Record-chasers, upsets and more so far at the girls basketball WOBM Tournament

TOMS RIVER - Basketball fans are getting a late holiday present with the 39th annual WOBM Tournament including 16 teams on the girls side. The tournament runs through Saturday.

Day 1 on Tuesday brought upsets, record-chasing, and close games. All the teams will compete Thursday in semifinals and consolations at Toms River North High School and championship games for the two brackets will be Saturday.

More: Shore Conference girls basketball: 2023 holiday tournament schedule, scores

Here are eight takeaways so far:

Wall is climbing up the ladder of top teams at the Shore

The No. 4-seeded Wall is on a roll after defeating No. 8 Toms River North 53-26 in the first round of the tournament Tuesday. That made it fourth straight wins to start the season for the Crimson Knights; they’ve won all their games by double digits.

“We been grinding,” said Wall head coach Colleen Wisher. “We had a couple years where we didn’t feel like we performed where we should’ve performed in the long run, but we have a senior-dominant team, two other juniors that start and we really have a team that can go deep into our bench, which is great.”

Wall’s senior scoring duo of Emily Tvrdik and Shayne Eldridge is lethal 

Caldwell University commit Eldridge led Wall with 20 points as Tvrdik was second with 11 points. They are both the leading scorers on the team this season and are the duo that could be a problem for not only the tournament, but the rest of the Shore.

“Shayne, I feel like she’s been playing more relaxed this year, the pressure is off of where she’s going to school next year and she’s just having fun out there,” said Wisher. “I think having Emily back from shoulder surgery sooner than we expected took a lot of pressure off everyone else.”

Rumson-Fair Haven’s Ella Mason is a stat sheet stuffer 

The No. 2 Bulldogs got a 51-28 win over No. 6 Point Pleasant Borough and if you were to look at the stat sheet, at first glance, nothing would pop out. But senior Ella Mason stuffed the stat sheet - whether it was her three assists, four rebounds, or two steals, she was all over the place.

“She is a Bulldog, she (does) anything we ask of her,” said RFH head coach Dave Callahan. “Sometimes you got her playing girls that are a foot taller than her but whatever we ask her, she does and she does with a smile on her face. She’s tough, fast, she can finish, she can shoot, she’s so smart, and she’s a great leader for our teammates.”

RFH gives an all-around effort 

There’s no one star on the Bulldogs who makes the team go -- they all chip in. In their win over Point Pleasant Borough, Abby Boyle and Sylvie Nitone combined for 28 points, getting 14 apiece. Whether it’s knocking down 3’s or layups, the ball is shared.

“She’s been a good teammate,” said Mason on Nitone. “She’s been pretty consistent offensively and I think her getting shots is a good thing for the team.”

Devin Quigley is well aware of the Shore all-time scoring record

NC State commit and senior Devyn Quigley finished the game with 31 points for No. 3 Manchester Township in a 56-24 win over No. 7 Middletown South. Quigley is now 743 points away from becoming the Shore’s all-time leading scorer.

When asked about chasing the record, Quigley kept it simple.

“It’s usually thought about when people mention it to me,” said Quigley. “I try to just take it one game at a time, and if it comes it comes. But I don’t want to pressure myself in thinking I have to beat it, because I don’t want selfish play to start coming, because right now we’re playing together and our team flow is amazing.”

Quigley has a solid supporting cast around her 

Although Quigley makes up for 58.8% of the Hawks total offense, she has a group of teammates who can also knock down shots. Freshman Madeline Nolan and senior Zionna Short proved they can hit their jump shots.

“It’s just really good, it’s all smiles,” said Quigley on when everyone is contributing. “We’re so close as a team, we had so many talks like - ‘the points that you worked for is together.’ So even when somebody’s scoring, everyone’s eating.”

Red Bank Regional is still figuring out its identity  

After losing back-to-back games going into Tuesday, top-seeded Red Bank Regional was able to pull away late from No. 5 Toms River East 44-37. This young Buccaneers are still finding their identity and what works for them as they struggled up until the fourth quarter to take control. Due to some setbacks early in the season, they’re figuring things out on the court as they go.

More: All eyes on the No. 1 seed at the Shore's biggest holiday girls basketball tournament

“We’re still in the beginning phase of the season, today’s our real first game,” said RBR head coach John Truhan. “Our board didn’t approve us to go to Florida, they didn’t want us to wear Red Bank uniforms, so those games didn’t count… We practiced three days since December 13th, and we had three games, so we’re just getting started.”

Everyone on RBR can score 

The scoring was spread out pretty evenly for the Bucs. Junior Caroline Palloway finished with 14 points. Sophomore point guard Zoey Gulley hit a trio of three’s in the second half when it mattered the most. Sophomore Synai Blychanton was a pest on defense and aggressive as a driver; she finished with nine points.

“I definitely think this is a big step for us,” said Palloway. “We have a young team so we’re still working on coming together so this was a big game for us, everyone was spread out scoring so it was good to get the energy up and get us back.”

Central and Middletown North are the dark horses of this tournament

No. 14 seed Central and No. 13 Middletown North both scored upsets in the first day of the tournament. Middletown North’s defense held No. 9 Brick Township to only nine points through the first three quarters. The final score was 37-12. The Lions were 1-3 going into Tuesday.

As for Central, its game came down to the wire with a bunch of ups and downs. However, they were able to hold a narrow lead and get its first win of the season over No. 10 Donovan Catholic 37-32.

“Super proud,” said Central head coach Dan Torsiello. “We told them that growth isn’t linear, it isn’t always going to be easy but as long as you’re sticking together and growing together, good things will come to you. We kind of turned around from the first week and a half.”

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Jersey Shore girls basketball WOBM Tournament - 8 takeaways