Senior All-Star basketball games tonight at FTHS

The best seniors in the Shore area will have the opportunity to lace up their basketball sneakers one last time and play on the same side as their career-long rivals at tonight’s Shore Coaches’ North-South Senior All-Star Game at Freehold Township High School.

This annual all-star game pits the best seniors from the North divisions of the Shore Conference against the South’s best. In a nod to the future, the games will be 40 minutes long as in college with two 20-minute halves.

Tip-off for the girls’ game is 6 p.m. followed at 8 by the boys.

The girls’ North All-Star team is loaded with Freehold Regional High School District talent led by Manalapan’s tandem of Ashley Silsbe and Diana Vega and Howell point guard Staci Minuskin. They are joined by Marlboro’s inside-outside combo of Trisha Grohowski and Vicky Adornetto, and Freehold Township’s duo of Val Vaccaro and Jacki Reiman.

After being rivals throughout their careers, the District players will finally get to play as teammates.

They will also get to play with Middletown North’s Jenn Daly and Middletown South’s Kerri Kirschbaum, whom they’ve battled against.

Bolstering the North squad is the presence of Vanessa Putnoky and Nina Vecchio of St. John Vianney. The Lancers won two Tournament of Champions crowns during their careers. They know a little something about winning as does Rumson-Fair Haven’s Kerry Planer. The Bulldogs won the Central Jersey Group I title.

Rounding out the North stars are Dawn Martuscelli of Ocean; Jackie Levy of Long Branch; and Carissa Zambrano of Shore. Matawan’s Casandra Crawford was named to the squad but will be unable to play because of an injury.

The North squad would seem to have it all. Daly, Silsbe and Minuskin are multi-dimensional players who can create shots for themselves and their teammates. Vecchio is a splendid point guard who will find an open teammate. Vega and Grohowski are solid down-low scorers and rebounders. Adornetto, Putnoky, Daly and Planer bring the three-point shot into play. They were among the best in the Shore.

Awaiting the North stars is a South team led by Kim Hughes from St. Rose of Belmar. She led the Purple Roses to the Parochial B State Championship. Her teammate Marion Berry also is on the team.

Freehold Borough’s Allison Calandrino brings the Shore’s best three-point shooting to the table for the South. The Colonial swished 70 treys this year and 182 for her career on her way to averaging 17 points a game. She’ll be even more dangerous surrounded by all-stars.

In Tiffany Mashur of Monsignor Donovan the South stars have someone who was among the Shore leaders in scoring and rebounding. Katie Ahlers of Wall, Mary Beth Donohue of Manasquan and Dana Thompson of Allentown are proven scorers as well. Rounding out the South squad are: Crystal Petraccoro, Brick Memorial; Jackie Lupo, Jackson; Noreen McCallum, Southern; Lisa Lally, Southern; Lindsey Wiest, Toms River East; Kelly Keegan, Monsignor Donovan; Erin Wolleon, Point Pleasant Beach; and Meg Kreutzer, Wall.

Manalapan’s Scott Horton, St. John Vianney’s Brad Hagensen and Shore Regional’s Lou Petrone are the coaches for the North team. Southern’s Kathy Snyder, Manasquan’s Dick Johnson and St. Rose’s Dick McCallum are coaching the South squad.

Freehold Borough’s Richard Harrell played like one of the Shore’s best throughout the season and his selection to the South squad verifies it. He’ll be teaming up with C South rivals like Justin Tardio (who lives in Howell) and Santo Siciliano of Red Bank Catholic, and sharpshooters John Donovan from Holmdel and Brian Wong from Rumson-Fair Haven.

The C South stars give the South all-stars a lot of firepower. Tardio surpassed 1,000 career points this year, and Wong and Donovan were one-two in three-point shooting. The versatile Harrell gives them an inside-outside threat in one player.

The scoring doesn’t stop there with the C South stars. Manasquan’s Kelcy Pegler led the Shore in scoring this year, and Toms River North Ryan Stokes was right up there with him along with Lacey’s Jordan Krzeczkowski. They all averaged better than 20 points a game.

The presence of Lakewood’s Gerald Butler and Hassan Dougal brings the one-two punch from Ocean County’s best team to the squad.

Rounding out the South stars are: Mike Konopka, Toms River East; Dennis DelliSanti, Brick Memorial; Brian Stanziano and Dan Schweitzer, Southern; Derrick Grant, Central; and R.J. Hager, Monsignor Donovan. The alternates are Allen Lester, Manchester, and Chris Trotta, Shore.

The North squad brings four players from the Shore’s No. 1 team Christian Brothers Academy, the No. 2-ranked team in the state. Jason Krayl, Mike Skrocki, Pat Lynch and Chris Delany will play as a team one last time and wipe out the memory of their two-point loss at the buzzer to Seton Hall Prep for the Parochial A state championship.

Joining them from A North are Kevin Cullen, Middletown South; Andy Deane, Ocean; and Chris Caiola, Manalapan.

Also on the team are Brian Showers of Neptune, who helped lead the Scarlet Fliers to the Central Jersey Group III championship; David White, Raritan; Justin Bennett, St. John Vianney; Chaun Henley, Red Bank Regional; Denis Gallagher, Wall; Matt Gathman, St. Rose; Jahiz Patterson, Henry Hudson; and Tim Laneve, Mater Dei. The alternates are Ben Allman, Freehold Township and Chris Melgard, Matawan.

The North stars have firepower of their own. Deane was second in scoring, and Bennett and Krayl were two of the best long-range shooters in the conference.