Girls Basketball: Top-seeded Lancers Cruise Into SCT Semifinals

By Ryan Gaydos - Shore Sports Network Correspondent

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LONG BRANCH - A slow first quarter for top-seeded St. John Vianney did not impede the Lancers for the rest of the game as they cruised past No. 9 Holmdel in the Shore Conference Tournament quarterfinals with a 74-35 win on Saturday at Long Branch High School.

St. John Vianney (21-3) will now take on fifth-seeded Manasquan in a highly-anticipated showdown in the semifinals at 6 p.m. on Tuesday at Brick Memorial.

The Lancers started slow against Holmdel, committing seven first-quarter turnovers, but still managed to have a four-point lead at the end of it.

“I don’t know what to credit the [turnovers] to,” Lancers head coach Dawn Karpell said. “We got into a big environment, the quarterfinals of the tournament, and I guess we just lost our mind there for a little bit.”

From there, Vianney started to pull away quickly. Emily Uribe scored seven of her team-leading 14 points in the second quarter as the Lancers outscored Holmdel 26-11 in the period and then held the Hornets to only four points in the third quarter.

Overall, good quick passing from the foul line into the paint was the big difference in the game. The Lancers used their size well to gain position underneath the backboard for easy baskets. If Holmdel guarded the paint, the Lancers were able to drain it from the perimeter.

“We were talking on the bench, our coaching staff, about how we are very excited about the production we got from our bench,” Karpell said. “The players coming off the bench really gave us extra energy. That really allowed us to wear them down.”

Uribe added four rebounds in the game. Teammate Katie Beriont helped out with 13 points and five rebounds. Jackie Gallagher was mostly quiet during the game, scoring only six points until the fourth quarter when she nailed two threes to stretch the already large lead to even more. She finished with 12 points.

Vianney also had some help from Kim Evans off the bench. She finished the game with 10 points and three boards.

Turnovers ultimately sunk the Hornets. Holmdel committed 22 turnovers in the game and was not able to recover. Mia Ehling led Holmdel (14-10) with 14 points and grabbed three rebounds. Sidney Caffaro hit two three pointers and finished with six points for the day. Cassidy Fontana recorded four points and five boards as well.