Clearview

A Clearview High girls' basketball player was struck by a female spectator after a Tri-County Conference game at nearby Kingsway on Tuesday night and was briefly hospitalized, Clearview superintendent Pat Carroll confirmed yesterday. The student, senior guard Meryl Settar, was transported to the hospital by an ambulance after apparently being punched in the head and falling to the ground. She was released from the hospital and did not attend school yesterday, Carroll said. Joe Galliera, the Kingsway athletic director, said an eighth-grade Kingsway Middle School student struck Settar while she was near the Clearview bus about 15 minutes after the Dragons had defeated Clearview, 49-34.

Mark Deal, a former head football coach at Maple Shade, Audubon and Gateway, has been named the new head football coach at Clearview. He replaced longtime coach Dan Pidcock, who wasn't rehired by the school board, according to athletic director Greg Horton. Deal returns to the head coaching ranks after serving as an assistant last year at Delsea, which won its second straight South Jersey Group 2 title. "This is special because I live in the district and my kids go to school in the district," said Deal, who inherits a Clearview team coming off a 3-7 record.

Spotlight on: Clearview senior George Skibinski George Skibinski has moved into new territory. So has his team. Skibinski, a senior 152-pounder for Clearview, was one of South Jersey's few remaining undefeated wrestlers, at 23-0, through Thursday. That was something new for a wrestler who was 22-10 as a junior. Meanwhile, Clearview was in the South Jersey finals on Friday night for the first time in the history of the program. The Pioneers traveled to face state power Southern Regional, the No. 1 seed in South Jersey Group 4. "We thought we would have a good team, but to make the South Jersey finals, that's big," Skibinski said.

Turn back the calendar to early October, and eight members of the Clearview girls' soccer team were hampered by injuries. The Pioneers and their fans were mourning their first loss to Highland in at least four meetings. And Clearview had a disappointing 5-6-1 record. Yesterday, after the Pioneers' 2-0 NJSIAA South Jersey Group 2 second-round playoff victory over the host Tartans, hard times were forgotten. Clearview coach Dan Matozzo and his players were congratulated by well-wishers.

When Pennsville coach George Spae sends his girls' basketball team onto the floor, he expects the squad's multiple defenses to cause disruption. "The idea is to keep the other team off balance and confuse them," Spae said. "Hopefully, we can catch them unaware. The key is for the other team to get mixed up, not us. " Yesterday afternoon in a Tri-County Royal Division contest at Pennsville, the Eagles played their game almost to perfection in rolling past Clearview, 58-31. Clearview was limited to nine second-half points - including a two-point third quarter.

This afternoon at 2, it will be deja vu all over again for the Clearview and Moorestown girls' soccer teams. For the second time in three seasons, Clearview and Moorestown will meet in the NJSIAA South Jersey Group 3 soccer championship. Most of the host Quakers (16-3) weren't there when Moorestown defeated Clearview, 2-1, three years ago. Today's starting lineup is made up of mostly sophomores. Ninth-seeded Clearview (13-7) has a young team, just like second-seeded Moorestown, but the Pioneers have a couple of players who have not forgotten what it feels like to lose in the final: senior captain Kelly Giffear and junior captain Maria Dorris.

Christine Leupold is almost always happy but rarely satisfied. After Leupold, a Clearview senior, won state titles in the 100- and 200-yard freestyles, she couldn't stop grinning, but with Leupold, there's always a but. "I thought I would go a lot faster," she said. Leupold always seems to have the big picture in mind. She's always looking one or two or three steps ahead. "I can always do better," Leupold said. "I can always do something different that will make me happier, but I'm not complaining.

Despite losing four starters to graduation from a 23-4 unit that won a share of the Tri-County Conference Royal Division title, the Clearview girls' basketball team has remained competitive. The Pioneers are 5-3 and two of their losses were to the leading contenders in the Royal, Deptford and Williamstown. The other was a 29-26 loss to unbeaten Haddon Township. Over the last week and a half, Clearview won three games by a total of eight points, including a 42-41 overtime victory over Delsea and a 31-30 triumph over Cumberland.

Courtney Branco might as well have a bull's-eye on her back this season. The most prolific scorer in Clearview field hockey history, Branco will anchor a forward line that is expected to produce a lot of goals in the Tri-County Conference Royal Division and beyond. "I know what to expect and I know what I have to do," said Branco, a four-year starter. Last season, the Branco-led Pioneers advanced to the South Jersey Group 4 semifinals before losing, 10-0, to Eastern, the juggernaut from Voorhees that rolled on to its 11th consecutive sectional and state Group 4 titles.

Before the season, Wade Petters was hoping to earn a starting spot for Clearview. The junior leftfielder had been a junior-varsity player last season and didn't know how he would fare on the varsity level. If the first month is any indication, Petters' doubts have been erased. He is hitting .500 (15 for 30), with two home runs, 10 runs scored, 10 stolen bases and a team-high 17 RBIs. Like Petters, Clearview has been one of the early-season surprises, with a 10-0 record. There are many reasons for the fast start, but Petters' torrid pace has been one of the bigger developments.

It was a typical game that ended in typical fashion: with a dramatic overtime victory for Clearview over Washington Township in girls' lacrosse. But the result was anything but typical for the Pioneers. Clearview won the first sectional title in the history of the program with a 7-6, double-overtime victory over host Washington Township on Thursday in the championship game of the South Jersey Group 4 tournament. Freshman Gianna Bowe scored two goals, including the winner with 22 seconds remaining in the second overtime, and senior Kim Tumolo added two goals as Clearview (17-4)

There were plenty of goals illustrating the scrappy, hard-nosed abandon of the Clearview girls' lacrosse team. But the ultimate symbol might have been the freshman who ended up being the game's hero - and not just because she netted the winner with 1 minute, 2 seconds left in regulation. Clearview midfielder Gianna Bowe's go-ahead score helped seal a 10-8 win over Lenape on Tuesday in the South Jersey Group 4 semifinals. But Bowe, a freshman midfielder standing a littler taller than 5-foot, was a warrior in the draw circle.

Highlights of Tuesday's contests can be found at: www.philly.com/rally Baseball SOUTH JERSEY GROUP 2 FIRST ROUND Barnegat 5, Collingswood 1 SOUTH JERSEY GROUP 3 FIRST ROUND Ocean City 10, Woodrow Wilson 1 SOUTH JERSEY GROUP 4 FIRST ROUND Atlantic City 5, Clearview 4 CENTRAL JERSEY GROUP 1 FIRST ROUND Burlington City 5, Henry Hudson 2 Florence 10, East...

There were plenty of goals illustrating the scrappy, hard-nosed abandon of the Clearview girls' lacrosse team. But the ultimate symbol might have been the freshman who ended up being the game's hero - and not just because she netted the winner with 1 minute, 2 seconds left in regulation. Clearview midfielder Gianna Bowe's go-ahead score helped seal a 10-8 win over Lenape on Tuesday in the South Jersey Group 4 semifinals. But Bowe, a freshman midfielder standing a littler taller than 5-foot, was a warrior in the draw circle.

  Spotlight: Clearview senior Nick DeFrank Clearview hasn't faced many lefthanded pitchers this season, so Nick DeFrank hasn't taken many righthanded swings. But in the fifth inning of Wednesday's game against Gloucester Catholic, DeFrank slashed a single to left field in one of his few righthanded at-bats of the season. "I think that might have been only my third or fourth time I batted righthanded," he said. A rare switch-hitter at the high-school level, DeFrank also is versatile in the field.

  GIRLS' LACROSSE Team Record Records are through Tuesday. Last week's rankings in parentheses. 1. Moorestown (1) 19-0 2. Shawnee (2) 13-2 3. Clearview (5) 14-4 4. Washington Twp. (4) 11-5 5. Lenape (3) 12-2 6. Bishop Eustace (6) 12-2 7. Haddonfield (8) 12-6 8. Eastern (7) 10-7 9. Holy Cross (9) 14-3 10. Seneca (10)

It was an inning that echoed of the past and maybe, just maybe, hinted of the future. It was Gloucester Catholic being Gloucester Catholic. It was 10 batters, six hits, six runs and the kind of high-energy, high-volume baseball that has marked the Rams for most of their history. "Maybe after that inning, we'll get it going again," Gloucester Catholic senior first baseman John Brue said after a 10-4 victory over Clearview on Wednesday in a Tri-County Conference inter-division clash.

It was a big game for everybody on the Delsea baseball team. It was even bigger for Garrett Craig. The Crusaders' senior righthander knew first place in the Tri-County Royal was on the line. He knew his team could move to the brink of its first division title since 2007. But for Craig, something else made Monday's showdown special: Williamstown was in the other dugout. "It's a big rivalry game for me," Craig said after leading Delsea to a 5-3 victory. "My dad went there.