The Trilogy is Set: RBC and SJV advance to Shore Conference Tournament Final

LINCROFT – The Shore Conference’s two nationally-ranked heavyweight teams were expected to waltz into the Shore Conference Tournament Championship with no more than a little bit of resistance in the semifinals. After all, both Red Bank Catholic and St. John Vianney had swept their opponents in the regular season with lopsided margins. While the Caseys did not break a sweat in the second half of a 64-29 victory over fourth-seeded Rumson-Fair Haven, the Lady Lancers found themselves in a battle with third-seeded Manasquan who refused to back down against the much bigger, heavily-favored opponent. In the face of adversity, St. John Vianney did what championship caliber teams do and closed out the game to defeat Manasquan 46-41 and setup a trilogy against top-seeded Red Bank Catholic.

Senior guard Madison Kocis came out of the gate with eight points in the first quarter, finishing with a team-high 12 points. In the second half the Lancers were forced to rely on their depth with sophomore guard Gianna Sano and junior guard Elisabeth Lyons stepping up to hit clutch shots. 

Tied 38-38 with three minutes left, Sano hit a three-point shot to put the Lancers up for good and drained two free throws down the stretch to seal the victory. Sano scored five of her seven points in the hotly contested fourth quarter. 

“Swaggy G, right,” St. John Vianney head coach Dawn Karpell said with a smile on her face. “This is what it is about. She [Sano] puts in the work. She worked really hard and last year she was out. She is a kid I have all the confidence in because when kids put the work in when no one is looking they earn the right to take those type of shots.”

The Warriors defense prevented the Lancers from getting into any kind of offensive flow. The Lancers were held to just three points in the second quarter and went into the half trailing 23-22. St. John Vianney was able to go on a 15-4 run in the third quarter, with a good portion of those points being scored when Warriors’ senior guard Jordyn Hollawell was on the bench with her third foul. 

“We were challenged today and we were kind of punched in the nose,” Karpell said. “We had to respond and I thought we stepped up. Ontario Christian was in January and that was an eight-point game. That was the last time we had a game that was less than 10.”

With Manasquan’s unyielding zone defense holding senior center Taylor Sofilkanich to seven points and senior forward Stella Lockhart to nine points, the Lancers needed other players to step up on the offensive end of the floor. Junior guard Elisabeth Lyons came off the bench to score six points, including a three-pointer late in the 3rd quarter to put the Lancers up 35-29.

“Offensively they [Manasquan] were so keyed in on taking Maddy [Kocis] away, taking our inside away,” Karpell said. “It was going to take someone to hit a shot and Gianna stepped up and hit a wide open look. Our bench gave us great energy in the third quarter.”

Manasquan did not quit after going down 37-29 late in the 3rd quarter. They ended the quarter on a 4-0 run to cut the deficit to four points, 37-33. Senior guard Shannon Looney scored six of her team-high 14 points in the third quarter. The Warriors extended it to a 9-0 run to start the fourth quarter and take a 38-37 lead with an energized Manasquan crowd buzzing. Unfortunately for the Warriors that was their final lead as St. John Vianney ended the game on a 9-3 run.

The Lancers who have not lost in over a month, will enter the Shore Conference Tournament Championship on a 12-game winning streak. The game will be played on Friday night at Monmouth University at 6 p.m.

The Warriors are scheduled to play Toms River East on Saturday before their quest for a third straight Group 2 State Championship begins next week.

 

Top-Seeded Red Bank Catholic Overcomes Slow Start To Run Away into the SCT Championship

The defending Shore Conference Tournament champions had a slow first half, but exploded in the second half to lead by as many as 34 points in a 56-29 victory. The Caseys held Rumson-Fair Haven to just three points in the third quarter to take a commanding 39-16 lead.

Senior forward Addy Nyemchek scored an efficient game-high 18 points, with 11 of them coming in the second half. Senior guard Katie Liggio got the Caseys going in the first quarter, scoring eight of her 10 points.

“I think at halftime a couple of them spoke up and said they are playing harder than we are and we are the defending champs and we have to play,” Red Bank Catholic head coach Joe Montano said. “They are seniors and they get it. When you have a couple games against the same team you kind of just say we know what we are going to do. They [Rumson] know what they are going to do too and they came out and played really hard.”

In typical Red Bank Catholic fashion, nine different players scored in the game. Senior guard Daniela Maletsky, who is one of the best defenders in the Shore Conference, added 9 points and went 3-for-3 from the foul line.

“I told her [Maletsky] at halftime you take the ball to the hole you get layups and you pass the ball,” Montano said. “Go score the ball and she did and she made her free throws.”

The Bulldogs kept it close in the first half, only trailing 24-13. Senior forward Erin Reid posted her 14th double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds. The Bulldogs were able to slow the Casey offense in the first half, but turnovers hurt them and allowed the Caseys to expand their lead in the second half.

Red Bank Catholic will play second-seeded St. John Vianney for the third time this season on Friday at Monmouth University at 6 p.m. The top two teams in the Shore Conference throughout the season split the two games they played during the regular season. Red Bank Catholic won the first game on 62-51 and lost the second game 61-52.

“We are going to play a hell of a lot better than we played tonight,” Montano said. “When you play a great team like Vianney you got to make shots, you got to play defense and we’ve proven we could do it before.”

Rumson-Fair Haven will host Trinity Hall on Thursday before turning their attention to the Central Jersey Group 2 sectional tournament.