3 big takeaways from girls basketball Shore Conference Tournament seedings
RED BANK – The seedings for the girls basketball Shore Conference Tournament that tips off this week have been set.
A coach from each of the eight Shore divisions met at Red Bank Catholic on Sunday to sort out the 25-team field (Keansburg qualified but opted out). The only tie in voting was for the No. 3 slot between St. Rose and Ocean Township. The tiebreaker went to Ocean through the Spartans having defeated the Purple Roses earlier this season.
More: Girls basketball Shore Conference Tournament - our Final Four predictions. Who's your pick?
The teams that were represented at the meeting were: Manasquan, Barnegat, Toms River East, Trinity Hall, St. John Vianney, Ocean Township, Colts Neck and Point Pleasant Beach.
With so much talent at the Shore, the SCT annually brings out the best of the best in New Jersey's high school girls basketball.
“From top to bottom we have a lot of quality basketball down here (and) awesome coaching,” said St. John Vianney head coach Dawn Karpell. “So it should be a fun tournament because everyone is going to be prepared and have their kids ready to go, and it’s just really like ‘who’s going to execute down the stretch?’”
Before the full listing of the seedings, here’s a recap of the main points of this year’s tournament.
Defending champion St. John Vianney remains among the top teams but not No. 1
The Lancers were seeded No. 2, which is one lower from last year in which they won their 16th SCT title over Red Bank Catholic. SJV had one of the hardest schedules on the Shore, but they’ve prevailed and had key Shore wins over St. Rose, Wall and Holmdel.
“It’s just a statement for the schedule we play all season,” said Karpell. “Preparing us to get to this point and hopefully again, the schedule we played and the schedule we had got us ready to enter this tournament.”
More: 'We're starting from scratch': All eyes on St. John Vianney girls basketball heading into SCT
SJV only has three seniors on the roster. Youth has led to the team having ups and downs over the course of the season. However, when it comes to the Shore Conference Tournament, even the underclassmen are aware of the string of dominance their basketball program has had. They look to continue that.
“We’ve been to the final like eight straight years so I think at this point for our girls, we have a really young squad this year as far as experience for them we’re just going to go game by game,” said Karpell. “And hopefully represent our traditions as well.”
Ocean Township gets seeded the highest in school history
The Spartans have had quite the season behind their powered starting five, especially Le Moyne commit Eli Clark. Ocean Township’s Shore wins over St. Rose, Wall, and Holmdel have garnered them a No. 3 seed in the tournament.
“I can tell you Ocean’s never been in this position ever in history,” said Ocean head coach Michael Lazur. “It shows that our team has developed an identity that’s being respected around the Shore and I think that’s a credit to my girls and the work they put in the last couple of years. So it’s a really exciting moment for us. Moments won’t get you wins so this is only part of the process, but it puts us in a position where we want to be.”
Despite the historic run this team has been on, Lazur aims to keep his team focused on one goal at a time.
“We keep things very tunnel vision one thing at a time. We haven’t really talked about this…” said Lazur. “Today they knew I was going to a meeting, told them I’d let them know what’s going later on, and then we’ll start looking at who we’re going to play and how to prep for them.”
Point Pleasant Beach makes SCT for seventh straight year
The Garnet Gulls have earned a spot in the tournament as the No. 25 seed after going 5-0 in their A Central Division. They’re one of the smaller schools that will be in the tournament, so just making another appearance is an accomplishment.
“This is one of the best tournaments you’re going to find because of the competition,” said Point Pleasant Beach head coach Jay Lagomarsino. “It’s just amazing the talent is in the Shore Conference for girls, it’s always a privilege to be in this tournament. We’re a very very small school, but we’re going against bigger schools but we enjoy the environment and competition.”
Shore Conference Tournament seeding
(Records through Saturday's games)
No. 1: Red Bank Catholic (18-3)
No. 2: St. John Vianney (16-6)
No. 3: Ocean Township (18-3)
No. 4: St. Rose (15-6)
No. 5: Manasquan (17-3)
No. 6: Trinity Hall (14-6)
No. 7: Red Bank Regional (12-5)
No. 8: Wall (16-5)
No. 9: Rumson-Fair Haven (13-6)
No. 10: Manchester Township (15-6)
No. 11: Howell (14-6)
No. 12: Ranney (9-9)
No. 13: Holmdel (11-8)
No. 14: Southern (17-3)
No. 15: Point Pleasant Boro (11-8)
No. 16: Jackson Memorial (14-4)
No. 17: Toms River East (13-8)
No. 18: Colts Neck (9-9)
No. 19: Neptune (13-10)
No. 20: Shore Regional (12-6)
No. 21: Brick Memorial (11-9)
No. 22: Barnegat (9-9)
No. 23: Monmouth Regional (13-5)
No. 24: Freehold Township (9-9)
No. 25: Point Pleasant Beach (9-10)
2024 SHORE CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
OPENING ROUND GAMES
Tues., Feb. 6
(17) Toms River North at (16) Jackson Memorial
(25) Point Pleasant Beach at (8) Wall
(24) Freehold Twp. at (9) Rumson-Fair Haven, 5 p.m.
(20) Shore at (13) Holmdel
(21) Brick Memorial at (12) Ranney
(18) Colts Neck at (15) Point Pleasant Boro
(23) Monmouth at (10) Manchester
(19) Neptune at (14) Southern
(22) Barnegat at (11) Howell
ROUND OF 16
Thurs., Feb. 8
Jackson Memorial/TRE at (1) Red Bank Catholic, 5:30 pm
Wall/Point Pleasant Beach vs RFH/Freehold Township, 5:30 pm
Holmdel/Shore at (4) St. Rose, 5:00 pm
Ranney/Brick Memorial at (5) Manasquan, 5 pm
Pt. Boro/Colts Neck at (2) St. John Vianney, 3:45 pm
Manchester/Monmouth at (7) Red Bank Regional, 5:30 pm
Southern/Neptune at (3) Ocean Township, 5:15 pm
Howell/Barnegat at (6) Trinity Hall, 4:30 pm
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Shore NJ girls basketball: Shore Conference Tournament seedings
