NJSIAA Central Jersey Group 3 Championship Preview: Colts Neck faces off with Red Bank
NJSIAA Central Jersey Group 2 Championship
Saturday, March 7, 2026
No. 6 Red Bank at No. 1 Colts Neck, Noon
Teams at a Glance
Red Bank (14-12)
Head Coach: Adam Merklinger
Last Sectional Championship: 1998
Last Sectional Final Appearance: 2025
Total Sectional Finals: 6
Road to the Final: Defeated No. 11 Hopewell Valley, 60-32; No. 3 Middletown South, 59-47; No. 2 Neptune, 42-24
Red Bank’s Synai Blynchanton drives to the basket Photo Credit: Tom Smith | tspsportsimages.com
Projected Starters
Synai Blychanton, Sr., 5-9 (12.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.6 steals)
Riley Joyce, Sr., 5-7 (4.7 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.2 steals)
Kristen Connors, Sr., 5-8 (5.0 points, 1.2 rebounds)
Riley Wheeler, Sr., 5-8 (6.0 points, 1.1 assists)
Casey Miranda, So., 5-11 (4.3 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.8 blocks)
Off the Bench
Caitlyn Courtney, Sr.
Zoe Gulley, Sr.
Ava Furlong, Jr.
Red Bank’s Riley Joyce (Photo: Tom Smith | tspsportsimages.com)
In 2025, Red Bank was one game away from winning their first sectional title since 1998. The junior laden team wound up falling to Neptune on their home floor. Heading into the current season, the Shore Conference put Red Bank in the loaded Class A North division. The Bucs went 1-9 in division play, fell out of the Shore Sports Insider Top 10, and finished the regular season with a record below .500. In the Shore Conference Tournament, they wound up losing to St. Rose in the round of 16. It would have been easy to quit and attribute their difficult season to their loaded schedule, but the Bucs battled, learned from their mistakes, and dove headfirst in the state tournament with the intent to get back to that sectional final that has alluded the program for 28 years.
Red Bank soon proved that had they been in any other division, they would have finished with a strong record. The Bucs routed all three of their opponents including that pesky Neptune program that took their sectional title away last season. Now, the Bucs are back where they want to be with a battle-tested veteran team that is one win away from an incredible achievement.
Synai Blychanton is the team’s top offensive weapon. The senior does most of her damage driving to the rim and scoring at the free throw line. Blychanton is also second in rebounds and first in steals. Getting to the rim against a strong Colts Neck front line will not be easy, but if Blychanton can put pressure at the rim, opportunities will arise for their shooters on the outside.
The Bucs do not have a singular secondary scorer, instead they have a variety of players capable of contributing in the scoring column. Three Red Bank players have converted on 30 or more three-pointers this season including Kristen Connors, Zoe Gulley, and Riley Wheeler. The trio of seniors will need to knock down some shots from the outside.
Red Bank’s Casey Miranda (Photo: Tom Smith | tspsportsimages.com)
Casey Miranda is one of the top shot blockers in the Shore Conference. The 5-11 sophomore has blocked 47 shots on the season. Her length in the paint will be important not just in blocking shots but in altering them against a Colts Neck team that has strong interior scoring.
Colts Neck (22-6)
Head Coach: Nick Russo
Last Sectional Championship: 2014
Last Sectional Final Appearance: 2019
Total Sectional Finals: 4
Road to the Final: Defeated No. 16 Northern Burlington, 67-29; No. 9 Westampton Tech, 62-28; No. 4 Ewing, 42-29
Colts Neck’s Emily Donahue (Photo: Tom Smith | tspsportsimages.com)
Projected Starters
Emily Donahue, So., 5-6 (7.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.3 steals)
Avery Wallace, So., 5-7 (5.2 points, 1.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.1 steals)
Mattilyn Caffiero, Jr., 5-6 (4.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.5 steals)
Julianna Jasina, So., 5-9 (12.8 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.4 steals)
Allison McAndrew, So., 5-11 (14.0 points, 6.9 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.3 steals)
Off the Bench
Gabriella Bryce, Sr., 5-8
Julianna Camera, Jr., 5’11”
Colts Neck’s Allison McAndrew (Photo: Tom Smith | tspsportsimages.com)
With a team comprised of mostly sophomores, Colts Neck is ahead of schedule this year. The Cougars won the Class B North outright which is arguably the second best division in the Shore Conference. They advanced to the quarterfinals of the Shore Conference Tournament where they were just a few plays short of advancing to the semifinals. While Colts Neck did not play as difficult of a schedule as Red Bank who faced the likes of Red Bank Catholic, St. John Vianney, and Manasquan twice, they did still play a strong schedule overall featuring seven games against teams ranked in the Shore Sports Insider Top 10 and a handful of strong out-of-conference opponents such as Demarest, Somerville, and Caldwell.
The majority of the Cougars scoring comes from their front court, specifically Allison McAndrew and Julianna Jasina. Both forwards have shot roughly 100 free throws this season. They are more traditional forwards in the sense that they do not shoot many three-pointers and have combined for only 14 on the season. Still, the majority of teams on the Cougars schedule had a rough time trying to defend the pair.
Sophomore point guard Emily Donahue has been steady in a role that is typically difficult for underclassmen. She does a terrific job facilitating as evidenced by her 105 assists on the season. Donahue is also the team’s top three-point threat with 35 successful attempts on the season.
Colts Neck’s Julianna Jasina (Photo: Tom Smith | tspsportsimages.com)
The Match-Up
Colts Neck enters the game as a slight favorite although the difference in seeds is very misleading due to how difficult Red Bank’s schedule was. Red Bank holds a significant edge in experience with four seniors in their starting lineup that have played in the sectional final before. Colts Neck has just one senior that plays major minutes in the rotation and none in the starting lineup. Instead the Cougars are trotting out four sophomores who have done a tremendous job despite their youth.
The game is difficult to gauge from a raw statistics perspective because of how much Red Bank’s statistics were effected by playing the top four ranked teams in the Shore Conference twice this season. Red Bank is much more perimeter oriented on offense with 42 more three-pointers on the season. The Bucs most important player in this game might be Miranda who is going to have protect the paint against the likes of Jasina and McAndrew. Red Bank plays with four guards so if they play man-to-man one of them will have to guard one of the two forwards. It would likely fall to Blychanton who is the tallest guard at 5-9.
Both teams have to be very confident after their last three games. This game could really go either way and will be likely be a barn-burner.
Doug’s Pick: Colts Neck 36-35
Nick’s Pick: Colts Neck 40-35
