St. Rose has established itself as a girls basketball powerhouse thanks to the high-level talent that has passed through the Belmar school and now the the Purple Roses players will have a head coach who once walked in their sneakers.

Former St. Rose standout Mary Beth Chambers was announced as the new girls basketball coach at her alma mater Friday, according to a press release from athletic director Dan White.

Chambers played on a state championship St. Rose team in 1979 and was inducted into the school's athletic Hall of Fame in 2000. She has built her coaching foundation on the AAU circuit in recent years, during which she has coached some of the Shore's top girls talent. She has also coached at the varsity basketball level, spending a 10-year stint as the head coach at Marlboro.

Chambers takes over a St. Rose team that remains built to contend for the No. 1 ranking in the state following the resignation of Joe Whalen, who spent five years at St. Rose and won two NJSIAA Non-Public B championships, plus the Shore Conference Tournament this past year.

St. Rose also won the SCT championship and Non-Public A championship under coach Joe Roman in 2011-12. Chambers's daughter, Kasey, started on that 2012 team and went play at both Monmouth and the University of Pennsylvania.

The 2017-18 St. Rose squad is slated to feature a trio to senior standouts all committed to Division I programs. Point guard Mikayla Markham is committed to Columbia, center Lucy Thomas to Monmouth and versatile forward Elizabeth Marsicano to St. Joseph's.

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