Girls Basketball Shore Conference Tournament Opening-Round Preview and Predictions

Girls Basketball Shore Conference Tournament Opening Round Preview

Doug Brustman contributed to this post

Shore Sports Insider broke down the opening round of the Shore Conference Tournament and Coaches Cup Tournament on the Give and Go Podcast, which is linked at the bottom of the post. Each round, we will be posting a short preview to each game and predictions made by Doug Brustman, Nick Lowe and a guest. The opening round guest picker is former Wall Head Coach Colleen Wisher.

(17) Freehold Boro at (16) Colts Neck, 4 p.m.

Freehold Boro (16-4) finished second in Class B North and is led by two seniors. Both Christina Sikaras and Sayuri Penaranda are 1,000-point scorers for the Colonials with Penaranda posting 16 double-doubles. Sophomore Olivia Batchelor has become the teams third option on the offensive end, averaging 10 PPG this season. Senior Jordyn Strong and Avery Wyatt play an important part for the Colonials on the offensive and defensive glass. 

Colts Neck (11-7) finished third in Class A North and are led by a senior and two freshmen. Freshman Julianna Jasina is averaging just under 12 PPG and makes an impact inside the paint for the Cougars. Freshman Emily Donahue is averaging just over 8.5 PPG and is a threat from the outside, knocking down 35 3-pointers on the season. Senior Katie Dichter runs the offensive for Colts Neck and has the ability to break down opposing defenses by getting to the basket and getting her teammates involved. She is averaging 6.3 points and 3.8 assists per game. She is also causes problems for opposing teams with her defensive ability.

Predictions:

Doug – Colts Neck

Nick – Colts Neck

Guest – Colts Neck

 

(21) Freehold Township at (12) Barnegat, 4 p.m.

Freehold Twp. (12-7) won Class B North by going 10-0 in the division. The Patriots are led on both ends of the floor by seniors Gaby Parker and Sophie Tonino. Parker, who reached the 1,000-point milestone this season, averaged over 16 points and 3.8 steals per game. Tonino averaged just over 11 points and 2.8 steals per game. Senior Ava Giordano was third in scoring with 6.3 points per game and helps on the glass. Junior Madison Sciarrino started the season off slow, but had a break game against rival Freehold Boro to help the Patriots clinch the division. 

Barnegat (16-4) won Class B South by going 7-1 in the division. Barnegat was led by three seniors this year, but was dealt a major blow when leading scorer Emma Thornton was hurt two weeks ago. She averaged 18.4 points and 14.9 rebounds over 15 games. Senior Zemirah Enalls has been a great surprise in her first season playing high school basketball. She is averaging 14.4 points and 16 rebounds and her combination of height and athletic ability causes problems for opposing offenses. Senior Riley Fitzpatrick does it all for the Bengals, averaging 13.2 points, 3 assists per game and just over 2 steals a game. 

Prediction:

Doug – Freehold Twp.

Nick – Freehold Twp.

Guest – Freehold Twp.

 

(20) Holmdel at (13) Brick Township, 4 p.m.

Holmdel (7-12) finished with a record of 0-9 in the tough Class A Coastal Division. Holmdel is led by all-shore talent and Holy Cross commit Mackenzie Teevan.  Teevan is averaging 16.7 points and 10.3 rebounds to lead a young Hornets squad.  Freshmen Casey Zammit and Claire Gillespie have made an early impact for Holmdel. Zammit is averaging 7.5 points, while Gillespie is chipping with 5 per game. Holmdel comes in battle-tested, having faced SJV and RBC twice, and looks to make a late-season run. 

Brick Township (14-8) finished third in Class B South with a 5-3 record. Senior Riley Nausedas, an East Stroudsburg University commit, has provided much needed leadership to a group of young Dragons. Nausedas is averaging just over 13 points, second on the team behind Freshman Ariana Wissen, who is scoring 14.7 per game. Fellow freshman Kendall Fredrickson had hit 39 3-pointers on the season. Senior CiCi Weatherspool and sophomore Anna-Claire Staudt provide a strong inside game for the Green Dragons.

Predictions

Doug – Brick

Nick – Brick

Guest – Brick

 

(18) Lacey at (15) Neptune, 4:30 p.m.

Lacey (14-9) finished second in Class B South with a 6-2 division record. The Lions have two players that are double-double machines. Senior Reece Paget, a Seton Hall commit for soccer, averages 14.4 points and 12.8 rebounds and also has 3 assists per game. Junior Brooklyn Bell averages 13.3 points and 9.6 rebounds and causes problems for opposing defenders with her size and ability to get to the basket. An underrated player on Lacey is Marissa Flores. The mutli-sport athlete gets the offense going with her ability to get the ball to the open player.

Neptune (10-10) finished 4th in Class A Central, one of the toughest divisions in the conference. Neptune has two seniors that lead the way with 1,000 point scorer Christa Ramos averaging 15.2 points and Bre Evans averaging 10.7 points. The Fliers are a fast paced team that creates turnovers to get easy baskets. They have 252 steals on the season with Ramos and Evans combining for 131 of them. Sophomore Lana Ellington has been the third option on the offensive end for the last two seasons, averaging 6.7 points this season. Freshman Tyeera Howard has made an impact since coming back from an injury that prevented her from missing the majority of the season. Howard is averaging 12.5 points in the six games she has played.

Predictions

Doug – Lacey

Nick – Neptune

Guest – Neptune

 

(19) Middletown North at (14) Shore Regional, 4 p.m.

Middletown North (15-8) finished the season undefeated in Class B Coastal to become division champions. With all the adversity they have had to overcome, they seem to be peaking at the right time.  North is led by Sophomore Kaelyn Gibson, who is averaging 9 PPG. Junior Danielle Gonzales has had a resurgence under interim coach Lauren Bowler, averaging 9 PPG.  Junior Laila Iasparro and Seniors Karleigh Abernathy and Emily McCarthy round out a strong starting lineup for the Lions.  

Shore Regional (12-9) finished fourth in Class A North with a 4-6 division record. The Blue Devils are led by a trio of high scoring guards that look to take Shore to new levels in the SCT.  Seniors Kimi Sayson, a West Chester commit, and Reese Fiore lead the way for the Blue Devils, averaging 15 and 13.5 points, respectively. Junior Ava Coyle is having a breakout season, averaging 13.4 points, and leads the team with 38 3-pointers.  Shore will need strong inside play from Emma Madison if it wants to make a deep run in the tournament.

 

Predictions

Doug – Shore

Nick – Shore

Guest – Shore

 

Podcast Link