Goetz girls win Ocean County middle school title

The Southern Middle School gym was a rowdy scene as a pair of tough teams from Carl W. Goetz Middle School and Central Middle School stepped onto the court to duel it out for the Ocean County middle school championship.

The Lady Cougars from Goetz were the Blue Division champions, while Central Middle School was the Red Division champions.

Both teams had won close games to get to the finals, with Goetz beating Point Boro, and Central topping T.R. East.

The Goetz team is made up of eighth-graders and one seventh-grader. The starters for the Lady Cougars (all eighth-graders) are Danielle Mic-kiewicz, Corinne Pingitore, Nicole Barrington, Amanda Dilworth and Jessica Reibis. Off the bench are Jen Cibery, Erin Ferro, Kristin Gosse, Alexandra Barrington, Anna Geeter, Jackie Macone, Kierstyn Mabey, Lena Pingitore and Elyse Fisher.

Two of the Cougars, Justine Stevenson and Amber Gietter, were out of play because of injuries, while another, Christina Szabo, was sick.

The game was close until the final seconds when Goetz’s captain, Danielle Mickiewicz, was on the foul line with 17 seconds remaining. She hit one out of two shots to preserve the 54-52 Goetz victory.

All of the Lady Cougars played well. The team was led by clutch foul-shooting from Pingitore and Mickiewicz; Dilworth’s strong inside play; Reibis’ three-point shooting, quickness and great defense; Barrington’s lay-ups; and Ferro’s strong play off the bench. The team is coached by Chris Zammit and Maureen Cromie.