South Jersey Girls Non-Public Basketball
South Jersey Girls’ Basketball Non-Public Preview NON-PUBLIC A
Defending champion: Red Bank Catholic beat Paul VI, 64-48 in the final. Tournament begins: Feb. 28
This season’s first-round matchups: (1) St. John Vianney (bye); (9) Bishop Eustace at (8) Paul VI; (12) Immaculata at (5) St. Rose Belmar; (4) Bishop Ahr (bye); (3) Red Bank Catholic (bye) (11) Notre Dame at (6) Camden Catholic; (10) Mount St. Mary at (7) Donovan Catholic; (2) Gloucester Catholic (bye)
Favorite: St. John Vianney
Main contenders: Gloucester Catholic, Red Bank Catholic, St. Rose Belmar.
Outlook: St. John Vianney is among the top teams in the state, but the Lancers lost to another power, Manasquan 70-52 in the Shore Conference Tournament. It’s possible these two teams could meet in the Tournament of Champions.
St. John Vianney’s only other loss was to New York power Christ the King. The Lancers had a 39-37 win over St. Rose in the Shore Conference semifinals. The Lancers also had an earlier 47-40 win over Red Bank Catholic. This closeness of the games with Red Bank Catholic and St. Rose suggests, there could be a number of contenders.
The best bet from the seven-county South Jersey area is Gloucester Catholic, where coach Lisa Gedaka recently earned her 600th career win.
NON-PUBLIC B
Defending champion: Rutgers Prep beat the Patrick School, 79-60 in the championship
Tournament begins: Feb. 27
Outlook: This season’s first-round matchups: (1) Trenton Catholic (bye); (9) Mater Dei at (8) Moorestown Friends; (12) Gill St. Bernard’s at (5) Holy Spirit; (13 Doane Academy at (4) Roselle Catholic; (3) Trinity Hall (bye); (11) Timothy Christian at (6) Patrick School; (10) Wildwood Catholic at (7) Holy Cross; (2) Rutgers Prep (bye)
Favorite: Rutgers Prep.
Main contenders: Trenton Catholic, the Patrick School, Roselle Catholic
Outlook: Last year Rutgers Prep not only won the South Jersey title but was state champion for the second straight year. The Argonauts were the No. 1 seed in the Tournament of Champions, but lost in the semifinal to eventual TOC champ Franklin.
As a side note Franklin recently beat Rutgers Prep, 68-49 in the finals of the Somerset County championship. Playing this type of difficult schedule will greatly benefit Rutgers Prep. What is interesting is that Rutgers Prep beat Franklin in two close regular season meetings.
Trenton Catholic will be a main threat. On Feb. 3, Rutgers Prep defeated Trenton Catholic, 53-41. As for Roselle Catholic and the Patrick School, they recently met in the Union County Championship. Roselle Catholic won, 55-52, displaying the closeness between the two. The teams from the seven-county South Jersey area, don’t appear to be contenders, with No. 7 Holy Cross the highest seed.
© SouthJersey.com 2018. All rights reserved. This article or parts thereof may not be reprinted or reproduced by any other party without the express written consent of SouthJersey.com. For more information, please call 856-797-9910.
For more Local Sports features, visit our South Jersey Sports page.
advertisement
Author: Marc Narducci
Archives
More Articles
