Boys Basketball – NJSIAA South Jersey Non-Public B Championship Preview: St. Rose vs. Bishop Eustace

South Jersey Non-Public B Championship

Monday, March 4, 2024

At Lenape High School

No. 1 St. Rose vs. No. 3 Bishop Eustace

Tipoff: 7 p.m.

St. Rose at a Glance (27-2)

Head Coach: Brian Lynch

Last Sectional Championship: 2023

Road to the Final: Defeated No. 8 Wildwood Catholic, 57-46; No. 5 Holy Cross Prep, 65-39

Top Players

Matt Hodge, Sr., 6-8 (16.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.6 steals, 1.1 blocks)

Jayden Hodge, So., 6-5 (12.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.7 steals)

Gio Panzini, Sr., 6-6 (10.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 0.9 blocks)

Bryan Ebeling, Jr., 6-3 (7.1 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists)

Evan Romano, Jr., 6-3 (8.8 points, 2.6 rebounds, 2.9 assists)

Avery Lynch, Fr., 6-4 (7.7 points, 2.8 rebounds)

Tyler Cameron, So., 6-1 (3.1 points, 2.0 rebounds)

Luke Roman, Sr., 6-4

Bishop Eustace at a Glance (13-16)

Head Coach: Bob Falconiero

Last Sectional Championship: 1997

Road to the Final: Defeated No. 6 Trenton Catholic, 64-44; No. 2 Gloucester Catholic, 40-35

Top Players

Tommy Semiraglo, Jr., 6-2

Dillon Adomanis, So., 6-6

Ian Glassmacher, Jr., 6-3

Braydon Killeen, Jr., 6-1

Jaden Hollinghead, Jr., 6-2

Frank Semiraglo, Jr., 6-2

Delano Mann, Fr., 6-1

A rematch of last year’s South Jersey Non-Public B final, this year’s version has a much different feel than last year’s. A year ago, St. Rose was two decades removed from its last sectional title and just about two weeks earlier, the Purple Roses suffered a stunner defeat at the hands of Ranney in the Shore Conference Tournament semifinals. As talented as the Purple Roses were, there were just enough reasons to doubt St. Rose could get it done.

A lot has changed in a year. St. Rose did win that championship game against Bishop Eustace, 59-43, by hitting the Crusaders with a 13-2 fourth-quarter run that turned an eight-point game into a rout. After that, it has only gotten better for St. Rose, a loss to Roselle Catholic in the 2023 Non-Public B championship notwithstanding. The Purple Roses are 27-2 this season and since a three-point opening-night loss the Patrick School National Team, they are 27-1 with the lone loss coming against Montverde, the No. 1 team in the country.

In short, St. Rose was a really good team in 2022-23. A year later, the Purple Roses are nearly unstoppable. At the individual level, they are better across the board and on top of that, they are playing better together as well. Coach Brian Lynch has crafted a well-oiled basketball machine in his third season and Bishop Eustace is less an opponent and more of a traffic cone in the path of a fright train.

To give the No. 3 seed its due, Bishop Eustace has a lot to be excited about heading into this game. The Crusaders don’t have any seniors that play regularly, so making it back to this game with just one starter (Tommy Semiraglo) back from last year, is an accomplishment to be commended. Bishop Eustace is only 13-16, but it has faced a challenging schedule that includes three losses to Group II favorite Camden. St. Rose will be the best team Bishop Eustace faces, but the Crusaders are as ready as they can be for this game.

Prediction

St. Rose is two wins from winning its first overall state championship since 1977 and, very likely, finishing No. 1 in New Jersey for the first time ever. The one hangup the powers-that-be might have in ranking the Purple Roses No. 1 is the overall weakness of Non-Public B compared to Non-Public A. If Don Bosco Prep – the No. 2 team in N.J., according to NJ Advance Media – rolls to a Non-Public A title by beating high-profile teams Hudson Catholic, St. Peter’s Prep and Union Catholic, that would represent a strong case to pass St. Rose.

As it currently stands, the Purple Roses rank ahead of Don Bosco, which opened the season No. 1 with St. Rose No. 2, on the strength of a December win over an Archbishop Stepinac team that later beat Don Bosco. It’s possible that separator is not strong enough to keep St. Rose No. 1 if Don Bosco is convincing enough against the competition that is in front of the Ironmen this week.

There is one thing St. Rose can do to put the debate to rest: dominate. If St. Rose steamrolls its next two opponents – Morris Catholic plays Immaculate Conception of Montclair in the North Jersey final – it will be hard to remove the Purple Roses from their No. 1 perch. Whatever the talent gap may be between two teams, it is not easy to win a one-sided championship game and if St. Rose does that two more times, its start-to-finish performance this year will be thoroughly dominant.

To this point, St. Benedict’s is the only NJSIAA-eligible team from N.J. to come within 11 points of St. Rose and that 11-point win over Wildwood Catholic came with Matt Hodge sitting out due to illness. The Purple Roses have crushed the likes of Rutgers Prep, Bergen Catholic, Manasquan, Ramapo and Union Catholic – all top-20 caliber teams. The Purple Roses are healthy, motivated and capable. Expect them to put the pedal to the metal through the final buzzer of Friday’s Non-Public B final at Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway.

The Pick: St. Rose, 71-42