Many of the area’s basketball standouts and best teams will be on display on Jan. 14-15 at the Boardwalk Hoop Group Showcase
Long Branch High School in Long Branch will host 10 games (five games each day). Most of the boys and girls teams that will be competing are ranked among the top 25 teams in the state by NJ Hoops.
Among the boys teams that will be playing, Colts Neck, Jackson Memorial and Middletown North are ranked 17, 18 and 19, respectively, in New Jersey.
Among the girls teams that will be playing, Red Bank Catholic is No. 6, St. John Vianney is No. 8, Jackson Memorial is No. 12 and Rumson-Fair Haven Regional is No. 14.
All of those teams will be in action this week, as will some of the Shore Conference’s premier players like Raritan’s Chris Aaman, who has committed to Wagner College, and Middletown North’s Jason Huelbig, who is headed to Assumption, and uncommitted standouts like Colts Neck’s Hunter Wysocki and Sean O’Reilly, Jackson Memorial’s Brandon McDonnell and Brian Kenny, Christian Brothers Academy’s Eric Shaw, and Middletown North’s Greg Youncofski.
The top girls players will include Annette Snow from Blair Academy and Tiffany Montagne from Jackson Memorial. Snow, who lives in Freehold Township, transferred to BlairAcademy two years ago. She will continue her basketball career at Lafayette.
St. Rose High School of Belmar, ranked No. 4 in the state, has two college-bound standouts: Kasey Chambers (Monmouth) and Samantha Clark (Fordham). Red Bank Catholic’s Caroline Corcoran and Jackson Memorial’s Stephanie Mason are juniors who excel on their teams.
Future stars such as St. John Vianney’s Katie Beriont and Rumson-Fair Haven’s Grace Stant will be showcased, too.
The action will begin at noon Jan. 14 with coach Lou Piccola’s Colts Neck Cougars taking on Lakewood, which is ranked No. 23 in the state.
At 1:40 p.m. there will be another Monmouth County vs. Ocean County contest with Middletown North facing Jackson Memorial. CBA will play Point Pleasant Beach at 3:20 p.m., Raritan will face Neptune at 5 p.m., and the evening will conclude with Manasquan meeting host Long Branch.
The girls will take center stage on Jan. 15, tipping off at noon with a game between traditional Shore Conference and state powers Neptune and Rumson.
That game will be followed by Blair Academy going up against St. John Vianney, the state’s marquee girls program, at 1:40 p.m. Point Pleasant Borough and St. Rose will play at 3:20 p.m.. The feature game of the day will tip off at 5 p.m. as national power Christ the King of New York City meets New Jersey’s No. 1 ranked team, Manasquan, which has, perhaps, the state’s top player in Michaela Mabrey.
The evening will conclude with another Monmouth County vs. Ocean County contest as RBC squares off against Jackson Memorial.
Advance tickets are available for the Boardwalk Hoop Group Showcase by going to HoopGroup.com.