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Colonials’ girls win first-ever CJ sectional basketball title

Beat Neptune in OT, 50-48, on Spahn’s free throws

BY TIM MORRIS Staff Writer

As freshmen, Kim Dana and Camerin Spahn were starters on a Freehold High School girls basketball team that won just seven games.  The future didn’t look very bright for the team, but head coach Jenn Brzucki insisted that by the time they were seniors, the Colonials would be winners.  It was only fitting then that the seniors played a major role in Freehold’s thrilling 50-48 overtime win over Neptune High School in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III final, played in Freehold on March 4. It was the program’s first-ever state sectional title.

“Kim and I, we didn’t want this to be our last game,” said Spahn.  It was two free throws by Spahn with 10.9 seconds left in overtime that provided the winning margin. She made them despite a miserable night at the line (3-for-9 at that point).  “I wanted to be the one to take those shots,” she said. “I wanted to redeem myself. I had to help my team. They deserved it.”
Spahn swished her two free throws and Neptune had one last chance to extend the game. The Scarlet Fliers’ last shot caromed off the rim and Spahn gathered in one last rebound in traffic. As she got the rebound to Dana, the buzzer sounded and the Colonials made school history, setting off a joyous celebration with their fans at mid-court.
Dana, a point guard, made some critical 3-point shots that kept the Colonials in the game, and it was her steal late in the fourth quarter that pulled the Colonials even at 36- 36 when she sank both of her free throws.  “Kim was our spark, hitting big threes,” said Spahn.
It was an uphill struggle all night for the Colonials, who had just 10 points at halftime (trailing 18-10). But they persevered, and when Dana hit a 3-pointer to start the third quarter, the Colonials started their comeback.  “We’re never going to give up,” said Dana. “I kept saying, ‘This is doable.’ We had our crowd behind us and I think that was a factor.”
Rebecca Cobb was a factor, as well. After going scoreless through the first 16 minutes, she scored 16 points in the second half and overtime. The Colonials began to find her in the middle of the Scarlet Fliers’ 2-3 zone and her shots were falling.  “We tried to get Rebecca Cobb more touches,” Dana said of Freehold’s halftime adjustment. “That started opening our outside shooting.”
After Neptune built a 42-37 lead with just over a minute left in the game, Dana hit a huge 3-pointer that made it 42-40. With 25 seconds left, she made two big free throws that tied the game at 42-42.  “I knew I could make those foul shots,” said Dana. Spahn gave Freehold its very first lead of the game, 43-42, with 11.4 seconds remaining when she made one of two throws.
Neptune’s Taleeya Terrell was fouled with just two seconds left in the game and made one of her two shots to send the game into overtime, where the Colonials prevailed on Spahn’s free throws.
“It’s incredible. It feels so right,” Spahn said after the Colonials’ victory and the celebration that followed.  Dana, who led all scorers with 18 points, remarked that playing in the finals on their home floor was “a big factor.”  In addition to Dana’s 18 points and Cobb’s 16 points, Sara Cobb chipped in with nine.  “They’re great to have on the team,” Spahn said of the Cobb sisters. “They’re great athletes.”  Although Spahn had just five points, she pulled down 11 rebounds and handed out nine assists as Freehold improved to 23-5.
Neptune (21-6), the section’s dominant team over the last few years, was led by Iyonna Crenshaw with 15 points. Ivy Harrington netted her 1,000th career point early in the game.  Freehold plays Neptune twice a year in division play and was very familiar with the Scarlet Fliers as a result. This year, the Colonials beat Neptune for the first time and that went a long way toward giving the them the confidence to do big things this year. Spahn said Freehold’s approach to the finals was to “have no fear.”
The Colonials traveled to Williamstown to play South Jersey champion Ocean City High School (25-4) on March 6 in the Group III semifinals.  In the Red Raiders, the Colonials ran into a defensive team that had held its last three opponents under 30 points. They made the Colonials number four, scoring a 35-26 triumph.  Freehold’s own defense kept the Colonials in the game by allowing the Red Raiders to score just 23 points while they were held to 10 through three quarters.  Spahn led the Colonials with 10 points, as the team finished its remarkable season with a 23-6 record, one of the best in the program’s history.
Dana and Spahn, who both surpassed 1,000 career points this year, were inspired during their middle school years by Shannon Mayrose, the school’s all-time leading scorer. In 2008, Mayrose took the Colonials to the program’s first state sectional finals, where they lost in the final seconds to Neptune.  The Colonials gained a measure of payback by beating Neptune this time around for the state sectional title, forging a legacy for Dana, Spahn and their teammates at Freehold as the first team to win a Central Jersey championship.