Sussex County Sports Blog

By Dan Cleary

2/25/2009 - Festival Goes Out In Style

As the Jefferson fans stormed the court after the Falcons topped Pope John in the championship game of the final boys basketball Sussex County Interscholastic League Festival, I thought to myself, the old tourney went out in style.

The Festival, on both the boys and girls side, has been a special event to me over the years as a fan and as a member of the media and I am deeply saddened to see it go in the name of realignment.

But fans of the tourney will always have special memories of the final Festival because it was one of the best ones from top to bottom I can remember in all the years I have covered it.

First off, on the girls side, it was decided to play all four quarterfinal games at one site, Vernon, for the first time ever. Vernon coach Bill Foley came up with the idea as a way to bring more fans to the games and to showcase all the teams in a big venue.

The plan was not greeted warmly by all the coaches, but from a media person and fan perspective, I thought it was great. Getting the chance to watch four hoops games at one facility was a basketball junkie’s fantasy.

Although, I’m pretty sure Sparta coach Fred Geffken wasn’t too crazy about the idea after his third-seeded Spartans fell to sixth-seeded and host Vernon 49-48 in a barnburner. Nevertheless, it was a great game for the Vikings as they recorded only their third win over the Spartans since 1979.

The day’s other thriller was fifth-seeded Jefferson’s 51-50 overtime victory over fourth-seeded Wallkill Valley. Cassie Flaherty scored all 11 of Jefferson’s points in the extra session and the win was just a small preview as to what was to come in the semifinals for the Falcons.

It was then over to Lenape Valley where Vernon continued its inspired play and brought No. 2 High Point to the brink in a 32-25 loss to the Wildcats, who had blown out the Vikings in their two previous meetings.

But it was the nightcap at Lenape Valley that will have everyone talking for a long time. Top-seeded Pope John was a heavy favorite against the Falcons, but Jefferson was playing with house money as the Falcons came out and played their game and hung with the Lions.

The game came down to the final minute with the score tied at 53-53. After a tough traveling call on Vanessa Moore, Pope John’s outstanding senior, the Georgetown-bound center was then called for her fifth foul with just 2.9 seconds left battling for a defensive rebound with Cat Stern of Jefferson.

Stern missed the first freebie, and after a PJ timeout, she calmly nailed the second one but the game was far from over. The Lions called time and then inbounded the ball to midcourt, and it appeared that PJ coach Mike Delaney had called a timeout. But as the official went to the table to grant it, the buzzer sounded. The two officials convened to discuss the matter and they declared the game over with the Falcons posting a stunning 54-53 win.

It was a heartbreaking end for the Lions, but an unbelievable job by the Falcons and their coach, Jim O’Connor, one of the best ones in the state, in my opinion. The Falcons, who did not make the state tournament, lived to play another day, but this time it was for all the marbles.

In a full house at Wallkill Valley, Jefferson and High Point stood toe-to-toe and it looked like the Falcons were going to shock the world and become the first fifth seed to win the tourney while also notching O’Connor’s 400^th career win.

But when you have a special player like Alayna Donadio on your side, good things happen, and that is exactly what happened for High Point. Donadio’s conventional three-point play late in the game helped the Wildcats rally for a 44-37 win for High Point’s third straight Festival crown and helped Donadio garner the tourney’s MVP Award.

High Point coach Chris Dexter joined Geffken as the only girls coaches to win three straight Festival crowns. It was Dexter’s fourth title since 2004 and the High Point grad has developed into one of the top coaches in the county in that time.

The girls Festival will always hold a special spot for me having covered it for all my years in newspapers. And when I think of the Festival, I will always think of Geffken, and rightfully so. Since the tourney’s inception in 1982, Geffken led the Spartans to an astounding 14 championships.

Now here is the impressive part. From 1982 to 2007, the Spartans advanced to the final. That’s right. Every year. Pretty incredible, huh? I can’t think of another team in the state that can match that record in county or conference tournament play.

In fact, Geffken probably thought to himself back in the day, will we ever win it, because the Spartans lost in the first three finals before taking home the trophy in 1985. The Bob Wheeler-led Hopatcong Chiefs won the first crown behind the fine play of Alison Salmon, Sydney Roberts and Lisa Pakutka.

Wallkill Valley won the next two championships in 1983 and 1984. The Rangers were coached then by Sussex County Hall-of-Famer Gretta Sencevicky and sported great players like Jill Harden, Donna Wolff and Betty Schanstra.

But it will be Geffken and the Spartans who will always be synonymous with Festival excellence. From the early days with Fred’s daughter Barb, to the long list of stars that followed, like Cathy Willie, Dianna Seville, the Reigstad sisters, Helene and Laura, Liz Hanson, the Chaplin sisters, Kristy and Dawn, Lisa Olsen, Melanie Prol, Adrienne Warner, Claire Morrison, Tara Dilworth, Melissa Yeagley, the Keils, Olivia, Brittany and Kelly and Staci Rossi, and the list goes on, the Spartans owned the Festival.

As for the boys, top-seeded Jefferson won the final title with a 55-48 win over Pope John as Derek Hall was named the tourney’s MVP. The Falcons had to hold off an upset-minded No. 4 Vernon team to get to the final and third-seeded PJ needed to rally to stun No. 2 Sparta 67-65 in OT in a game that everyone will remember for the “no call” at the end as Sean Rossi of Sparta was pushing the ball up court.

But the boys Festival has always been wide open with lower seeds like a Newton or Vernon, knocking off the big dogs en route to a crown. And another example of parity is that every school has advanced to the final which is quite an accomplishment. But just like the girls, Sparta has the most titles with nine followed by Newton and Vernon with seven each.

The boys tourney is one year older than the girls and began in 1981 as the Sussex County Coaches Association Tournament. Hopatcong and Lenape Valley were hoops powerhouses back then and Rich Fincken’s Hopatcong team, which was paced by Brad Leslie and Mark Aguilar, won the first crown over Lenape Valley.

The Pats, who were coached by Bob Poetsch, returned the favor in 1982 as Joe McDonald and Mike MacDougall led the Pats to the crown. Vernon then won the next two as Kris Peat, Dan Sweetser, Mike Large and Jack DeVries played large roles for the Vikings.

And it is funny how things come full circle. Back in 1986, Joe DiGennaro of Jefferson, a 1,000-point scorer for coach Joe Cleary (no relation), hit two free throws to help stun High Point in final for the Falcons first title. And 23 years later, the Falcons, who are now coached by DiGennaro, won the final Festival crown. Pretty neat.

As of now, no one knows what the future holds as far as a county tournament in Sussex. I know for a fact that the Morris coaches do not want to give up their tourney and they will not allow Sussex schools to join. Jefferson AD John DiColo told me that the Falcons will compete in the Morris tourney in all sports next year if the tourneys are continued. There has also been talk of a conference tourney for the new Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference as well.

Hopefully the Sussex County ADs can come up with a plan for a tourney, maybe a combined one with the 10 schools in Hunterdon and Warren County. Take the top 16 teams from the 20 in the three-county area and have a West Jersey Classic. I know Lenape Valley coach Dan Moylan has been a proponent of this in all sports for years, so with realignment, maybe now is the time to act.

But whatever plan the ADs come up with, it won’t be the same for me. As I have said before, there is nothing like going to Wallkill to watch the Festival finals on a Saturday night in February.

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

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Sussex County Sports Blog

By Dan Cleary

2/25/2009 - Festival Goes Out In Style