Shore Sports Insider 2025-26 Girls Basketball Coach of the Year: James Ferraro, Keansburg

2025-2026 Shore Sports Insider Coach of the Year

James Ferraro, Keansburg

Shore Conference girls basketball has been very predictable over the prior few years. The same few teams have appeared at the top of the Shore Sports Insider Top 10. Even the back end of the rankings has seen many of the same teams holding strong in the rankings with just an occasional surprise here and there.

This season we finally saw a team that is never talked about in the Shore Conference girls basketball world crack the rankings for the first time. Keansburg, the sixth smallest public school in the Shore Conference, came out of the blue to capture their first division title in program history, set a school-record with 20-wins, and earn a trip to the Shore Conference Tournament after finishing the regular season 17-0 as the Shore Conference’s final remaining undefeated team. After leading the Titans to their greatest season in school history, head coach James Ferraro has been named the 2026 Shore Sports Insider Coach of the Year. 

Getting a team to believe is a challenge for any coach. It is even harder for a coach at a program that has historically struggled often due to low enrollment numbers. Coach Ferraro has made steady progress since landing the head coaching job before the 2023-2024 season. Ferraro’s first team went 12-12. Last season, they improved to 17-6 but came up short chasing that elusive division title. Coach Ferraro was able to get his players to buy-in early this season and believe they have what it takes to compete. The new-found confidence helped the Titans finish a perfect 8-0 on their way to the Class C North title. 

“I think the point in the season that the team realized we had something special was after our second game,” senior guard Gabriella Flanzbaum said. “It was a game where we realistically should have won by 20+ points, but we couldn’t get anything going so we found ourselves in a hole that we had to dig out of. It was the first time we fought together as a team to win and instilled the trust in each other and our coaches that we carried through the rest of the season.”

Ferraro has always had a realistic view of his program knowing that the Titans do not have the depth, talent, or all-around size other teams do so he made the players know they had to work harder than their opponent. Keansburg was a high-energy team that was not afraid to be physical on the defensive side of the floor. 

“At the beginning of the season, Coach Ferraro’s message to us was to recognize our roles and to thrive in them,” Flanzbaum said.  “He explained to us that compared to some other teams in the Shore, our technical basketball talent may not be on the same level, not as knock on us but as a reason to work harder defensively and on the boards knowing that we would not win if people who aren’t the highest scorers didn’t take pride in these aspects of the game.”

Ferraro held his players accountable on the floor, no matter what the score was or who the player was. He made sure his players had the right attitude on and off the court. In an era where some players do not like to be held accountable and sometimes even transfer when they do not get their way, Keansburg’s entire team bought in, took accountability for their mistakes, and improved from week to week.

“He came in and he is so smart,” Flanzbaum said, “A point of emphasis he made to me is attitude is everything. Whenever there is a time I put my hands up I am going to the bench. He has instilled an attitude in us and that is why this year we were able to go out and win 20 games. He brings effort out of everybody on the team.”

“Going into our second game against Matawan to clinch our first ever division title, Coach Ferraro emphasized to us that we were built for a game like that,” Flanzbaum said. “He made us realize that we had the experience as an older team to be mentally and physically more prepared than an aggressive Matawan team. He also promised that if we kept our heads in the game and controlled our emotions, the game would have no choice but to go in our favor, and he was right. That is what is cool about Ferraro, he would never lie to us before tough games or easy games about what we would be seeing and he knew exactly what to expect from the opposing team.”

Keansburg showed how much fight they had in them in the Shore Conference Tournament opening round against Middletown South. Trailing 14-0 after the first quarter in a road game, the Titans fought all the way back to cut the lead to three points, 36-33 with 38 seconds left. While Keansburg would wind up losing the game 40-33, they showed a level of resilience against a much bigger school that the Keansburg community could be proud of.

After losing in the opening round of the Central Jersey Group 1 sectional playoffs the previous two years, Keansburg won convincingly this year over College Achieve Central, 56-34. Flanzbaum, who became the first 1,000-point scorer in program history, scored 24 points in the win.

“If you were able to see how far we came this year after freshman and sophomore year to getting better and being an above .500 team last year,” Flanzbaum said. “We lost in the first round last year and this year we got a little farther. It means everything paid off the last four years that coach has taught us.”

 

Finalist

 

Lisa Kukoda, Manasquan

Last year’s Coach of the Year led Manasquan to their third straight Group 2 title with her third different group of players. After graduating a strong senior class in 2024, many believed Manasquan was in for a rebuild for the 2024-25 season, but Coach Kukoda and the Warriors proved them wrong. Once again this season, after graduating all but one starter, Manasquan had players step into new roles and rise to the occasion. A staple of Manasquan is defense, which leads to their transition offense. Coach Kukoda has instilled in her players that the team comes before the player and she has gotten her players to buy in since she started coaching. Manasquan defeated every opponent except the state’s top two teams in RBC and SJV. On her way to her eighth state title, Coach Kukoda won her 350th career game this season. 

 

Joe Montano, Red Bank Catholic

Coach Montano led one of the best senior classes in Shore Conference history. From the day they stepped on the court in a Red Bank Catholic uniform four years ago, Coach Montano molded and coached these girls into champions. Back in December, he said a player-led team is better than a coach-led team. His work with this group of players from day one is why they turned into a player-led team their last season. He coached the team to their second straight Shore Conference Tournament championship and the Non-Public A state title. After going 1-1 in the regular season against St. John Vianney, RBC went 2-0 in the postseason, defeating their rivals in both the Shore Conference championship and the South Jersey Non-Public A championship in convincing fashion. Not only did the seniors go out with a state title, but Coach Montano closed out the season with his 800th career win. 

 

Nick Russo, Colts Neck 

In his 5th season as head coach at Colts Neck, Coach Russo led the Cougars to their first sectional title since 2014. A roster with only one senior, the young Cougars improved all season, leading to a deep postseason run. Coach Russo put together a challenging out-of-division schedule to get his players ready for the Shore Conference Tournament and Central Jersey Group 3 sectional. The Cougars won Class B North with a 9-1 record and went 3-1 against both top ten teams in their division. Colts Neck clinched their division by defeating Trinity Hall in the last division game of the season. During the sectional tournament, the Cougar defense did not allow a single opponent to score 30 points. In the title game against Red Bank, Colts Neck held the Bucs to just four points in the fourth quarter to win 43-28. Starting four sophomores and one junior, Coach Russo and Colts Neck will be one of the favorites next season to not only win a sectional title, but play for a Group title. 

 

Joe Santopietro, Howell

Howell has quietly become a fixture in the Shore Conference rankings the past couple of seasons. Stressing defense, Santopietro has a game plan for every team Howell faces. After winning the Central Jersey Group 4 title in 2024, Howell has had back-to-back 20 win seasons to follow. The Rebels won 24 games this season and made it to the Kevin Williams Christmas Classic final and the South Jersey Group 4 final. They finished one game behind Colts Neck in Class B North. The Rebels reached the South Jersey Group 4 final by holding the 2-seed Egg Harbor to just 30 points on the road before falling to eventual Group 4 state-champion Lenape in the sectional final.