Girls Basketball SCT Quarterfinal Notebook: Rumson Edges Colts Neck, Top Three Seeds Coast Into Semifinals

HOLMDEL – In the aftermath of three games that reached lopsided scoring margins with the running clock rule going into effect, the crowd at the Shore Conference Tournament quarterfinals was hungry for a competitive game with back-and-forth action. In the final game of the day, Rumson-Fair Haven and Colts Neck delivered with one of the most exciting games of the season.

The game saw a variety of lead changes throughout the game, but the final lead change came with three minutes left in the fourth quarter which put the Bulldogs up 37-36. Rumson would hold on to win 48-44 and advance into the SCT semifinal round. 

Junior guard Chloe Kelly scored nine of her team-high 16 points in the fourth quarter to seal the win for the Bulldogs. Kelly, who is committed to Ohio State for lacrosse, went 6-for-7 at the free throw line in the fourth quarter to help put the game away.

“Chloe has a toughness to her that offensively, defensively she never gets too high and never gets too low,” Rumson-Fair Haven head coach Dave Callahan said. “She is mentally locked in from the time the tip goes up to the time it is over. We all know she scored the game-winning goal in the Group 1 State Championship for lacrosse. There is no pressure for her out there.”

Four different players knocked down a three-pointer in the first quarter to give Rumson a 12-8 lead. The Bulldogs drained seven total three-pointers in the game despite their primary outside shooter senior forward Grace Smith on the bench in foul trouble for the majority of the first half. Five different players connected from beyond the arc. 

“We have gone through some stretches that every team goes through where you feel you play a little bit selfish,” Callahan said. “We went through that stretch a couple of weeks ago and we just kept hammering home one more pass, trust your teammates, and to see it happen today was truly amazing. Emerson Gripp has not been playing a lot, she made one of the biggest threes of our season late in the fourth quarter. We made the extra pass and she drained it.”

Rumson’s defense held sophomore forward Julianna Jasina, who scored 22 points in Colts Neck’s first matchup against Rumson this season, to just 9 points and prevented her from getting into the flow on the offensive side of the floor. 

With Jasina receiving a significant amount of attention from the defense, sophomore classmate Allison McAndrew led the Cougars with 16 points. In the previous meeting back in December, she was held to just two points. 

Colts Neck opened the fourth quarter on a 7-2 run to go up 36-32 with 5:02 left to go. The Bulldogs responded with an 8-0 run over the next two minutes and never looked back after regaining the lead.

“We knew it was going to be a tough fight, but we knew what we had to keep advancing,” Kelly said. “We knew we had to play hard and play together. We had to play smart and composed to stay in this game.”

Rumson-Fair Haven will play top-seeded Red Bank Catholic in the semifinal round on Tuesday at Brookdale Community College at 6 p.m.

 

St. John Vianney Leaves No Doubt with 64-35 Victory Over Trinity Hall

The Lancers’ defense suffocated Trinity Hall in the early stages of the game, shutting them out in the first quarter to jump out to a commanding 24-0 lead. SJV built on their lead in the second quarter to take a 40-9 lead into halftime. 

“We really have the last month and half locked in on what we want to do and understanding what we want to take away from teams,” St. John Vianney head coach Dawn Karpell said. 

Trinity Hall showed some resilience to start the second half, outscoring SJV 15-10 in the third quarter. Senior forward Grace Feeney scored a team-high 16 points and senior guard Bridget Rigney knocked down a trio of three-pointers to add 11 points for the Monarchs. 

University of Pennsylvania commit Madison Kocis continued her outstanding senior season with a game-high 23 points and had five steals on the defensive end. Duke commit Taylor Sofilkanich added 11 points and played a big role in the paint with her length disrupting Trinity Hall’s offense. 

“We work on finding the mismatch and playing to it and taking what they are giving us,” said Karpell about the balance scoring throughout the season. “They were packing it in on Taylor and Stella so Maddie [Kocis] was able to find it. She did a great job of getting to the rim and not settling for three-pointers, but attacking the rim as well.”

First-year starter Gianna Sano continued to show that she is one of the best point guards in the Shore Conference. She handled the ball with confidence and got her teammates going on the offensive side.

“She [Sano] has been very important and instrumental on what we are about this year,” Karpell said. “She allows everyone to be in their role and do what they do well. She has great basketball instincts. She sees what they’re giving and takes it. She never really is sped up and is able to stay within herself, which is a great skill set for a sophomore.”

SJV will play the third-seeded Manasquan on Tuesday in the SCT semifinal round at Brookdale Community College at 7:45 p.m.

 

Manasquan Jumps All Over Howell in the the Third Quarter to advance

In typical Manasquan fashion, the Warriors went on an offensive scoring spurt of 26 points in the third quarter to put the game out of reach after building a 25-11 lead at halftime. The Warriors stingy defense held the Rebels to just two points in the second quarter and held Howell’s leading scorer Kylee Beam to just five first-half points.

“We were a little bit on them the past practice because we did not love our defensive effort the other night,” Manasquan head coach Lisa Kukoda said. “I think they really took to that and kind of got back to the way we play defense, which is a full team effort. Rose [LaTesta] did a fantastic job, Reese [Rampone] did a great job. I thought we were very focused on team defense today.”

Sophomore guard Calista Vowteras scored 11 of her career-high 22 points in the 3rd quarter for Manasquan and senior guard Jordyn Hollawell added 18 points. Hollawell’s impact was felt all over the court with her high-pressure defense and efficient offense at the point guard position. 

“My teammates are always finding me on the court so I love finding them back, especially on offense when it turns into easy points and easy layups,” Hollawell said. “We feed off each other really well and that makes our team so special.”

Hollawell has taken her game to the next level this season. In the second round against Toms River East, she was only two assists shy of a triple-double. Today, she grabbed seven rebounds, dished out six assists and was all over the floor on the defensive end creating turnovers. 

“This season she has done everything we asked her to do,” Kukoda said. “She has really stepped into this leadership role. She is impacting all areas of the game between her defense, she goes in and gets rebound and she is statistically leading in almost every category.”

Manasquan will play the two-seed St. John Vianney on Tuesday at Brookdale Community College in the SCT semifinal at 7:45 p.m.

 

Top-Seeded Red Bank Catholic Too Much for St. Rose in 64-29 Win

Red Bank Catholic had an ideal start for a postseason game, holding their opponent to just two points and causing 11 turnovers in the first quarter. The Caseys held St. Rose to just seven first-half points and created 16 turnovers to build an insurmountable 39-7 lead at halftime. 

RBC took advantage of their favorable length discrepancy , dominating the paint on the offensive end and on the glass on both sides of the floor. Senior forward Addy Nyemchek and senior center Scarlet LeVake each grabbed seven offensive rebounds and senior forward Sophie Smith pulled down three. The Caseys came away with a total of 23 offensive rebounds as a team.

“We love playing teams that we can use our size advantage and I think we did that tonight,” Smith said. “Going forward in these harder games, it’s tournament time so any second chance, third chance we can get to get another basket and get more points on the board is huge.”

Smith, who is committed to Harvard next year, made an impact early in the game, scoring six of her 13 points in the first quarter. Nyemchek scored a game-high 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds while LeVake added eight points and eight rebounds. 

“We needed that,” said RBC head coach Joe Montano about Smith’s performance. “Katie [Liggio] did not get as many touches today as normal, but some people are going to come in and try to D her up on the perimeter, which opens up the lane. When it opens up the lane, Sophie makes the most of that.”

The Caseys held St. Rose leading scorer Brooke Missry to three points which came in the fourth quarter. Senior guard Daniela Maletsky prevented the Purple Roses from getting Missry the ball in the right spots throughout the game. 

“You’re asking Danny [Maletsky] to defend the other team’s best kid for 4 to 5 minutes then you put Lola [Giordano] in and it’s a great team,” Montano said. “Brooke (Missry) is a really good player and she can get 20 points on a bad night, so for us to do that is special and Danny has been really, really good at that the last six or seven games.”

RBC will play the four-seed Rumson-Fair Haven on Tuesday in the SCT semifinal round at Brookdale Community College at 6 p.m.