Shawnee

Shawnee outrebounded Florence by 17 yesterday en route to its 14th consecutive victory, a 70-54 win over the Flashes at Burlington County College. The contest was the championship game between the division winners of the Burlington County League. Next year, the league will switch to three divisions. Shawnee (22-2) is No. 3 in The Inquirer's Top 10. Florence, which shared the Burlington-Freedom title with Bordentown, is 17-6. Shawnee's lead, which was up to 15 points in the third quarter, was reduced to 53-47 on a basket by Florence junior Carey Kessler with 5 minutes, 57 seconds left.

Kiley Graham vowed she would be the Shawnee field hockey team's loudest cheerleader. Little did Graham know that she would be the player responsible for the biggest ovation. The freshman forward came off the bench to score the decisive goal with 24 minutes left in regulation time as the third-seeded Renegades knocked off top-seeded Cherokee yesterday, 1-0, in the Central Jersey Group 4 championship game. Shawnee (18-3-2) will meet Eastern (20-0-0), the South Jersey champion, in a state Group 4 semifinal Wednesday at Cherokee.

The Lenape boys' basketball team has thrived this season in close, low-scoring games. Tuesday's big matchup with backyard rival Shawnee proved to be no different. Sawyer Hand sank a three-pointer from the wing with three seconds left to give host Lenape a 40-38 win over Shawnee in an Olympic Conference interdivision game. Lenape, The Inquirer's fifth-ranked team in South Jersey, rallied after being down by 11-3 in the first quarter behind a balanced attack. Tabu Gaither scored a team-high 11 points and was the only Lenape player to reach double digits.

Shawnee junior goalie Mike Hartmann posted shutouts in his first two games over teams that were in The Inquirer's preseason South Jersey Top 10. The Renegades opened with a scoreless draw against Eastern. Monday, they earned a 2-0 victory over Cherry Hill West. "Mike is probably the best shot stopper I ever played with," Shawnee forward Kyle Franks said. In a year in which there are several top goalkeepers, Hartmann certainly should be on that list. "I think he is one of the better goalies around," Shawnee coach Brian Gibney said.

For a team that is making its first-ever appearance in the South Jersey Boys' Soccer Coaches Tournament, Camden Catholic sure wants to prolong its stay. While some teams look at the coaches tournament as a secondary event behind the state tournament, Camden Catholic views it on equal footing - and its enthusiasm is obvious. The Irish scored two goals in the first four minutes and continued their record-setting season with yesterday's 6-0 shutout of Delran in a coaches tournament semifinal at Sterling.

The Beach Ball Classic, considered high school's answer to March Madness, will have an all Philadelphia-area final tonight. Second-seeded Shawnee did its part in last night's second semifinal with an impressive 52-44 victory over Artesia, of Lakewood, Calif. The Renegades (4-0) will meet Simon Gratz, the nation's top-rated team and a 66-45 winner last night over Westover of Albany, Ga. "Gratz is awesome," said Shawnee coach Joe Kessler. "We're going to have to play real well to be in the game, but stranger things have happened.

When Tim Gushue first sat down with his assistants to discuss the boys' track and field season, the longtime Shawnee coach wasn't optimistic. "The outlook back in February was pretty bleak," Gushue said. "So I'm really pleased with the outcome. " That outcome, at least for the regular season, was finalized Monday when the Renegades clinched a share of their second division title. Going into the final day of dual-meet competition, Shawnee was tied with Eastern and Lenape atop the Olympic Conference American Division.

The last time Shawnee and Rancocas Valley met in boys' basketball, they produced one of the most memorable games in recent South Jersey playoff history. Rancocas Valley beat the Renegades, 74-72, in double overtime for last year's South Jersey Group 4 championship. The two will renew their rivalry at 1 p.m. tomorrow in a nonconference game at Shawnee. Last year, Shawnee lost just twice all season, and both losses were to Rancocas Valley. Beating the Red Devils will be no easier this year.

Shawnee, the No. 1 team in The Inquirer's field hockey Top 15, ended Ocean City's 10-game scoreless streak in the final minute of the first half yesterday and went on to defeat the Red Raiders, 1-0. Junior Julie Kentrus scored the goal for Shawnee (8-1) with 54 seconds remaining in the half. It was the first scored against No. 4 Ocean City (9-1-1) this year. "They took away everything from us in the first half," said Shawnee coach Bobbie Schultz. "We seemed to take control of the game in the second half.

Eastern's field hockey team will not miss Shawnee's senior field hockey goaltender Danielle Vile when she graduates in June. Shawnee (18-0-3) blanked the visiting Vikings, 1-0, yesterday on Jenna Litwornia's second-half goal to win its second straight South Jersey Group 4 title and 12th in 19 years. Litwornia, who has now scored five of Shawnee's nine goals in three tournament games, scored with 26 minutes, 52 seconds left in the game with an assist from Casey Jiampetti. The 10-time Burlington County League Liberty Division champions will face Central Jersey champion Middletown South in the state semifinals on Tuesday at Hopewell Valley.

There are no stands surrounding the grass field at Shawnee High School. The 400 or so in attendance Tuesday afternoon were mostly sitting on the ground or standing, several deep in some spots, craning their necks to see the nation's most storied girls' lacrosse rivalry. Emotions always run high when Shawnee plays Moorestown in girls' lacrosse. The intensity on the field is different, something separate even from what you'd feel in a postseason game. But that still doesn't quite explain what the annual matchup means to the players.

Brian Lawler always has felt comfortable at the plate. Now he feels comfortable behind it. "I love catching," said Lawler, a Shawnee senior. With a smooth lefthanded swing, Lawler has been a key hitter for Shawnee since his sophomore year. This season, Lawler is batting .313 with 14 RBIs. He is among South Jersey's leaders with six doubles for the 9-4 Renegades, who are ranked No. 6 by The Inquirer. But the big change for Lawler has been the switch to catcher. He said he never played the position before last season.

5 - Chris Oakley, St. Augustine; Kyle Grimm, Williamstown 4 - John Bednarek, Cinnaminson; Devin Smeltzer, Bishop Eustace; Steve Priolo, Eastern; Matt Costa, Eastern; Mike Shawaryn, Gloucester Catholic; Connor Walsh, Sterling; Will Allen, Cherry Hill West; Matt Ennis, Pitman 9 - Matt McKeown, Paul VI 7 - Dom Messina, Camden Catholic 6 - Brian Lawler, Shawnee; Justin Hagenman, Bishop Eustace; Jim Hoff, Holy Cross; Josh Houck, Overbrook; Cole...

Shawnee coach Brian Anderson called it a "fireworks show. " The grand finale came in the fourth inning, when the Renegades hit three home runs and a double in the space of seven pitches. "It was contagious," Shawnee senior centerfielder Jarret DeHart said after his team's 14-11 victory Friday afternoon over Lenape in an Olympic Conference American Division clash of Top 10 teams. DeHart, an LSU recruit, hit two home runs as Shawnee, the No. 8 team in The Inquirer's South Jersey rankings, improved to 8-3 overall and 2-2 in the division on a cloudy, blustery day on Lenape's field.

Shawnee senior Eric Spires looks back at the Renegades' victory over Lenape. www.philly.com/ rallyvideos

In football, Kyle Borbi is a slot receiver. And for the novice, this might be the best way to understand Borbi's dominance in lacrosse: Kyle Borbi is Wes Welker. Like the longtime NFL receiver, Borbi, a 5-foot-7 attack for Shawnee, has the type of physical power that, coming from someone his size, can catch an opponent off guard. He has tremendous hands. He has explosive quickness. He's scrappy. He's fearless. "He's the kind of guy who, when the game is on the line, he wants the ball," said Tim Gushue, Shawnee's longtime football and boys' lacrosse coach.

Shaine Hughes capped a five-run second inning with a bases-clearing double in the second inning Tuesday and Washington Township won an Olympic Conference American Division baseball showdown with Shawnee, 6-5. Washington Township is ranked fifth by The Inquirer and Shawnee is ranked eighth. Tom Hildebrand also went 2 for 3 with a double and an RBI for Washington Township. Cape-Atlantic American. Chris Oakley gave up one hit over 52/3 shutout innings and St. Augustine blanked host Millville, 2-0. Oakley also fanned seven for The Inquirer's second-ranked team.

For six innings Monday afternoon, the Eastern bats did nothing. That was about to change in a big way. Catcher Ally Schmus hit a go-ahead grand slam to cap a six-run seventh inning and lift Eastern to a 6-2 win at Shawnee in a Olympic Conference American softball. Shawnee's Jackie Pezzato took a perfect game into the seventh. She struck out 10. Eastern had five straight hits to tie the game at 2 before Schmus' big blow Jess Heaton allowed three hits and struck out five to earn the win.   Girls' Lacrosse Alex Hlesciak scored her 200th career goal in Rancocas Valley's 19-6 defeat of visiting New Egypt in Burlington County Liberty play.