NJSIAA Girls Basketball Tournament Preview: The Shore in Group 1
NJSIAA Tournament: Group 1 Playoff Preview
Central Jersey Group I
Shore Teams in the Field: No. 3 Keansburg, No. 8 Shore, No. 13 Henry Hudson
Top Seed: New Providence
Defending Champion: New Providence
Favorite: No. 1 New Providence. A year ago, the Pioneers finished 30-2 running past the competition in Central Jersey Group 1 all the way to the Group 1 State Championship where they defeated Glen Ridge 42-36. The defending champions graduated just one player from last year’s title team, returning four starters and bringing back all their contributors from off the bench. New Providence is currently 24-1 with their lone blemish being a 45-40 loss to Old Tappan. The Pioneers leading scorer is Scranton commit Annie Conover (5-foot-7) who is currently averaging 18.9 points per game. New Providence won the Union County Tournament, defeating Westfield 38-35 in the final. The Pioneers, who are ranked number nine in the state according to NJ Advance Media, will be a heavy favorite to not only win the sectional, but also the entire group.
Contender: No. 2 Bound Brook. The Crusaders hold a 22-3 record, with their only setbacks coming against Union Catholic, Rutgers Prep, and Gill St. Bernard’s. Bound Brook lost by only six points against Rutgers Prep who is currently ranked number five in the state according to NJ Advance Media. The Crusaders are led by super freshman Peytan Pugh (5-foot-4) who is averaging 18.7 points per game.
Contender: No. 3 Keansburg. It feels like now or never for a Titans program that is having arguably their best season in school history with a 19-3 record. The Titans strength of schedule leaves much to be desired in comparison to the two teams seeded ahead of them, but late-season wins over a 20-5 Piscataway Magnet team and a Freehold Boro team that has won seven of their last eight games breeds some optimism. The Titans did not have center impact senior center Princess Graves in uniform in their last three games which included their worse performances of the season in a 63-24 loss to Point Boro and a 67-44 loss against Sayreville. If Graves is back in uniform for the state tournament to anchor the defense alongside high-scoring guards Gabriella Flanzbaum and Gianna Bettinger, Keansburg has a chance to make a strong run.
Keansburg guard Gianna Bettinger (Photo by Tom Smith | tspsportsimages.com)
Dark Horse: No. 8 Shore. The Blue Devils played one of the hardest schedules of any team in the bracket which included five losses against teams that were ranked in the Shore Sports Insider Top 10 at some point during the season. As a result of a 14-11 record against tough competition, Shore is probably under-seeded relative to the talent on their roster. Senior guard Ava Coyle has had an outstanding season and freshman forward Sydney Tilton is in the discussion for “Freshman of the Year.”
Shore’s Ava Coyle (Photo: Tom Smith | tspsportsimages.com)
The Shore’s Bracket Breakdown: Shore drew an extremely tough road having to host a Middlesex team that eliminated them from the sectional tournament last season with the near-certainty of having to travel to New Providence if they win. If Shore is capable of getting any further than that, they have a very real possibility of winning the sectional.
Henry Hudson will travel to South Amboy who beat the Admirals 40-22 earlier in the season at the Middlesex/Shore Holiday Tournament. The Admirals will be a big underdog, but they have finished the season relatively strong winning three of their last four games behind the scoring of freshman Molly Hensle and sophomore Leah Curry.
Keansburg will be favored against College Achieve Central and the winner of Roselle Park/Florence. They will most likely need to defeat both Bound Brook and New Providence on the road if they wish to make history as the program’s first sectional champion.
First Round
(16) Dunellen at (1) New Providence
(9) Middlesex at (8) Shore
(12) Highland Park at (5) Brearley
(13) Henry Hudson at (4) South Amboy
(11) Florence at (6) Thrive Charter
(14) College Achieve Central at (3) Keansburg
(10) Manville at (7) Roselle Park
(15) Dayton at (2) Bound Brook
Nick’s Predicted Champion- New Providence
Doug’s Predicted Champion- New Providence
South Jersey Group 1
Shore Teams in the Field: No. 12 New Egypt
Top Seed: Haddon Township
Defending Champion: Haddon Township
Favorite: No. 1 Haddon Township. The reigning sectional champions won three of their four sectional playoff games last season by double-digits before running into a wall against New Providence in the Group 1 State Semifinal in a game they lost 55-37. The Hawks graduated two of their top players from last year in Alli and Madi Kamulda, but return several impact players including Kiersten Callahan (5-foot-9), a 1,000 point scorer. The biggest chink in the armor however is that the Hawks did not play well to finish the season, losing their final three games of the season as they finished with a 19-8 record.
Contender: No. 2 Wildwood. The Warriors hold a 19-7 record with all of their losses coming to either a much larger school, an out-of-state opponent, or a private school. Wildwood lost to Haddon Township 42-32 in the sectional final last season, so they will be motivated by revenge. Their top scorer is junior guard Rebecca Benichou (5-foot-6) who has already surpassed the 1,000-point milestone.
Dark Horse: No. 4 Glassboro. Far from the perfect resume, the Bulldogs hold a 19-7 record including a record of 7-1 in their final eight games including a 69-64 loss to Wildwood in the Tri-County Tournament semifinals. Glassboro lost to Haddon Township 35-25 in the quarterfinals last season. Junior guard Kezia Brackett (5-foot-4) is one of the most explosive scorers in all of Group 1 averaging 22.9 points per game.
The Shore’s Bracket Breakdown: New Egypt is the Shore’s lone representative in South Jersey Group 1. The Warriors are currently 11-13 and will travel to Palmyra as an underdog. The one-two scoring punch of seniors Madison Adam and Olivia Stillwell will need to both be on form for New Egypt to advance against a Palmyra team that is 19-6.
First Round
(16) Paulsboro at (1) Haddon Township
(9) Burlington City at (8) Woodbury
(12) New Egypt at (5) Palmyra
(13) Cape May Tech at (4) Glassboro
(11) Woodstown at (6) Pennsville
(14) Salem at (3) Audubon
(10) Schalick at (7) Gateway
(15) Clayton at (2) Wildwood
Doug’s Predicted Champion- Haddon Township
Nick’s Predicted Champion- Wildwood
