score of 8-0. The Braves bumped of No. 8 Phillipsburg 4-0, No. 4 Delaware Valley 1-0 and No. 2 Pope John 3-0.

The Braves will receive a great boost Saturday with the return of Mike Jensen, who had been sidelined with a collapsed lung, but has been cleared to play in the final against the H/W top seed, North Hunterdon.

The boys final is set for 11:30 a.m. at Pope John and it should be a dandy as the two top teams in West Jersey will duke it out. I can’t wait.

And as far as preparation for states is concerned, field hockey is a perfect example. Although Vernon lost to Watchung Hills 2-0 in the opening round of the North 1, Group 4 tourney, the Vikes were tournament-tested and gave a good account of themselves despite having lost seven straight coming into states.

The teams in North 1, Group 2 all advanced in states as Newton, Pope John, Wallkill Valley and Kittatinny posted wins. Newton and Pope John are still alive in the H/W/S tourney and will compete in the semifinals Saturday at noon and 2 p.m. at Vernon High School.

Newton, the top seed in Sussex, will do battle with No. 2 Voorhees from H/W at 2 p.m., while No. 2 Pope John, which is in the middle of a dream season, will face a very tough Warren Hills squad, the No. 1 seed from H/W, at noon.

The only complaint I have about the tournament comes from field hockey. When the tourney dates were set, the state tournament apparently wasn’t factored in. The state tourney in field hockey starts earlier than soccer because it has a Tournament of Champions (A great idea, by the way).

Unfortunately, the first day of the state tournament for field hockey was also the day set aside for the H/W/S semifinals. Now throw in some rain and you have a logistical nightmare.

The ADs and tourney director Buddy Freund from Belvidere have done their best to accommodate everyone, but scheduling is an issue as the tourney final is still up in the air.

Freund said due to state tournament commitments, the day and time of the final will depend on which teams win Saturday and when they are available. As Freund said, the teams still alive have the capability of going a long way in states, so that could be an issue, so stay tuned.

The powers that be in the H/W/S Association should have realized the state conflict and started the tourney earlier. In fact, I feel that all the sports should have started earlier so teams didn’t have to play quarterfinals, semifinals and a final all in one week.

But it is the first year of the tournament so hopefully the H/W/S Association will get all the kinks worked out as the school year goes.

Other than that, I hope the H/W/S has a long a storied history from here on out.

MAGICAL MARK—Pope John football coach Vic Paternostro, as everyone is aware, is on the brink of becoming the all-time leader in career wins in the state of New Jersey.

Vic is tied with the legendary Warren Wolf of Brick with 361 wins. Vic is 361-65-5 in 43 years, while Wolf went 361-122-11 in 51 seasons. Quite a contrast.

Vic’s winning percentage is amazing and I wish him all the luck in the world Saturday when the Lions play Mendham. I have covered Vic for many years, including his 300^th win when he beat Vernon.

I was also on the field for three of his wins in the early 1980s including a heartbreaking 41-30 loss my senior year in which Vernon missed all of its extra points and two chip shot field goals. You do the math; it is too painful for me.

Anyway, both Paternostro and Wolf have been more than just coaches to their players over the years and have been father-figures to many of their charges.

The difference? Well, Wolf is the father-figure type that you can’t wait to show your report card to, while Vic is the type, that if you have a bad report card, you hope the school bus breaks down on the way home!

But no matter what, both are great men and great coaches.

That’s it for now, see you on the sidelines.

Search the Site

Sponsors

Sussex County Sports Blog

By Dan Cleary

10/29/2009 - Great Start To H/W/S Tourney