New Jersey

The bar is set so high for the Neptune girls basketball program that even a 21-point victory that locked up its third straight NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III title produced more grumbling than smiles.

Two years ago, it was a raucous celebration when a team made up mostly of freshmen stunned Freehold at the buzzer to win its first Central Jersey Group III title since 1989, but the goals are much higher two seasons later.

The top-seeded Scarlet Fliers rolled to a 49-28 win over Middletown South (19-6) to win their third straight sectional championship and second in a row over Middletown South thanks to 13 points by junior guard Syessence Davis and 12 apiece by juniors Shakena Richardson and Chyna Golden, but they weren't exactly celebrating afterward.

"We could've played a whole lot better,'' Davis said. "That was nowhere close to our 'A' game. We could've really given that team a worse beating than we did.''

"I can't even talk I'm so mad,'' Richardson said.

For a team that is ranked No. 14 in the nation by USA Today, the ultimate goal is the school's first Group title since 1984 and the Neptune's first Tournament of Champions trophy, so the Scarlet Fliers (25-1) feel they have to bring it up a notch to reach those lofty goals.

"It is disappointing because we are supposed to be at a very high level than what we're playing (at),'' Richardson said. "I wanted to win by a lot to make it seem like we deserve this. It's good that we won, but I wanted to win by more.''

Neptune led, 24-16, after a sluggish first half and Middletown South was within 28-21 midway through the third quarter before the Scarlet Fliers went on a 15-2 run bridging the third and fourth quarters to put the game away on their home floor. They are now the heavy favorite against South Jersey Group III champion Point Boro in Thursday's Group III semifinal at 8 p.m. at Williamstown as they try to reach their second straight Group III final and finish the job this season.

"I've been telling them that all year that we've got to come ready to play all the time,'' said Neptune coach John Brown. "Sometimes what happens is that kids get bored. Seriously, you're trying to keep them motivated when you're up 40 at halftime a lot of times, it gets too easy for them and they just go through the motions. It's hard to try to motivate them, but I'm trying.’’

As always, it was Neptune's fierce, full-court press that was its most effective weapon, as the Scarlet Fliers forced 30 turnovers to fuel their offense. It helped compensate for a rough shooting night against Middletown South's zone defense, as Neptune was often baited into settling for jumpers and went 2-for-18 from 3-point range.

Neptune was also relentless on the offensive glass to create second shots off those missed jumpshots.

"We were very reckless with the ball, and the second thing was that we didn't control the defensive glass and that was the game,'' said Middletown South coach Tom Brennan. "What are the chances that we're going to play a game, make them shoot like that from 3-point range and it works, but then we couldn't run a set (on offense). That's how good they are defensively.''

Despite 16 first-half turnovers, Middletown South was still within eight points at halftime because Neptune shot 10-for-27 from the field in the first half, including 1-for-10 from 3-point range. Brown was obviously not pleased, and he let his players know about it in the locker room.

"He got into us hard,'' Richardson said. "He said we were coming out soft, and we can't take anything for granted.''

"I thought they got too many second and third opportunities,'' Brown said. "Too many times the ball was on the floor and we didn't go down and get it. That type of effort we have to have all the time.''

The defensive effort was certainly there in the second half, as Neptune limited Middletown South, which was led by 9 points apiece for Kelly Haspel and Kerry Healy, to only two second-half field goals and nine total shot attempts. Also, Middletown South's standout junior guard and leading scorer, Meghan McGuinness, was limited to only one point on two shot attempts in the game and had three fouls after the first quarter that put her on the bench for a long stretch.

"That's what we do - we want to turn you over in transition,'' Brown said. "We don't want to play halfcourt.''

Middletown South had it down to 28-21 after Davis got hit with a technical foul that drew a chorus of boos from the home crowd with 5:14 left in the third quarter, but Richardson buried a 3-pointer for a 10-point lead to trigger a 15-2 run that made it 43-23 with 4:57 left in the game.