RED BANK REG… ANOTHER FIRST!!! JT AND CREW ROLL TO WOBM CHIP… POLLOWAY MVP!

Yesterday RED  BANG REG won the WOBM CHAMPIONSHIP. But there is more to this story than just RBR winning the prestigious Christmas Tournament. This is a story about a program that continues to shock everyone. This is a story about a Coach by the name of John Truhan who once again is saving a program and more importantly a group of kids. RBR has had more milestone’s in the TRUHAN years than they have had in their entire existence.

When John Truhan, took over RBR 5 years ago. They were a program that had little success. Every once in a while they’d win a few meaningless games. There days it seems all they do is meaningful things. When Coach Truhan, RBR team won it first of two divisional titles. It shocked everyone. RBR had not won a divisional title since, let’s just say before every player he has ever coached was born. When RBR started turning out 1st Team All Freshman year after year. People were concerned, they because RBR had never had a coach that turned nobody’s into somebody’s though player development rather than whining about other schools stealing talent. When RBR pulled off the biggest upset in SCT history beating RBC on the road in the SCT, nobody could believe. Just like nobody could believe how RBR started turning out D1 players year after year. It could be called the JT EFFECT by some. I just called it the Bill Parcell’s of high school basketball act. That’s because John TURHAN has turned around more programs that were left for dead into big winners than any coach boys or girls maybe in high school basketball history! This is a fact not hype. RBR is just his lastest act. Yesterday Coach Truhan added to his almost cartoonish line career.

Last night John Truhan won his 2nd WOBM title. He won his first with Colts Neck. Yes Colts Neck too, was most a powerhouse under Coach Truhan. But for RBR fans this was a first. They won the title because  their Junior Center Caroline Polloway refused to fold. Not yesterday  but long before yesterday. You see Caroline Polloway was on on every coaches radar going into last summer. Then she played on a AAU team that barely played her. It was shocking and heartbreaking. She had every reason to feel sorry for herself. She had every reason to believe that maybe she was not the player she felt she could be. She had every reason to believe the non believers. But she didn’t instead she went to work. She lived in the gym. She sucked up the coaching and competition. She got back up off the ground. It’s why she has been outstanding this year. It why her name will join a long list of rock stars that have won the WOBM MVP. Caroline Polloway put RBR on her back all weekend. She did it without the help of RBR’s best player and senior Camryn Gardner. She made every big basket at every big moment of the game. Caroline Polloway made free throws when they mattered. She has improved dramatically in the last 4 months. She is proving she is one of the best players in the Shore Conference. She has a coach and team that believes in her and now she her hands on two of the biggest Trophies a kid can have during the Holiday Hoop Season. She too is now a ROCK STAR!

SYNAI BLYCHANTON  spent last season at Red Bank Catholic. Many believe it was a lost year. But they were wrong. While she played meaningless minutes. She learned what it was like to have something you love taken away for you. In this case playing time. No RBC was not a waste of year. It was a year that humbled SYNAI BLYCHANTON because weather she knows it or not it humbled her and made her hungry. RBR has been waiting for her to arrive. Yesterday Synai Blychanton arrived. She arrived on the biggest of stages. She arrived when RBR needed her most. Yesterday she had 16 points, 6 dimes and 3 steals. But more than anything else. It was her presence that everyone felt. It was determination

that made her look and feel different from everyone else. Yesterday SYNAI BLYCHANTON showed everyone what she can be one day. Another RBR Division one player. It’s just taken her a minute  to get there.

Yesterday there were two unlikely heroes. Riley Joyce was wonderful yesterday on both sides of the ball. She had 8 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. She seems to do it all yesterday. She displayed a never say die attitude and  toughness  that oozed  out of her body into her teammates souls. She was the heart and soul of RBR yesterday.Every great story needs the unexpected and RBR got just that yesterday. CAITLYN COURTNEY is a player that has not played a lot this year. But these are desperate times and RBR  desperately need someone to step up. So Courtney did just that with 5 points and without a question made the biggest shot for RBR this season. She hit the three at the buzzer to close the 3rd quarter and put WALL on its heels. Caitlyn Courtney was the biggest surprise of the night and now has a story to tell!!!

RILEY WHEELER and ZOE GULLEY have been here before. They are still learning how to get to the next level. When the pressure was on late. They figured out how to hang on in a big spot. They are the future of RBR basketball. They are two player’s that helped in a big way yesterday  make the dream come true.

RBR under Coach Truhan just seems to continue to do magical things. It’s a program that lacked respect and leadership for years. Well now they have both and that have something else… ANOTHER FIRST UNDER COACH TRUHAN… a WOBM CHIP!