Girls Basketball – SJV Avoids Upset, Defeats Trinity Hall In Overtime to Reach 9th Straight Shore Conference Final

LITTLE SILVER -- Fans were treated to two great games in the Shore Conference Tournament semifinal round. After watching No. 5 Manasquan defeat No. 1 Red Bank Catholic in a game that went down to the wire, the fans got to see No. 2 St. John Vianney defeat No. 6 Trinity Hall in overtime, 57-53.

The game looked like it was about to be over after the Lady Lancers, who are no strangers to the SCT semifinals, took a 40-24 lead towards the end of the 3rd quarter. The Monarchs, who played in their first semifinal game in the school’s history, had other plans and ended regulation on a 24-8 run to send the game into overtime. Junior Lilly Riggi, who finished with 8 points, scored her biggest basket of the season to tie the game with three seconds left after grabbing an offensive rebound as the final seconds ticked down. 

St. John Vianney took advantage of Trinity Hall’s foul trouble and scored seven out of its nine overtime points from the foul-line. Senior Julia Karpell scored six of her eight points in overtime, all from the foul-line to seal the win and send the Lady Lancers to their ninth straight SCT Final.

“We have kids that have not been in this situation before,” SJV coach Dawn Karpell said. “We have a very talented team, but they haven’t played in playoff games. I thought they really gathered their composure and it could have went the other way with the way we gave up the lead and they fought 100 percent back down the stretch and in overtime.”

Sophomore center Taylor Sofilkanich scored St. John Vianney's lone field goal of overtime, converting a putback to give the Lancers a 50-48 lead. Sofilkanich finished with eight points, making her one of five SJV players to score at least eight in the game.

Junior Daniella Matus helped get SJV off to a quick start and build a 16-4 first quarter lead. Matus, who finished with 12 points, scored the game's first seven points. The Lady Lancers defense started out just as good as the offense, creating several turnovers and causing Trinity Hall coach Matt McCarthy to call an early time out. 

Junior Aleena Dinker made an impact on the defensive end, holding Harvard commit Nina Emnace to four first-half points for the Monarchs. Dinker also grabbed 8 rebounds, preventing Trinity Hall from getting second chance points. 

“Nina is a really good player,” Dinker said. “Coach (Karpell) told me once we lock down on her and take her out of the game,  everything else will come. I talked to coach a lot about what I need to do as a point guard and leading the team.”

Sophomore Stella Lockhart, who was limited to just three points in the first half, helped SJV build a 38-24 lead towards the end of the third quarter. She scored seven out of her team-high 14 points in the quarter and finished with nine rebounds. 

“She (Lockhart) is playing with false teeth and a mask and it was game time with big lights and I thought she brought a great physical presence,” Coach Karpell said.

The game started to get chippy in the third quarter and two technical fouls were called against SJV. Karpell was fouled and was going to go to the foul line, but a technical was called on sophomore Stella Lockhardt and a second one was called two seconds later on Karpell. Karpell knocked down both foul shots to give SJV their biggest lead 40-24.

Emnace, who finished with 18 points, ended up making 3-of-4 foul shots on the two technical fouls that sparked Trinity Hall. The Monarchs started the fourth quarter down 44-30 and had six different players score in the quarter. Senior Siobhan Stapleton, who finished with 8 points, knocked down her second 3-pointer of the game with 1:11 left to cut the deficit to 48-46. 

“We heard a lot that Trinity is just happy to be there,” coach McCarthy said. “We are compared to where we were a couple of years ago, but no one on our team was just happy to be here. There were nerves at the beginning with the stage and we got smacked around a little bit. We just kept clawing and it has been like that all year long. We fight and we have too.”

With the victory, St. John Vianney will play No. 5 Manasquan on Sunday at noon at Monmouth University. Manasquan handed SJV their first Shore Conference loss this season since March 5, 2019. These two teams have met three times over the last eight years in the SCT Finals and SJV has a 2-1 edge over that span. 

“I think our kids are super excited to have the opportunity to have that second game and have that rematch,” Coach Karpell said. “Lisa (Kukoda) and Manasquan are a super talented team with a locker room full of seniors, we will be up against it.”