Sunday: Neptune, St. John Vianney win; Manasquan falls

Saturday: St. John Vianney, St. Rose go down

Friday: Neptune bows to Malcolm X Shabazz

–Here’s what you do if you’re St. John Vianney. You take your weekend split (a loss to Riverdale Baptist on Saturday and a win over Germantown Academy on Sunday) and you get the hell out of Dodge. With the factors the Lancers had to deal with, it’s really that simple. With Katie O’Reilly playing sick on Saturday, SJV fell to Riverdale Baptist up in the Bronx. Along the way, O’Reilly took a forehead to the nose and the fear was it was broken. I was told by Lancers head coach Dawn Karpell on Sunday morning that the senior’s status for Sunday evening was up in the air. She apparently was never in doubt and in fact, started the game 20 hours later in Radnor, Pa. as St. John Vianney won a physical contest with Germantown Academy. With O’Reilly’s issues, the quick turnaround and the distance from home, yeah, take it and run. St. John Vianney travels to Rumson on Tuesday with a fourth straight Class A Central title on the line.

–Big weekend for Missy Repoli. The senior guard scored 24 on Saturday against Riverdale Baptist, she went for 22 on Sunday including all three of her triples in the second quarter to help the Lancers to an 11-point halftime lead. After all the hubbub with O’Reilly, she went 6-for-8 from the line in the fourth quarter and finished with 12 points.

–Neptune trailed Trenton Catholic briefly in the early-going before taking home a nip-and-tuck affair on Sunday night against Briyona Canty and the Iron Mikes. Like St. John Vianney, the Scarlet Fliers salvaged a split on the weekend after what amounted to a largely foul-plagued and listless effort in a 15-point loss to Malcolm X Shabazz. Neptune head coach John Brown refuses to blame the weather and the accompanying missed games and practices for what was a sloppy effort against Shabazz, but it really is a valid point in my opinion. Neptune lost its entire Christmas tournament and loads of practice time in between and since thanks to snow. Things like that amount to a lack of continuity with so many interruptions. Yes, teams like St. John Vianney and St. Rose have also fallen victim to missed practices, but have not lost nearly as many, if any, games as Neptune. I have the count at four games (All three Christmas games and a nonconference matchup with Trenton Central) canceled for what that’s worth. The weather this week doesn’t look like it’s going to help the reigning TOC champs out either.

–Nonconference games like the ones that took place this weekend, with the exception of Neptune-Shabazz, really mean something. St. John Vianney lost to Riverdale Baptist? So what? They won’t meet again. Games like these are simply measuring stick games that are fun for the fans and lowly reporters like me to talk about in the middle of the season. I thought the underrated game of the weekend was a matchup of contrasting styles with Manasquan against a big and physical Moore Catholic team. A Manasquan win wouldn’t have shaken the world, but to the savvy follower of girls hoops in the tri-state area, that would have opened a few eyes.

–Credit Michaela Mabrey, who had Moore Catholic lock down defender Nicole Arnone all over her. Mabrey still managed to drop 27 and foul Arnone out with about 3:00 to play in the game. The problem for Manasquan has been and continues to be the lack of another scoring option. Mabrey and freshman point guard Katelynn Flaherty combined to score all of their team’s 24 first half points and 41 out of 48 points for the game.

–St. Rose maybe could have had an argument for the #1 seed in the Shore Conference Tournament had it run the table. Thanks to a bunch of second half turnovers and strong play on both ends from Blair Academy senior Harvard recruit Temi Fagbenle on Saturday, that argument went south. The Purple Roses let a 12-point halftime lead slip away in a cloud of turnovers and just six points in the second half. Shaina Earle’s layup with nine seconds left in the game capped the scoring at 32-30. Who hit the Blair Academy triple to tie the game at 30? For Freehold Township guard Annette Snow, who transferred to Blair this season.