Rancocas Valley Regional High School
Marc Narducci
Lenape’s girls’ soccer team, the five-time defending Coaches Tournament champion, has advanced to Sunday’s semifinals.
The Indians defeated visiting Rancocas Valley, 1-0 in a game that Lenape controlled throughout. Lenape continued to put pressure, but the Red Devils defense held up well.
Rancocas Valley had a few effective counter attacks, but for the most part, Lenape was in control.
Farewell South Jersey athletes, coaches, parents, fellow writers and others who have made my five years, five months of covering sports full-time in the area a memorable and enriching experience.
After today, I no longer will be a staff writer for The Inquirer. It's time for me to move on. I have a project that will keep me busy for a year or more and it will occupy most of my time.
The rest of the time? You might see my by-line like this: By Bill Iezzi, For The Inquirer. I'd like that. Hope you do, too.
Mentioned: Burlington County Institute of Technology | Clearview Regional High School | Rancocas Valley Regional High School | Deptford Township High School | Camden Catholic High School | Lenape High School | Glassboro High School | Holy Cross High School | Cherry Hill High School East | Burlington County Institute of Technology | Cinnaminson High School | Haddon Township High School | Gloucester City Jr-Sr High School | Lower Cape May Regional High School | Cherry Hill High School West | Pitman High School | Camden County Technical Schools | Haddonfield Memorial High School | Moorestown High School | Cherokee High School | Mainland Regional High School | Kingsway Regional High School | Shawnee High School | Audubon Jr./Sr. High School | Pennsauken High School | Absegami | Atlantic City | Bishop Eustace | Bordentown | Bridgeton | Buena | Burlington City | Burlington Township | Camden | Cape May Tech | Clayton | Collingswood | Cumberland | Delran | Delsea | Eastern | Egg Harbor Township | Florence | Gateway | Gloucester | Gloucester Catholic | Gloucester Christian | Gloucester County Tech | Haddon Heights | Hammonton | Highland | Holy Spirit | Lindenwold | Maple Shade | Mercer Christian | Middle Township | Millville | Moorestown Friends | Northern Burlington | Oakcrest | Ocean City | Our Lady of Mercy | Palmyra | Paulsboro | Peddie School | Pemberton | Pennington | Penns Grove | Pennsauken Tech | Pennsville | Pleasantville | Riverside | Salem | Schalick | Seneca | St. Augustine | St. Joseph | Sterling | Timber Creek | Triton | Vineland | West Deptford | Wildwood | Wildwood Catholic | Williamstown | Willingboro | Winslow Township | Woodbury | Woodrow Wilson | Woodstown | Overbrook (NJ) | Sacred Heart NJ | Washington Twp.
Rancocas Valley has adopted a wait and see attitude towards the field hockey team.
The Red Devils have two returning starters, five letter winners, a goaltending job up for grabs and a group of eager players anxious to get varsity experience. - Bill Iezzi
Mentioned: Rancocas Valley Regional High School
I'm putting together The Inquirer's all-South Jersey softball list and one standout is Rancocas Valley senior Lauren Gaskill.
I don't want to say too much about her at this time, but the Virginia Tech senior had another splendid season at shortstop.
Unfortunately for her, she did not repeat as the Gatorade New Jersey Softball Player of the Year.
Mentioned: Rancocas Valley Regional High School
Rancocas Valley, the third seed in Central Group 4, has a better chance of winning the sectional crown than Florence in Central Group 1, even though the Flashes are the No. 1 seed.
That's because the No. 2 seed, on the other side of the brackets, is New Egypt, which has defeated Florence twice this season: 6-0 and 6-2.
The threat of rain, which has been causing upheaval with area softball schedules, has pushed up the times that at least two softball tournaments will start on Saturday.
The Rancocas Valley Elite Softball Tournament will start the two semifinal games between RV and Audubon and Gloucester and Buena at 9 a.m. The championship game will follow.
The Moorestown Softball Tournament also starts at 9 a.m. with Moorestowen playing Haddonfield on the varsity field and Cherry Hill East taking on Collingswood on the JV field.
Senior guard Lauren Gaskill and her Rancocas Valley teammates are big underdogs against Trenton Catholic Tuesday night in the Tournament of Champions' basketball quarterfinal at Poland Springs Arena.
And the Red Devils are comfortable in that role.
RV had already set a new standard in the area and at the school in terms of the most wins (30) by a Burlington County team in a season and capturing the program's first state crown.
Mentioned: Rancocas Valley Regional High School
Brynn Gitt, Rancocas Valley's star field hockey player, was just as perplexed as co-coaches Julie Thornton and Jean Marie Seal at the end.
When RV bowed to Shawnee, 6-0, in the Central Jersey Group 4 final on Nov. 9, it was because the team as a whole didn't give 100 percent. Gitt, an all-South Jersey attacjk and four year starter, was baffled because she has given her all for so long. "We needed to come out strong right away and we didn't," said Gitt, who ended the season with 34 goals and is RV's single-season and career scoring leader with 79 goals. If it was any consolation, RV shared the Burlington County League Liberty Division crown with Moorestown, a first such title in school history. Another first was beating Moorestown during teh regular season.The previous RV single-season scoring record was 29, set by Natalie Beckerman in 1985. Beckerman also set the previous career goals' record of 52 in 1985.Gitt ended the season with 11 assists, which tied the single-season record set by Kerri Perinchief in 1988 and Abby Wood in 2009. However, Gitt broke Perinchief's career assists' record of 21 with 27.Gitt is set to attend Iowa next fall.By his own admission, Rancocas Valley junior DeShawn Jones was "at the bottom of the depth chart" at the beginning of the season.
Now Jones is a star.
Jones has run for 951 yards and 10 TDs for the Red Devils, who are a surprising 5-1.
Mentioned: Rancocas Valley Regional High School
I turned on my computer this morning and was surprised to see that Rancocas Valley upset Florence, 3-2, Monday.
Our Score Service didn't even have the results. They were sent to me by Jeffrey and Gina Smith, parents of Lexi Smith, Florence's top scorer. Gina is also Florence's head coach.
RV went 3-1-1 in its first five games and then won the next five. The loss was Florence's first in 10 games.
