Basketball – Bryan Antoine and Faith Masonius Named Kerwin Award Winners
For the third straight year the Kerwin Awards are going back to the Ranney School and Manasquan High School - the homes of the top boys and girls basketball players at the Shore.
Ranney standout Bryan Antoine is the Kerwin Award winner for the second straight year and Manasquan senior Faith Masonius is Manasquan's fourth winner in the last five years, the Kerwin Family announced Saturday via press release.
Antoine is Ranney's third straight winner after Scottie Lewis won the award as a sophomore and Antoine as a junior in 2018. During the 2018-19 season, Antoine chased down the all-time Shore Conference scoring record and passed Croydon Hall's 46-year-old mark of 2,302 points on Feb. 6 in a Ranney win over Mater Dei.
“Antoine is a great shooter," family spokesperson Peggy Kerwin Fleischer said. "He can shoot the deep three, the short jumper or finish a drive to the basket in spectacular fashion. Bryan is a fearless playmaker who has helped Ranney achieve a national ranking."
Heading into Ranney's Shore Conference Tournament championship showdown with Mansaquan on Saturday, Antoine has 2,366 career points and is averaging 22.2 per game during his senior campaign with the state's top-ranked team. He is also posting 4.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 3.3 steals per game.
For his efforts, Antoine was selected to play in the prestigious McDonald's All-American game on March 27 in Atlanta. Lewis will join him as the first two Shore Conference players to play in the game since Christian Brothers Academy's John Crotty in 1987.
Antoine is signed to play college basketball at the Villanova University.
Masonius is the third straight Kerwin winner from Manasquan and fourth in the last five years, but the first not named Mabrey.
Current Notre Dame senior Marina Mabrey won the award in 2015 and Virginia Tech freshman Dara Mabrey won the award in both 2017 and 2018. Michaela Mabrey - who also played from Notre Dame - won the award in 2012 as a senior at Manasquan.
“Masonius is a great competitor," Kerwin Fleischer said. "She has excellent court sense and with it the ability take control of a game. Despite being double-teamed on a regular basis, she still finds the open shot. Faith is a great all around player: passer, shooter, and defender.”
Masonius is averaging 19.8 points, 11.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists for a Manasquan team that again reached the Shore Conference Tournament semifinals and is a favorite to win the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group II section.
In Manasquan's SCT semifinal loss to St. John Vianney on Tuesday, Masonius nearly carried the Warriors to victory with 33 points, 11 rebounds and three assists before ultimately falling, 53-51, to the tournament's No. 1 seed.
Masonius was an integral part of Manasquan's NJSIAA Tournament of Champions winner in 2017-18 and has been a starter since her freshman season at one of the state's top programs. The versatile 6-foot-1 Masonius will continue her basketball career in college at the University of Maryland.