Shore Teams Fight for a Cure in the 5th Annual Coaches vs. Cancer Showcase
TOMS RIVER – It is a day that is circled on the calendar at the start of every basketball season. Not only because of the quality basketball games on the schedule, but for the admirable cause the games are played for. For the fifth consecutive season, teams gathered at Donovan Catholic High School to play and raise money in the Coaches vs. Cancer Showcase.
The complete title is The State vs The Shore Fight for a Cure, which was created in the 2020-2021 season by former Donovan Catholic head coach Glenn Jansen after his mother lost her battle with cancer. The initial event was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but 20 teams still banded together to sell t-shirts in order to raise money for the cause.
“Right before the season started my mom lost her battle with cancer in 2018″, Jansen said. “I was a student at Donovan Catholic because of my mother and I always felt my high school experience and my life was guided not just by her being my mom, but because of where she sent me to school. With me coaching at my alma mater, I wanted to give back so we started the Coaches vs Cancer.”
Glenn Jansen started the Coaches vs Cancer Showcase in 2021 at Donovan Catholic High School. 1/10/26 Photo by Tom Smith
Each year teams play for a different type of cancer research, and they sell corresponding-colored t-shirts. The event started with pink in 2021 for breast cancer research. This season the t-shirts were teal for ovarian cancer research.
One reason that this event is so special is because the tournament has a “Wall of Honor” for family and friends to honor someone they know who has battled cancer. Family or friends can write down a loved one’s name, and it gets posted on the wall. By the time the games end, you see just how many families are impacted by the disease.
“The parents telling stories to the players working the honor sign table about people who lost their battle or a friend of theirs who is going through it,” Jansen said. “It touches me every year and it keeps me motivated to continue this and to grow this event.”
The Main Event Delivers
If you have been to this event over the last few years, you have seen familiar faces and teams in this event, showing what this cause means to those programs. This year the main event of the day had fourth-ranked Trinity Hall, who played for the fourth time in this event, squaring off against fifth-ranked Red Bank, who has played in the event every year since it was established.
Trinity Hall waiting to warm-up in their Coaches vs Cancer t-shirts. 1/10/26 Photo by @VS_Visuals_
“It’s an honor, it really is,” said Trinity Hall head coach Matt McCarthy about playing in this event. “I am one of the lucky ones so I know first hand how these grassroots events make an impact to those struggling through treatment. Glenn and his family and friends donate a lot of time and resources to make it a great day of basketball and at the same time, helps keep things in perspective. At the end of the day, it’s just a game and there is some real life things going on.”
The battle between two of the Shore Conference’s top teams did not disappoint. A two-point game at halftime, senior Grace Feeney caught fire in the third quarter with four three-pointers and extended the Monarchs lead to make it 43-29 going into the final quarter.
Coach Matt McCarthy with Anna Noble (#23) who provided a spark off the bench for Trinity Hall. 1/10/26. Photo by @VS_Visuals_
The Bucs mounted a late comeback attempt, but the Monarchs held on to close out the game as Feeney earned MVP honors, finishing with a game-high 26 points.
Grace Feeney (right) and Synai Blychanton (left) named MVP in the Coaches vs Cancer at Donovan Catholic. 1/10/26. Photo by Nick Lowe
Strong Day for the Shore Conference
This year there were seven games played with the host Donovan Catholic, Jackson, Shore, Notre Dame, Colts Neck and Holmdel joining Red Bank as teams that have played in the event all five years. The Shore Conference went 3-0 against non-conference teams in the showcase.
“I could not be prouder to be affiliated with such great coaches,” Jansen said. “Every year I am more and more impressed with not just the quality and the character of our players that play in this event, but the coaches and the examples they set. The sportsmanship and the camaraderie with all the girls wearing the t-shirts during warm-ups.”
Wall coach John Pagano coaching in the Coaches vs Cancer t-shirt won a battle against Jackson 38-37. 1/10/26 Photo by Tom Smith
After each game, a player is recognized from every team as the MVP and is given a trophy with the Coaches vs. Cancer logo. Senior Synai Blychanton was named MVP for RBR for the second time in her career.
After the fifth game between Colts Neck and Mount St. Marys, Gabby Bryce received the MVP award from former coach Ken Fischer’s wife Lynda and daughter Lindsay. Coach Fischer lost his battle with cancer in 2023.
Gabby Bryce (middle) received the MVP award from former coach Ken Fischer’s wife and daughter, Lynda and Lindsay. 1/10/26. Photo by Tom Smith
The sixth game of the day, Holmdel against Marlboro, was the first game that went into overtime in the event’s history. In a back-and-forth game, Holmdel edged Marlboro 55-50 in overtime. Sophomore Claire Gillespie had a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds earning MVP for Holmdel. Marlboro drained 12 three-pointers in the game led by their MVP Maddyn Callow with 18 points.
Claire Gillespie (left) and Maddyn Callow (right) were named MVP in State and the Shore Fight for a Cure at Donovan Catholic HS Gym in Toms River, . 1/10/26 Photo Credit: Tom Smith | tspsportsimages.com
After playing the event at Donovan Catholic for the last five years, the event will have a new home next year. Jansen, who has been a teacher at Colts Neck High School for 24 years, stepped down as head coach of Donovan Catholic over the summer and is now an assistant coach at Colts Neck. The event will take place on Saturday, January 9, 2027, at Colts Neck High School.
