Pleasantville

It has been quite a ride - by bus, train and car - for senior St. Joseph football players Bryan Adams and James Hargrave. Yesterday, the two friends celebrated St. Joe's third straight NJSIAA state Parochial 1 championship after a 49-0 blowout victory over Immaculate Conception of Montclair. It's likely the duo will be celebrating even more since they played in their last high school game. That means their 26-mile commute every day from Pleasantville to Hammonton is almost over.

Between the first and second quarters last night, hundreds of Shawnee fans stood and started a chant that was addressed to Pleasantville's followers: "Where's your varsity?" they barked. Shawnee's boys' basketball team was doing it again - making a good opponent look below average. Sparked by a 20-6 first-quarter advantage, Shawnee whipped previously undefeated Pleasantville, 60-40, before a standing-room-only crowd of nearly 10,000 last night at Rutgers University's Louis Brown Athletic Center.

The South Jersey Group 2 boys' basketball field is the smallest among the four public school groups, with just seven qualifiers. That means top-seeded Pleasantville, which has a first-round bye, automatically earns a trip to the semifinals. As if the Greyhounds need any more breaks. Because there are so few teams, the Group 2 tournament doesn't begin until Thursday. Here is a look at the field. DEFENDING CHAMPION. None. Middle Township, which won the last three South Jersey Group 2 titles and the last two state Group 2 championships, has moved to Group 3 because of increased enrollment.

Will the third time be a charm for the Moorestown boys basketball team? The Quakers advanced to their third straight Group 2 championship game with a 57-49 win over top-seeded Collingswood Friday night. They will play a familiar opponent tonight - Pleasantville, which advanced with a 93-84 win over Bridgeton. This will be the third straight championship meeting between the two. Pleasantville won in 1995, 74-73, and again last year, 80-68. They play at 7 p.m. at Washington Township.

An 18-year-old Pleasantville man, an alleged gang member and one of seven high school students facing charges of murder in the killing of a neighborhood grocer, yesterday made his first appearance in Atlantic County Court. Looking shaken and frightened, Richard Simons of West Mulberry Street in Pleasantville was formally arraigned in the slaying of Moon Hwang, a downtown Pleasantville store owner who had been active in battling crime in his neighborhood. The charges: murder, robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery.

A Pleasantville boys' basketball team that had not been tested all season proved this past weekend that it was capable of competing with the big schools. Pleasantville, a team from one of the smallest Group 2 schools in South Jersey, routed Group 4 power Elizabeth, 64-40, on Saturday then edged Group 4 Atlantic City, 71-70, in overtime Sunday in the Battle of the Bay showcase in Atlantic City. "We hadn't faced tough competition all year, and we had to find out how good we were," said 6-foot-2 junior Jamar Perry, named the MVP of the two-day event after scoring 30 points and providing excellent floor leadership.

The euphoria that comes with being involved in the boys' basketball Tournament of Champions overshadows the long road some teams must travel. No team has spent more time on the road recently than Pleasantville, which will face Shawnee in a compelling Tournament of Champions semifinal game at 6 tonight at Rutgers University's Louis Brown Athletic Center in Piscataway. The Greyhounds made a two-hour trip to Rutgers on Sunday to play in the Group 2 state final. They beat Boonton, 86-38, for the title.

The first person to speak to the Pleasantville football team after yesterday's 18-6 nonleague loss to Schalick was Denise Thomas. "You guys are the best people in the world to me," she said. "You played a great game today, and I know Bob would have been very proud. Thank God he was part of my life and your lives. " The emotion showed on the faces of the players and coaches as she talked about her late husband. Bob Thomas, 38, died of a heart attack Nov. 18. The proceeds from yesterday's game were donated to a scholarship fund in his name.

This is where Michael Jackson recorded much of his forthcoming album: the intersection of Route 9 and Doughty Road in Pleasantville. Picture this: Michael Jackson, under wraps, traveling back and forth from New York to this busy intersection off the Black Horse Pike just outside Atlantic City. To a studio whose neighbors are the Afifil FoodMarket, Michael's Coin-op Laundry and the Custom Auto Upholstery. Make no mistake: Glamour has arrived in Pleasantville, a city that has seen its share of hard times, with a population of 20,000, many of whom occupy modest one-story bungalow homes and commute to casino jobs in Atlantic City.

Revenge, a chance at the No. 1 ranking in South Jersey, and a berth in the Tournament of Champions final will be on the line when Shawnee meets Pleasantville in a Tournament of Champions boys' basketball semifinal game tonight at 6 at Rutgers University. Last year, the two teams met in the Tournament of Champions semifinals in a game that failed to live up to expectation; Shawnee scored a convincing 60-40 victory, handing the Greyhounds their only loss in a 30-1 season. The game tonight is expected to be more competitive than last year's.