Red Bank Catholic girls basketball overpowers Gloucester Catholic in South A semifinal

Defending Non-Public A girls basketball champion Red Bank Catholic was not too keen on making the 90-minute trip to play an away playoff game. The third-seeded Caseys took out those feelings on second-seeded Gloucester Catholic. Red Bank Catholic, ranked No. 5 in the NJ.com Top 20, began Monday night's NJSIAA Non-Public, South A semifinal with 10 straight points and never looked back on its way to a 56-39 win over the host Rams, ranked No. 11 in the NJ.com Top 20. The Caseys shot the lights out from beyond the arc, draining nine total triples and shooting better than 60 percent form long distance. Katie Rice, Hayley Moore and Amanda Hart each chipped in 11 points, while Julia Setaro hit a pair of 3s as part of her nine points off the bench. "Gloucester Catholic has some really talented players, and they're a good team, and we're coming from far away, so shooting well early and playing well in the first quarter was huge," Rice said. "We lost some games this season we shouldn't have lost, so it was a punch in the stomach to have to come all the way down here. But we weren't going to lose no matter where we'd have to play (the game)." Red Bank Catholic (23-5) advances to the sectional final Wednesday, where it will be back at home thanks to fifth-seeded and No. 3 ranked St. Rose upending top-seed and No. 2 ranked St. John Vianney, 47-43, in the Monday's other semifinal. It wasn't just the Caseys' offense that was on-point early. Red Bank Catholic, usually a man-to-man defensive team, came out in a zone with the goal of containing Gloucester Catholic leading scorer Azana Baines (12 points, 10 rebounds). It worked as the Rams scored just 11 first-half points and held Baines scoreless in the first two quarters. "Everywhere (Baines) went we moved our zone and surrounded her," Rice said. "We took her out of the game early and that was one of the things that helped us get a big lead." "They came out in a zone we hadn't experienced all season, and it took a little while for us to react to it," Baines said. "We just had too many mistakes and too many turnovers in the first quarter to make up for against a good team." After Sophia Sabina opened the game with a 3, Rose Caverly's driving lay-up and ensuing 3-pointer pushed the Caseys to a 10-0 lead midway through the first quarter. With a 12-5 lead, Red Bank scored the first nine points of the second quarter and led 27-9 at halftime after three consecutive 3s by Hart, Setaro and Moore. Gloucester Catholic earned the home playoff game but played below its capabilities early in the game. "You can't play that way for two and a half quarters," Gloucester Catholic coach Lisa Gedaka said. "We played opposite the way we wanted to. You have no room for error against this team. We not only make tons of mistakes, but they out-hustled us. They're a tremendous team, and we knew our margin of error was small. It was the emotional, mental part that I didn't expect. We came out a little soft." The Rams responded in the second half and started the fourth quarter on a 14-7 run, which got as close as 15, but a pair of 3s from Hart helped Red Bank keep pace. Rams' freshman Jada Williams finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds. "We hiccuped in the first two and half quarters, but for the final one and a half quarters, we showed heart and guts and played Gloucester Catholic basketball," Gedaka said. "We made mistakes today that hopefully we can learn from. Then I say to myself, projecting going into the season, we didn't know we'd do so well. We lost four starters and two subs. (Baines) was the only starter we had coming back. "I'm really proud of my team."

RED BANK CATHOLIC GIRLS BASKETBALL OVERPOWERS GLOUCESTER CATHOLIC IN SOUTH A SEMIFINAL

MATT CHANDO

NJ Sports | 3/12/2018

PHOTO CREDIT: Lori Nichols