No. 5 Manasquan Shuts Down No. 3 Trinity Hall to Stay Undefeated
MANASQUAN – A statement was made on Broad Street in the inaugural Warrior Classic. In a battle of two undefeated teams ranked in the top five in the Shore Conference, fifth-ranked Manasquan smothered Trinity Hall on defense to win 38-23.
After going down 15-8 midway through the second quarter, the Warriors went on a 10-0 run to close out the first half and pull ahead 18-15. Manasquan’s defense took over and held the Monarchs to just two points in the second quarter and two points in the third quarter to build a 25-17 lead. Trinity Hall did not score again until it was far too late, with 2:24 left in the game trailing 35-20.
“We pride ourselves on our defense,” Manasquan head coach Lisa Kukoda said. “Our first week of practice is very defense heavy and we emphasized it every single day. We will always focus on the defensive end of things.”
The Warriors clamped down defensively from the second quarter on, limiting Trinity Hall’s leading scorer Grace Feeney to eight points and holding Whitney Hobson to nine, all before halftime. Trinity Hall struggled to score from all over the floor, only converting on 5 of 13 foul shots.
Whitney Hobson lead Trinity Hall with 9 points against Manasquan. 1/3/26 Photo by Patrick Olivero
“You have a senior heavy team who is a very offensive skilled team,” Kukoda said. “Those players are great offensive players. Our girls executed our defensive game plan exactly how we wanted to.”
Manasquan had a balanced attack on offense with three players scoring a game-high 9 points. Senior Shannon Looney and sophomore Calista Vowteras both scored five of their nine points in the first half and Jordyn Hollawell helped close the game out with five of her nine points in the fourth quarter.
Calista Vowteras driving to the basket against Trinity Hall in a 38-23 victory. 1/3/26 Photo by Patrick Olivero
“We can all put the ball in the basket, and we all have our moments,” Vowteras said. “What makes us good is that we all share the ball well. We are not selfish and always happy for one another.”
Manasquan crashed the boards on both ends of the floor, pulling down a double-digit total of offensive rebounds to give themselves a bunch of second and third chances. Senior Logan McCarthy finished with four rebounds off the bench, with two of them coming on the offensive end on consecutive shots. McCarthy also help create turnovers on the defensive end and disrupted the Monarch offense.
Logan McCarthy creates a turnover against Trinity Hall in a 38-23 victory. 1/3/26 Photo by Patrick Olivera
“She is a full heart and hustle player,” said Kukoda about Logan McCarthy. “She will give you everything that she has. I always talk about the value of having mutli-sport athletes on the floor and what they bring. She is one of those kids. She sees things happen and she anticipates and she will give you everything she has until she can’t anymore.”
Manasquan, who improved to 7-0 on the season, will begin their grueling Class A North division schedule on Monday night at 5 p.m. against No. 9 St. Rose at home. All six teams in Class A North are currently ranked inside the Shore Sports Insider Top 10.
Trinity Hall, who fell to 6-1, will look to bounce back from their first loss in their first Class B North divisional game at Holmdel on Tuesday night at 5:30 p.m.
