Brookdale Rolls Over Visiting Cougars

Article is courtesy of Mike Ready, a journalist for the Jersey Sporting News and Middletown Patch, who covers Brookdale Community College athletics.

Lincroft, NJ – Former Red Bank Regional ace Marya Trapp scored a career high 32 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in leading the ninth ranked Jersey Blues (8-2,5-0) to their eighth straight win in a 80-66 triumph over visiting Camden County College (4-5,2-3), Thursday night at Collins Arena.

The six-foot freshman forward/center dropped in 17-first half points and pulled down eight boards forging Brookdale to 20-point halftime lead.

Trapp dominated the paint and used her powerful post-up move to score inside along with hitting on a number of pretty mid-range jump shots.

"Marya's been working really hard on her game," Brookdale head coach Bob Dubina said. "She rebounds and shoots the ball well and can be a nightmare for the opposition when she's on her game. We're working with her on her ball handling and foot work, and if she continues to want to get better she can play at the next level; she has a ton of upside."

"After losing our first two games we're playing really well as a team now," Trapp said. "We're undefeated in conference play and just riding it through. I like to post up and I've developed a jump shot; both were working tonight. Coach Bob (Dubina) has really helped me develop as a player since I've been at Brookdale.  If we keep playing the way we're playing, we're going to go somewhere."

Brookdale, a division III junior college, lost its first two games of the season on the road against division I ASA (9-1) and division II Orange County Community College (7-3). Since then the Blues have won eight straight.

Coming into the game, Brookdale knew they had to stop Region XIX second leading scorer Kamari Talley (27.3) if they were to win; and they did just that. Sophomore guards Lauren Bowler (Red Bank Regional) and Nadia Szaniszlo (Keansburg H.S.) held the talented Talley to 20 points, seven below her average and to only seven points in the first half.

"Lauren and Nadia did a great job guarding Talley," Dubina said. "We worked on it in practice and they knew what they had to do. They're our two most physical players who aren't post players, and they shut her down, especially in the first half when it was still a game."

Freshmen Paxton Reddington (St. John Vianney) and Kim McNelis (Keansburg H.S.) each had nine points Thursday night. Reddington grabbed five rebounds, had two assists and two steals, while McNelis had four rebounds, two assists and a steal.

Sophomore center Samantha Carlson (Manalapan H.S.) pulled down eight rebounds and added eight points while also blocking three shots. Bowler put up eight points, four rebounds, five assists and a steal. Freshman point guard Megan Degrushe (Middletown North H.S.) and sophomore guard Marina Lukianov (Howell H.S) each contributed five points, two assists and one rebound.

Brookdale goes on the road for five consecutive games before returning home for a January 16 game against Mercer Community College. There is a possibility that their December 10postponed home game against Cumberland will be rescheduled for the first week of January.

By: Mike Ready

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