Lancers rely on depth in place of injured girls basketball players

BY MATTHEW ROCCO Correspondent

The St. John Vianney High School girls basketball team needed to regroup after losing standout guard Kat Egan to a season ending injury early this month, as the team fights to stay in the hunt for a division title.

In a game on Jan. 3 against Manasquan High School, Egan suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament and partially torn meniscus in her right knee. Emily Uribe, a talented freshman who had been the Lancers’ best player off the bench, sprained her ankle the same night.

The team certainly needed to make some adjustments after losing Egan and Uribe, who could be back on the court by the end of this week. Veteran leadership was more valuable than ever in the wake of those injuries, as head coach Dawn Karpell saw the upperclassmen “elevate their play.”

“We had to focus on competing each night since we lost Kat, and we were finally able to see it through against Point [Pleasant] Borough,” Karpell said.

Senior Lyndsay Rowe, who Karpell said “picked it up” in recent weeks, scored 18 points in a 51-42 win on Jan. 19 over Point Pleasant Borough High School, a game played at Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School as part of the Boardwalk Hoop Group Showcase. Juniors Katie Beriont and Jackie Gallagher have also been key to St. John Vianney’s continued success, according to the coach.

It took some time for St. John Vianney to get back on its feet. Two games against Christ the King Regional High School (Middle Village, N.Y.) and Red Bank Catholic High School were both lost in the final minute. And, soon after learning that Egan would miss the remainder of her senior season, the Lancers ended their 66-game winning streak against Shore Conference A Central Division rivals with a 46-30 loss to Holmdel High School.

A victory against Monmouth Regional High School, 81-35, and the win against Point Pleasant Borough two days later helped the Lancers regain some momentum halfway through the regular season.

“We get better each time we go out,” Karpell said, adding that some players needed to step up in the depth chart and are becoming more experienced as a result.

Meanwhile, the team’s difficult schedule will prove to be beneficial, as St. John Vianney (9-5) enters the postseason chase, she noted.

“Our schedule is preparing us and helping us get better,” the coach said.

The Lancers sit two games back of the A Central lead. A division title remains their first goal, Karpell added, and St. John Vianney will be playing its best basketball by the playoffs.

After a road game against Rumson-Fair Haven that was scheduled for Jan. 22, St. John Vianney is set to host Shore Regional High School on Jan. 25 at 6:30 p.m. The Lancers will then play Ossining High School in a tournament on Jan. 26 at Holmdel and then travel to Manasquan on Jan. 28.