Boys Basketball – St. Rose Cruises to Second Straight State Final, Eyes No. 1 Finish

MEDFORD -- Above all else, the St. Rose boys basketball team has learned to take nothing for granted during its rapid ascension from run-of-the-mill high-school basketball program to the No. 1 ranking in New Jersey.

That includes that No. 1 ranking, according to NJ Advance Media, which the Purple Roses would like to hold onto through the end of the season by completing its first NJSIAA overall state championship run in 47 years and playing their best basketball in doing so.

St. Rose took another critical step toward that end goal Monday by routing Bishop Eustace, 82-40, in the South Jersey Non-Public B championship game to claim its second straight sectional title and reach the Non-Public B championship game Friday at Rutgers against North Jersey champion Immaculate Conception of Montclair.

"One of the things our guy have been doing really well is not taking anything for granted," St. Rose coach Brian Lynch said. "The game before us (Paul VI defeating defending champion Union Catholic, 53-35, in the Non-Public A final) was kind of a shocking results and our guys know that can happen at any time and it happened to us last year, so this group was locked in. When you get to this point of the season, you don't have any more room for slip-ups."

Facing Bishop Eustace in the sectional final for the second straight season, St. Rose scored the first eight points of the game and never led by fewer than six points the rest of the way. The Crusaders cut their deficit to 13-6 after falling behind, 13-2, but the Purple Roses countered with a 16-0 run that put them ahead, 29-6 by the early part of the second quarter.

Junior Bryan Ebeling got St. Rose off to a strong start by scoring all nine of his points in the first quarter while also coming up with two of his four steals for the game. Junior Evan Romano hit a pair of three-pointers in the first quarter as well and senior Matt Hodge scored nine points during the 29-6 run.

"He is a gutsy kid," Lynch said of Ebeling. "He always kind of breaks the ice for us at the beginning of the game. He did that at the Jordan Classic (vs. Archbishop Stepinac). He has had a messed up thumb and has been sick for a while. It feels like that is sort of getting behind him. That's big, because we need him to be the Bryan Ebeling that he can be, because he's fantastic."

Ebeling's early lift was a welcome sight for the Purple Roses, who have been waiting for Ebeling to round into health after he sprained a ligament in his thumb in January, then dealt with a bout of the flu during the late rounds of the Shore Conference Tournament.

"Everybody knows we have Evan, we have Matt, we have Jayden, we have Gio (Panzini)," Ebeling said. "I can do it too. I have got something in my bag. I love to score, I love to impact the game and I always play both sides of the court."

Hodge finished with a game-high 26 points to go with six rebounds and three assists and capped his night with a pair of fast-break dunks that pushed St. Rose's lead to 30 for the first time, 65-35.

Romano followed with a putback on a miss by Hodge to give St. Rose three highlight-reel plays in succession -- which prompted Lynch to go to his bench for the remaining four-plus minutes following a Bishop Eustace timeout.

"It felt like we needed some dunks," Matt Hodge said of the back-to-back dunks in the fourth after a dunk-free three quarters. "I know our fans felt that way too. It was good to seal the deal like that."

Bishop Eustace scrapped to within 16 at 39-23 in the third quarter, but could not draw any closer.

Sophomore Jayden Hodge chipped in 12 points, three assists and two steals, while Romano and freshman Avery Lynch each finished with 10 points. Romano also contributed two steals, while Lynch blocked two shots.

A year ago, St. Rose lost to Roselle Catholic, 68-59, in the NJSIAA Non-Public B championship game at Jersey Mike's Arena on the campus of Rutgers University. After beating St. Rose, the Lions finished the season No. 1 in the final state rankings and St. Rose will now try to do the same thing on Friday night at the same venue.

"A lot of guys were hurt in that locker room last year," Lynch said of the loss to Roselle Catholic. "We were so close. We had a chance to do something really special and we weren't able to do it. That adversity has made us stronger and I think if on Friday they this kind of resolve and focus, they have a chance to do something special."

"We were a little scared going into this game last year," said Ebeling, who grew up in Italy before moving to the U.S. in the summer of 2022. "It was my first year in the U.S.A. and the same for Matt and Jayden. We had never been in this kind of atmosphere. Now, we have felt that, we're hungry and we want to win.

"We know how it feels to win this sectional championship. We want to know how it feels to win the next game."

Montclair Immaculate entered Monday ranked No. 11 in the state and upended top-seeded and state-ranked No. 15 Morris Catholic, 72-70, in the other sectional final at Franklin High School.

The Purple Roses are looking to complete a march to their first overall Non-Public B championship since 1977 while also nailing down that No. 1 ranking in the state. The other remaining contenders figure to be Don Bosco Prep and Camden, with the former advancing to the Non-Public A championship game Monday by rolling to a 56-42 win over St. Peter's Prep.

St. Rose jumped Don Bosco for the No. 1 spot in mid-January after the Ironmen lost to Archbishop Stepinac -- a team St. Rose beat by 10 points a little over two weeks earlier. Don Bosco has gone 18-0 since that loss and will try to make its case for No. 1 by beating South Jersey champion Paul VI in the first game of Friday's double-header at Rutgers.

Camden is the other threat to St. Rose's No. 1 perch. The Panthers have not lost to a team from New Jersey this season and will have a chance to make a statement on Tuesday against Manasquan in the Group II semifinals. St. Rose defeated Manasquan twice during the season by an average of 20 points. Camden, meanwhile, beat Paul VI three times during the season by an average of 25.7 points, with 38 the largest of the three margins.

"It's about getting the win, first-and-foremost," Matt Hodge said. "We learned first-hand last year that it's a 32-minute game and until coach takes us out of the game, we are going to play hard. We sub our guys off the bench in and they play with the same mentality."

St. Rose is hoping to become the first Shore Conference team to finish No. 1 in the state since Ranney in 2018-19, when the Panthers became the first and only Shore Conference team to ever win the NJSIAA Tournament of Championships. The NJSIAA ended the T of C following the 2021-22 season.

Unlike last year, St. Rose will be the No. 1 team trying to beat back a talented upstart, with Montclair Immaculate playing in its first state final since winning Non-Public C in 1978.

"People have been calling us the heavy favorite for the whole season," Matt Hodge said. "We don't think that way. Every game has to be played, no matter who it is. Anything can happen so we just go out and compete."

"This was the goal all year long," Lynch said. "We made it very clear from the beginning and never sugar-coated anything. We didn't get it last year, so we have to get back and try to get it this year."