Monarchs beat Blue Devils 31-24

By Walter J. O’Neill, Jr.

Out racing Trinity Hall players for a rebound is Shore Regional senior Jasmin Okuska (21).

For the second time this season and within 17 days, the Monarchs of Trinity Hall defeated the lady Blue Devils of Shore Regional in a Shore Conference A North divisional matchup. On February 6, Shore Regional hosted the Monarchs and lost 31-24.

However, unlike their first meeting back on January 21st where Trinity Hall won 66-43, Shore was in command of the rematch for nearly the entire game. They took a 10-7 lead after the first quarter and then a 16-11 lead into the halftime break.

The third quarter was tight, with Trinity Hall having a 6-4 advantage on the Blue Devils. Going into the final minutes, Shore was up 20-17. In the fourth quarter, Trinity Hall showed their grit as they outscored the Blue Devils 14-4, and also forced Shore into several key turnovers.

With two minutes to play, Shore Regional was winning and looked as if they were going to upset the heavily favored Monarchs. However, that is when the turnovers and forcing the ball hurt the Blue Devils and opened the door for the Trinity Hall to improve to 17-6 overall and 8-2 in the division.

Going up for two of her game-high nine points is Shore Regional senior Reese Fiore.

“Obviously the loss to Trinity Hall and our third straight game we came out on the losing end. Emotions were a little high,” said head coach William Wishart. Defensively, the Blue Devils have all five girls on the floor actively involved in the game and making plays. Offensively, it’s a different story. The Devils key on three players and their opponents know this.

Wishart stated that the observation is correct, as the strongest players offensively is who you want to have the ball. “We expect everyone to contribute, and when you get a look at the basket you have to take advantage of that opportunity,” Wishart said.

The offensive triangle for Shore are co-captains Kimi Sayson and Reese Fiore. Both are 1,000 plus scorers for the Blue Devils and seniors. The third is a junior, Ava Coyle. The other two starters, which play key roles on the defensive side of the court is Angela Christopher, senior guard and freshman forward Emma Madison.

In the loss to Trinity Hall, only the three players in that offensive triangle scored. Sayson had 10 points, Fiore finished with nine and Coyle scored five. If the Blue Devils want to win a fourth consecutive NJSIAA Central Jersey, Group 1 sectional title, they will need to make sure other players are involved offensively.

“Trinity is a very well coached team with tons of talent. They play a great style of basketball. Going into the game, we knew we wanted to slow them down and limit their possessions on the offensive side. I thought for three and half quarters, our game plan worked and at the end we just ran out of gas,” said Wishart. He added that you can always point to a turnover or a single late missed shot as a reason for losing, but things that happen or don’t happen in the first three quarters are just as much to blame.

Ranney School is leading the A North division at 14-6 overall and undefeated at 10-0 in divisional games. Trinity Hall is in second followed by Colts Neck, then Shore Regional, Marlboro and Ocean Township. “This season, we’ve challenged ourselves with a much tougher schedule than we had last year and our division got a lot tougher,” Wishart said.

Wishart believes that Shore Regional has the individual talent to compete on a nightly basis with some of the bigger programs around. He also said that he has a lot of experienced players back from his championship runs. “Even as a Group 1 school, we want to show the rest of the Shore Conference we shouldn’t be overlooked,” said Wishart.

In regard to that offensive triangle, Wishart had some thoughts. “Our number one goal going forward is to continue to preach the team mentality and understand that as individuals we can have good moments in games. However, long term goals will only be accomplished if we move forward as a team,” said Wishart. He said that Fiore, Coyle and Sayson are all capable of leading Shore in scoring. “But what has made us a tough matchup is when all three are contributing in other areas as well. Emma Madison has been a great addition to us this year and has been a rock for us on defense. We also are fortunate to have seniors to fill in other gaps; Christopher, Jasmin Okuska, and Kayla Husar.” Late in the season the Blue Devils have been getting a lot of help from Grace Ascolese, sophomore, who is coming in off the bench.

Shore has two regular season games left on the schedule. February 18, they host Manchester Township at 6:00 p.m. and then on February 20, they will be in Neptune for a 5:30 tipoff.

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