OIB Ortho Boys Basketball Team of the Week: St. Rose

2025 OIB Ortho/Shore Sports Insider Boys Basketball Team of the Week Series

There was almost no way for the St. Rose boys basketball team to top what it did in the 2023-24 season in 2024-25, even if the Purple Roses brought back their whole team. Last year’s group went 29-2, did not lose to any NJSIAA member opponents, won the program’s first ever Shore Conference Tournament championship, then closed the season with its first ever overall NJSIAA Non-Public B championship.

It all added up to a No. 1 ranking in New Jersey, beating out a Don Bosco Prep team led by current Rutgers freshman and projected NBA lottery pick Dylan Harper.

As it has happened, St. Rose is not going to top last year’s résumé, nor will the Purple Roses match it. However, in taking on an equally difficult schedule — perhaps even more so — replacing the Shore Conference Player of the Year in Matt Hodge and First-Team All-Shore forward Gio Panzini and maintaining their standing as a top-10 team in N.J., the Purple Roses have taken yet another step as one of the state’s best programs and gotten their in just four years under head coach Brian Lynch.

Last week, St. Rose has completed its second straight run to a Shore Conference Tournament championship and because they had to do so as the No. 4 seed in the SCT field due to the new rules that call for the tournament to be seeded by the NJSIAA power-point formula, the Purple Roses had to beat Nos. 2, 3 and 4 in the Shore Sports Insider rankings in consecutive rounds.

St. Rose beat Central Regional, Manasquan and Christian Brothers Academy by an average margin of 16 points, capped by a 45-36 win over CBA Friday at Monmouth University to capture its second straight title while also securing the latest OIB Ortho Shore Sports Insider Boys Basketball Team of the Week award.

With Hodge and Panzini lost to graduation and Division I basketball — Hodge heading to Villanova and Panzini to Cornell — St. Rose has leaned on its three returning starters and an emerging supporting cast that played a key role in St. Rose marching to another SCT title. Junior Jayden Hodge has led the way throughout the season, including 18.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.25 steals and 1.0 blocks per game during the Shore Conference Tournament. Hodge has been an impact player since arriving from Belgium with his older brother before the 2022-23 season and was a First-Team All-Shore Player as a sophomore, but this season has represented a breakout of sorts for the four-star, top-100 recruit from the Class of 2026.

Hodge delivered a 25-point performance in St. Rose’s 73-51 quarterfinal win over No. 4 Central, with Hodge keying a second-half surge that separated the Purple Roses from the Golden Eagles after St. Rose led by only three at halftime. In the following round, Hodge scored 12 points in St. Rose’s well-rounded effort that took down top-seed Manasquan — the No. 2 team in the Shore Conference — by a 59-42 count. Hodge closed out the championship run with 19 points and 12 rebounds in the win over CBA, including 14 of St. Rose’s 18 points in the first half.

Seniors Bryan Ebeling and Evan Romano were also starters on the 2023-24 team and have been particularly crucial to St. Rose’s success this season, particularly since the start of the SCT. Ebeling was the star of St. Rose’s semifinal win over Manasquan, pouring in a season-high 20 points — 17 of which came in the second half. Ebeling followed with seven points, six rebounds and three assists in the championship game and preceded those two performances with nine points and six assists in the win over Central.

Romano posted 11.5 points and three assists per game during the SCT and score nine of his 13 points in the championship game during the fourth quarter to help St. Rose close out CBA.

Sophomore Avery Lynch and junior Tyler Cameron have both moved into the starting lineup this year after coming off the bench and that Purple Roses bench has remained deep thanks to freshmen Izayah Cooper and Oymere Rene, as well as junior Orien Campbell and sophomore Tyler Hager. Cooper, in particular, has been a revelation on both ends of the court for Lynch, while Rene has exhibited tenacious defense considering he is only a freshman.

The mix of talent as St. Rose has continued to improve during the season and after celebrating the Shore Conference Tournament title over the weekend, the Purple Roses went back to work and beat Bergen Catholic — the No. 1 team in the state, according to NJ Advance Media — on Wednesday, 72-68, in a game both teams used as a tune-up for the NJSIAA Tournament, but played just like any other regular-season game. In that win over Bergen Catholic, five St. Rose players — including Cooper off the bench — scored in double-figures and Cameron was not far off with seven points.

St. Rose will now attempt to win its third straight NJSIAA South Jersey Non-Public B championship while also going for a second straight overall Non-Public B title. As the top seed in the South Jersey section, the Purple Roses have a bye into the sectional quarterfinals and will open their title defense Monday against the winner of Friday’s game between No. 8 seed Ranney and No. 9 Doane Academy.