Chargers are heading back to the postseason
BY RICHARD JEROME
Staff Writer

With his 10-7 Spotswood High School boys basketball team having qualified for the state tournament after a two-year hiatus, head coach Steve Mate is over the moon about the Chargers' performance this season.

"It's been tremendous, much more than we expected," he said. "The team chemistry has been great and the guys are playing well defensively. When we play with intensity, we're a tough team to play."

Mate, who is assisted by Dan Fredericks and freshman coach Dale Rubino, is also pleased with the fan support his club is drawing.

"The parents are great and we have a tremendous student section," he said.

Spotswood clinched the state sectional berth with a 64-49 defeat of Highland Park last Saturday, with John Berner, the 6-2 senior forward, topping the scorers with 17 points. Popping in 16 tallies was Ross Gerhart, a sophomore guard who stands 6-0, while 6-1 senior Zack Becker added 14 points. SHS built up its lead with a 19-9 burst in the third period.

Then, this past Monday night, the Chargers topped John F. Kennedy of Iselin, 83-69, led by 6-0 senior guard Bryan Osofsky, who hit for 28 points. Berner added 16 and Ross Gerhart had 10 to lend solid support.

Osofsky has been the team's leading light in the scoring department, averaging about 13 points a game, largely on the strength of his outside shooting - he bagged nine three-pointers in one outing. He was also named to the first string of the all-Holiday Tournament squad.

Berner, says Mate, "has been our biggest surprise. He's been doing everything for us, scoring, rebounding and defending. I'd have to say he's our most complete player."

Giving the Chargers a bit of size is 6-5 senior Justin Carlson, who has been the team's top rebounder, notching a few 20-plus board efforts.

"When he has good nights, we look like a really good team out there," noted his coach.

Acting as the court general, senior point guard Mike Hohman is doing everything expected of someone in that all-important slot, distributing the ball, setting up plays, and typically guarding the other team's leading offensive player

"He makes everybody better on the court," Mate pointed out.

As for Becker, Mate calls him the Chargers' "Mr. Everything," who can play inside our outside and guard the big guys and the small ones alike. One other senior, Brennan Gerhart, serves as one of the first guards off the bench for SHS, playing with considerable energy and providing a steadying influence.

One recent bright spot is the steady progress of 6-3 junior Nick Olseinski, who has been coming on strong of late, doing a fine job under the boards, as well as pitching in on offense. Spotswood has several members of the sophomore class among the varsity ranks, all making contributions to the cause. Joe Petosa, Mate says, is "a high-energy player who is starting to play better and better with every game." Petosa added five points to the Charger effort against JFK, and is turning out to be quite a team spark plug.

Ross Gerhart, meanwhile, is the SHS sixth man, and efforts like that 16-point performance against Highland Park suggest that he should be a key player for a couple of years to come. As for other sophs, 6-2 Pat Dwyer is an adroit jump-shooter, while 6-0 Vinnie Vizzi serves as the team's "defensive guru," according to the coach; and six-footer Alex Sharoykin translates to what Mate calls "instant offense."

"We also have a 6-0 freshman guard, Cody Pace, who we hope will be the star of the future," added Mate.

The Chargers' next contest is this evening, against North Plainfield.

"We're hoping to make some noise in the counties," Mate noted, "we want to get ourselves a good seed and finish strong."

Notes... With Saturday's deadline approaching the state playoffs (teams must be at or above the .500 mark at the end of the day), three local hoops teams are on the bubble.

Following Tuesday night's 59-48 loss to Carteret, the Monroe boys are 9-10 entering tomorrow's match-up with Woodbridge (1-16), and need a win to get in.

Meanwhile, the Sayreville girls are 8-9 with a game tonight against Colonia (10-5) and Saturday at Princeton. They need to win both to earn a berth.

And finally, the Spotswood girls, at 8-10 following Tuesday night's 35-23 win over JFK, need to beat both Monroe (2-14) tonight and Mother Seton (10-8) on Saturday to qualify.

The only other local team, beyond Spotswood, that has assured itself of a state tournament berth is the East Brunswick's boys team (11-6).