NJSIAA Girls Basketball Tournament Preview: The Shore in Group 2
NJSIAA Tournament: Group 2 Playoff Preview
Central Jersey Group 2
Shore Teams in the Field: No. 1 Manasquan, No. 2 Rumson-Fair Haven, No. 7 Point Boro, No. 14 Holmdel, No. 15 Wall, No. 16 Ocean
Top Seed: Manasquan
Defending Champion: Manasquan
Favorite: No. 1 Manasquan. The Warriors have ruled this section since 2014, winning ten sectional titles in that time frame including the past two seasons which also included Group 2 State Championships. Manasquan played in the most difficult division in the state of New Jersey in the Shore Conference’s Class A North which included national powers Red Bank Catholic and St. John Vianney, the latter of which the Warriors took down to the wire in the Shore Conference Tournament. Senior guard Jordyn Hollawell leads the team in scoring at just over 14 points per game.
Jordyn Hollawell scored 5 points in the 4th quarter against Trinity Hall. 1/3/26 Photo by Patrick Olivero
Contender: No. 2 Rumson-Fair Haven. Like Manasquan, the Bulldogs are a battle-tested team that also competed in the loaded Class A North. Rumson-Fair Haven won the Kevin Williams Christmas Classic early in the season and closed strong as they advanced to the semifinals in the Shore Conference Tournament. Senior wing Erin Reid has been one of the top players in the Shore Conference averaging a double-double with over 15 points and 10 rebounds a game. The Bulldogs are 0-2 against Manasquan so far this season, losing 53-41 and 64-44 in both matchups. Odds are they will have have to go through the Warriors if they hope to come away with their first sectional title since 2013.
Rumson-Fair Haven’s Erin Reid (Photo by Patrick Olivero)
Dark Horse: No. 3 A.L. Johnson. It is a bit unusual to consider the third-seed a dark horse, but the Crusaders have not competed against as highly-regarded of a schedule as Manasquan or Rumson-Fair Haven. Having said that, the school from Clark holds an impressive 21-3 record which includes a lot of lopsided scoring results. A.L. Johnson’s top scorers are senior forward Alisia Hamm (5-foot-5), a Merrimack field hockey commit who has over 1,000 career points, and senior wing Jordanna Tarentino (5-foot-8) who is roughly 70 points shy of her 1,000th career point.
The Shore’s Bracket Breakdown: Ocean will have an extremely difficult game having to travel to Manasquan in the first round. The Warriors will be a heavy favorite against every team in the bracket including the winner of Delaware Valley/Spotswood and whichever of the four teams on their side of the bracket that advances to the sectional semifinals.
Similarly, Wall will have a tall task ahead of them having to travel to Rumson-Fair Haven. The one positive for the Crimson Knights is that they are playing their best basketball of the season having won their last six games including the Coaches Cup Championship.
Point Boro will host a Delran team that is similar in record albeit with no common opponents. The Panthers finished the regular season strong winning against Shore and Keansburg. They should have a very good shot in the first round which would almost certainly give them a crack at Rumson-Fair Haven in the second round.
On paper, it looks like a daunting task for Holmdel (9-15) traveling to A.L. Johnson (21-3) however the Hornets record is a bit deceiving as they played a very challenging schedule that included eight losses against teams ranked the Shore Sports Insider Top 10.
The most likely scenario is that Manasquan and Rumson-Fair Haven meet for the third time this season in the sectional final.
First Round
(16) Ocean at (1) Manasquan
(9) Spotswood at (8) Delaware Valley
(12) Robbinsville at (5) Bordentown
(13) Metuchen at (4) South River
(11) Gov. Livingston at (6) Piscataway Magnet
(14) Holmdel at (3) A.L. Johnson
(10) Delran at (7) Point Boro
(15) Wall at (2) Rumson-Fair Haven
Doug’s Predicted Champion- Manasquan
Nick’s Predicted Champion- Manasquan
South Jersey Group 1
Shore Teams in the Field: No. 6 Manchester, No. 13 Barnegat
Top Seed: Middle Township
Defending Champion: Middle Township
Favorite: No. 2 Cinnaminson. The Pirates finished the regular season with a 26-1 record with their only loss coming against Cherry Hill West in a game they lost 41-36. Cinnaminson gets the nod over Middle Township due to the fact that Middle Township lost to Our Lady of Mercy 56-40 in the regular season, a team in which the Pirates defeated 51-41. The Pirates played one Shore Conference team in Shore, a game they won 60-44. Senior Shiloh Moore (5-foot-6), a La Salle soccer commit, is the team’s top scorer with 1,000 career points.
Contender: No. 1 Middle Township. The defending sectional champions rolled to the title last season winning all four matchups by double digits before getting downed by Manasquan 60-42 in the Group 2 State Semifinal. The Panthers lost three contributors from last season, but return senior guard Reagen Powell (5-foot-8), a Caldwell University commit with over 1,200 career points. Powell and the Panthers currently have a 23-4 record on the season with two losses to private schools and two losses to schools in larger classifications.
Dark Horse: No. 4 Haddonfield. The Haddons enter the postseason with a 19-8 record which includes a 56-54 victory over Our Lady of Mercy who defeated the section’s top-seeded team. Their lone Shore Conference opponent was a narrow 37-35 victory over Central. The Haddons top scorer is freshman guard Sara Guveiyian.
The Shore’s Bracket Breakdown: Despite a 10-13 record, Manchester has a realistic opportunity to do some damage in this bracket behind the terrific one-two scoring punch of junior guard Madeline Nolan and sophomore guard Jesse Sarana. The Hawks will be favored against Sterling before potentially traveling to Haddon Heights who has 10 losses.
Barnegat will have a difficult matchup on the road at Haddonfield. Barnegat lost to West Deptford during the regular season, a team that Haddonfield routed twice this season.
First Round
(1) Middle Township- Bye
(9) Pleasantville at (8) Cedar Creek
(12) Gloucester at (5) Collingswood
(13) Barnegat at (4) Haddonfield
(11) Sterling at (6) Manchester
(14) Willingboro at (3) Haddon Heights
(10) Lower Cape May at (7) West Deptford
(15) Medford Tech at (2) Cinnaminson
Doug’s Predicted Champion- Middle Township
Nick’s Predicted Champion- Middle Township
