Only a few weeks after his first All-American graduated in the spring of 2022, Montano would have his first conversation with his next All-American. He did not know at the time he was in the presence of a future All-American, but after meeting Addy Nyemchek, Montano new not to put anything past her.
“She has always been very driven,” said Montano, currently in his 36th season as head coach at Red Bank Catholic, where he has set an all-time Shore record for basketball coaches with 796 career wins. “Before she even stepped into the school, she called me when she was in eighth grade and asked, ‘Can I come in and talk to you? I want to find out what I need to do so I’m ready to play next year.’ How many eighth-graders do that: come in by herself, without her parents, carry on a conversation like an adult, understand what you need to do, then go out and do it?”
That first conversation was the start of a high school career that has landed Nyemchek on the roster for the 2026 McDonald’s All-American Game on March 31 in Phoenix. Nyemchek joins current Vanderbilt senior and 2022 selection Justine Pissott as the only McDonald’s All-Americans from Red Bank Catholic. On Friday, Nyemchek was presented with her commemorative All-American jersey by representatives from McDonald’s during a ceremony at Red Bank Catholic’s Eck Center.
“For me, I have always wanted to be part of a winning team,” Nyemchek said. “I didn’t know too much about RBC when I moved down here, so looking around, I saw that they had won. (St. John Vianney) was really good too, so I came in to talk to coach (Montano) and it felt like a great fit and the rest of our group decided the wanted to come here as well. We all came here together and we wanted to build something special.”
Nyemchek is the sixth girls McDonald’s All-American from the Shore Conference since the first girls game in 2002, with all of the Shore selections coming since 2012. The first two of those honorees were Manasquan graduates and sisters Michaela and Marina Mabrey and the last four of the Shore’s selections have all come since 2021: Destiny Adams from Manchester in 2021; Pissott in 2022; Zoe Brooks from St. John Vianney in 2023; and Nyemchek this season.
“The Shore Conference — St. John’s, ourselves, Manasquan, Rumson-Fair Haven when George (Sourlis) was the coach there — we have set a standard within not only New Jersey but the east coast of quality basketball and kids that go on to play at the next level,” Montano said. “Whether it’s Addy here or someone at Vianney or someone at another school, I think it’s a unique club that all the kids in the Shore are proud to be a part of.”
In 50 years of the boys McDonald’s game, only three Shore Conference graduates have been selected, including Ranney teammates Scottie Lewis and Bryan Antoine in 2019. Shore area natives Naz Reid (Asbury Park) and J.R. Smith (Lakewood) were also McDonald’s All-Americans while playing at North Jersey private schools — Reid at Roselle Catholic in 2018 and Smith at St. Benedict’s Prep in 2004. CBA’s John Crotty in 1987 was the first boys selection from the Shore.
Nyemchek is also the lone selection from New Jersey this year, although she follows a long line of recent All-Americans from the Garden State. She is the 19th New Jersey player named to the game in its history and ninth since 2019. There is a balance of exclusivity and tradition that comes with being a representative from the Shore Conference and from New Jersey that is not lost on Nyemchek.
“I think it’s cool,” Nyemchek said. “You look around college basketball today and you see a lot of players from New Jersey: Hannah Hidalgo (Notre Dame), Mikayla Blakes (Vanderbilt), Justine Pissott — they are all having great years and great college careers. I think it comes down to the league, the competitiveness, the coaches around here in high school basketball. I think it’s rare to find a great group of high school coaches like we have around here, so I think you have to give a lot of respect to the coaches for the job they have done building players and the competitiveness for players to succeed at the next level.”
Before she went on to build her amateur legacy at the Shore, Nyemchek got her start growing up in Nyack, N.Y., just a few miles north of the border with Bergen County in New Jersey. Prior to entering seventh grade in the fall of 2020, Nyemchek and her family moved to Monmouth County looking for a chance to get Addy more of an opportunity to play sports during the height of the COVID pandemic.
Monmouth County was not foreign to the Nyemcheks. Addy’s parents met at Monmouth University, where both were athletes in different sports — her father, Brian, in basketball and her mother, Heidi, in soccer. At the time of the move to New Jersey, Addy was a two-sport athlete in both basketball and soccer, but once she got used to her new home, basketball won her full attention.
“When I was in New York, I was in between both sports,” Nyemchek said. “I stopped playing soccer and then meeting these people — my trainer, my coaches, my peers, who work so hard — they all showed me that I have to work just as hard, if not harder. Everyone around me motivated me and solidified the love that I have for basketball.”
Addy Nyemchek’s first close friends in the Shore area were the Liggio sisters, who have carved out their own distinguished careers at Red Bank Catholic alongside Nyemchek. Christina Liggio graduated in 2025 and is a freshman guard at the United States Naval Academy, while Tessa and Katie Liggio are starting senior guards on this year’s team.
“That summer, I practically lived at their house and we would go play,” Nyemchek said. “It’s been since seventh grade with them and then the rest all kind of filtered in and we have been playing together since basically eighth grade. It’s cool to have moments like this and it’s crazy that it’s about to be the end, so I’m really just trying to soak up all the good moments.”
Along with an accomplished group of senior teammates, Nyemchek has led RBC to back-to-back Shore Conference Tournament championships and is hoping to add a second overall NJSIAA Non-Public A group championship to go with their 2024 state championship. She is currently the owner of 1,673 career points and career-long averages of 6.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 2.6 steals and 1.1 blocked shots per game. During her All-American season, Nyemchek is averaging 18.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 2.9 steals and 1.3 blocks — all of which are career-highs except for steals.
“This summer, she set out to shoot the three better and she has done that,” Montano said. “She has improved her mid-range game, she is getting to the basket better, she has worked on her strength and conditioning. I think every year, she took stock in what was going on, whether it was after her AAU season or our season and said, ‘Okay, I was happy with this, but playing against this competition, I realize I have to do that.’ Then, she went out and did it.”
In last Saturday’s Shore Conference Tournament championship game vs. St. John Vianney, Nyemchek helped bring home the title by scoring nine of her 13 points in the fourth quarter to go with seven rebounds and six assists in a battle between the top two teams in New Jersey.
RBC will begin its quest for a second NJSIAA Non-Public A title in three years Monday, when the Caseys — the No. 1 seed in the South Jersey section — host eighth-seeded Union Catholic. While the current group of seniors experienced a state title in 2024 and a Shore Conference title in both 2025 and 2026, they have yet to win both trophies in the same season. If RBC can run the Non-Public A gauntlet, which could require a fourth match-up vs. St. John Vianney, the Caseys would finish No. 1 in New Jersey for the first time since winning the Tournament of Champions in 2000.
“When they first walked in the door, it was important for them to be successful as a group,” Montano said of RBC’s group of seven seniors. “They all did their part pulling for each other and helping each other. In Addy’s case, it was never all about her. Her passing, her defense, the things that she does to help her teammates. Katie (Liggio) was going for a thousand (career) points and on that night, she scored ten baskets and Addy assisted seven of them because she knew she was getting close. That’s just the kind of person she is and the kind of player she is.”
Once this season ends with the McDonald’s Game at the end of March, Nyemchek will shift her focus to the University of Indiana, where she will continue her basketball career.
“I had a lot of great options, so it was definitely hard picking one, but what stood out to me about Indiana was the culture they have and the connection I had with the coaches,” Nyemchek said. “I have been talking to those coaches for four years now, so it felt like a home to me. I think that’s why I ended up choosing Indiana. Chemistry is a big part of it and I think what Indiana does really well is build that chemistry and bring players together that will work together.”
“I think she picked the right school,” said Montano, who once compared Nyemchek to another decorated high school player who chose Indiana during high school before switching over to a different Indian program. “They play very similar to how we play. The coach (Teri Moren) really understands her value and what she can bring to the table. A lot of times, it’s just a matter of being with the right kids and someone who understands where to put you and where you can be effective.”
Once Nyemchek and this senior class walks out of the gym for the final time, Montano and all the other coaches of the Shore Conference hope that the latest All-American from the Shore will fan the flames of competition that has produced so many standout talents.... Click here to read full article
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