Girls Basketball Team Full Strength Ready For Postseason

RED BANK – It took until the end of February before Red Bank Catholic was able to deploy its full compliment of talented players on the court. With COVID-19 protocols and multiple feet of snow this month complicating the high school basketball season, the Caseys haven’t been able to take on the elite teams on their schedule at full strength. Late this week, the Caseys finally got all their ducks in a row. Everyone was available to play and they’ve started to show what a fully operational Red Bank Catholic team can do. With an impressive 65-51 victory against Manchester Township Saturday, the Caseys - still building up their fitness - look poised to make a huge statement in next week’s postseason pod and hope to show their lopsided 30-point loss at the hands of St. John Vianney last week was only a result of a depleted roster. “Our goal is to come back to SJV and prove that we shouldn’t have lost by that much,” Red Bank Catholic junior Justine Pissott said. The Caseys started the season shorthanded and virus protocols forced the program into a two-week shutdown early in February. They were able to come back for their first game on Feb. 17. Pissott wasn't available when the Caseys fell 63-32 to St. John Vianney in a battle of the top two ranked teams in the Shore Conference. Pissott, a Tennessee commit, said, "I was so eager to come back." Red Bank Catholic with its full lineup has proved to be the dominant force it was expected to be in the preseason. The Caseys’ depth is what saved the team with players missing time. Now, the depth has become a dangerous weapon. Seven different players scored in a balanced effort. Sabino and Casey Prior each scored 14 points, Pissott had 11 while Toni Panayides and All Carman each contributed nine. “I think our sophomores, Emma (Carman) and Casey and Molly (Kelly) have stepped up and given us quality minutes so the older guys can get their rest and get healthy,” Red Bank Catholic coach Joe Montano said. More impressively, Red Bank Catholic contained Manchester star senior and North Carolina commit Destiny Adams. The senior still did her damage, scoring 23 points and grabbing 21 rebounds, but the Caseys held her to zero field goals in the first half. “I’ve been coaching a long time, there’s very few kids you have to game plan for that way, she’s that good,” Montano said. “Our goal was let’s make the other kids make shots to beat us.” The Caseys had more motivation for this game other than preparing for next week’s postseason. Manchester was the team that sent Red Bank Catholic packing in the Shore Conference semifinals, a 64-43 drubbing. With a potential date against St. John Vianney in next week's postseason final on the line, there could be more personal games in the Caseys' future. “We wanted to come back from last year after losing,” Pissott said. “We should have been at Monmouth playing. It was a personal game for us.”

GIRLS BASKETBALL TEAM FULL STRENGTH READY FOR POSTSEASON

DANIEL LOGIUDICE

Asbury Park Press | 3/2/2021

PHOTO CREDIT: Peter Ackerman