Two area basketball teams — Red Bank Catholic High School’s girls and Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School’s boys — made deep runs in their respective state tournaments.
The RBC girls were ousted in a 73-59 loss to Saint Rose High School in the South Jersey, Non-Public A title game that was played on March 8 at Long Branch High School.
The victory sent Saint Rose to the Non-Public A state championship game against Immaculate Heart Academy on March 10 at RWJBarnabas Health Arena on the campus of Toms River High School North.
Saint Rose continued its run when it defeated Immaculate Heart Academy, 53-38, to win the Non-Public A state title last Saturday. Saint Rose will now bid to win a state Tournament of Champions crown this week. The Tournament of Champions opened for girls on March 14, with the semifinals scheduled for March 16 and the title game on March 18.
RBC, which is ranked fifth in the state poll, crafted a rally in the third quarter after it entered the second half down by a count of 37-20 to Saint Rose, which is ranked No. 2 in the state.
Sparked by Rose Caverly, the Caseys outscored Saint Rose, 23-13, in the third to cut their deficit to 50-43 entering the fourth quarter. But Saint Rose thwarted RBC’s rally with a 23-16 closing effort. Mikayla Markham delivered on 11 of her 14 points in the final quarter to preserve Saint Rose’s victory.
Caverly finished with 20 of her 24 points in the second half, as RBC ended the season with a 23-6 record. Also contributing in the final game for RBC were Amanda Hart, who hit for 15 points, and Katie Rice, who sank 11 points.
Rumson-Fair Haven’s boys claimed their second straight Central Jersey, Group 2 state sectional title when the team defeated Carteret High School, 57-52, on March 5.
The victory sent Rumson-Fair Haven to the Group 2 semifinal, where it was defeated by Haddonfield Memorial High School, 43-39, at the RWJBarnabas Health Arena in Toms River on March 8.
Haddonfield erased a one-point lead by Rumson-Fair Haven when Dan Fleming nailed a 3-point basket for a 41-39 edge with 1:25 to play in the fourth quarter. Two free throws with 3.7 seconds to go iced the game for Haddonfield.
Ian O’Connor led Rumson-Fair Haven with 19 points.
The Bulldogs closed the season with a 25-3 record.
Haddonfield continued to soar and went on to defeat Central High School of Newark, 62-45, in the Group 2 state championship game on March 11. That victory put Haddonfield in the Tournament of Champions that began for boys on March 13.
