Girls Basketball – Shore Conference Tournament Final Preview

Shore Conference Girls Basketball Tournament Championship

No. 2 St. Rose (23-2) vs. No. 5 Manasquan (19-5)

Saturday, March 1, 1 p.m.

At the Multipurpose Activities Center, Monmouth University

Shore Conference Tournament Bracket

St. Rose senior Sarah Kurtz and Manasquan junior Marina Mabrey have shared a high school basketball court five times as opponents in a previous two seasons, one of which was the Shore Conference Tournament championship game two years ago.

For two people in the same place at the same time, the experiences could not have been more different.

Kurtz, then the first player off the bench for a senior-laden Purple Roses team back in 2012, emerged as a rising star with a number of key performances for St. Rose during its first tournament title in 19 years.

“It was a great feeling knowing that on a team of seniors, I was able to contribute,” Kurtz said. “Now I’m the senior and now, it’s more like I want to make sure everyone feels like they have a way to contribute. Regardless of whether you’re scoring, or just playing a few minutes, it doesn’t matter as long as you win. When you win, it feels great no matter what and I think that’s what drives us.”

The experience was just as memorable for Mabrey, but not quite as enjoyable. The then-freshman had a standout rookie season, but still wears the scars from that SCT final, perhaps literally, by her own account.

“Yep, that game still sits with me and it’s never leaving,” Mabrey said. “The ball hit me in the face underneath the basket and dropped out of bounds with like five seconds left. It’s never leaving my head.”

Mabrey and Manasquan already exacted their revenge later that season by beating St. Rose on its way to an NJSIAA Tournament of Champions title, but Manasquan is still seeking its first SCT title in three decades with two starters – Mabrey and senior center Sam Sullivan – back from that starting lineup.

This season has been like a three-part series for Manasquan. It started with a WOBM Christmas Classic championship in December prior to Mabrey’s transfer from Point Beach after the end of winter break, followed by mixed results (5-3 record) during January while Mabrey sat out awaiting eligibility.

Mabrey made her Manasquan re-debut on Feb. 6, playing only 12 minutes of a 64-54 loss to St. John Vianney. Since that loss, Manasquan is 9-0 and most recently beat St. John Vianney – the top seed in the SCT – in Tuesday night’s conference semifinal, 63-61 in overtime.

That win over St. John Vianney ended on a buzzer-beating, turnaround shot in the paint by junior guard Courtney Hagaman, who scored 11 points after halftime and all six of Manasquan’s overtime points. Mabrey, meanwhile, scored 14 of her 24 points in the fourth quarter to go with eight rebounds, six assists and five steals.

“A lot of people waited for our team to melt down,” Mabrey said after the win over Vianney. “I credit St. John Vianney because they are the top team and everybody wants a shot at them, but I think it was more that we didn’t want a shot at them. We wanted to get to the final and if it was St. John Vianney in our way or it was somebody else, we didn’t care.

“And I can understand how that happens to them because it happened to me my freshman year. We were the team that was expected to win, and St. Rose came out and beat us because they wanted it more and it showed.”

While Manasquan has a score to settle from two years ago, St. Rose will have plenty of motivation as well. Only Kurtz and junior Kat Phipps played significant minutes on the 2012 championship team, so most of the Purple Roses players will not only want to add a second championship to their resume, but they will all want to play a bigger role in this one.

“We have an older team this year just like we had an older team two years ago,” Phipps said. “It’s different now because those of us who were younger on that team are now older and playing in bigger roles. The teams are similar, but it’s different individually.”

St. Rose also has plenty of motivation based on what has happened since 2012. The Roses failed to reach the Shore Conference Tournament quarterfinals during a rebuilding stretch last season under first-year coach Joe Whalen, but have since taken the next step under their second-year coach. The Purple Roses have lost only twice this season and since losing two straight to Paterson Eastside and Neptune in December, they have won 20 straight and have not lost in the year 2014.

Despite the red-hot stretch, which included a win over St. John Vianney, St. Rose drew the No. 2 seed behind Vianney, and its impressive win over Rumson-Fair Haven in the semifinals Tuesday was overshadowed by the overtime thriller between the Warriors and the Lancers.

“We had our doubters coming into the tournament, but that just fueled us to play even better,” Kurtz said. “We want to show that we’re still a force in the Shore Conference and being in the Shore Conference final, obviously we’re still one of the top teams out there.”

The St. Rose players are not the only bunch that believe it foolish to overlook the Purple Roses by viewing Manasquan vs. St. John Vianney as the de facto championship game.

“I think, mentally, this next game is going to be harder (than the semifinals),” Mabrey said, prior to St. Rose’s win over Rumson. “I just think that these teams are smarter in that they are going to make us play defense for a minute. With (Vianney) they can just knock down open shots if they're open, and you just have to dig in, keep your hands up and keep sliding. But I think that we’re ready for it.”