By Rich Chrampanis
WEST LONG BRANCH – This was supposed to be the year that the rest of the Shore Conference had their chance to end the reign of Saint John Vianney girls basketball. After four straight Shore Conference championships dating back to the COVID-shortened season, this year’s SJV team is primarily made up of underclassmen but a key senior leader and tenacious defense resulted in a fifth straight Shore Conference title.
The Lancers scored a gritty 33-27 win over Manasquan in the Shore Conference title game at Monmouth University. SJV lost to the Warriors 46-40 earlier in the regular season but learned from that loss and made a major improvement in the rebounding category in the rematch.
Baskets were tough to come by as both teams played superior defense. The Lancers had a 7-5 lead at the end of one before opening up a lead in the second quarter thanks to senior Julia Karpell. The Lancers fifth leading scorer used her experience to shine on the big stage. The Fairfield University commit was able to corral a missed three-pointer and scored on a wild no-look shot under the basket and followed that up with a three-pointer for five straight points. With Karpell’s 10 points in the first half, Saint John Vianney built a 20-10 lead through two quarters.
Manasquan made a third quarter comeback that featured a Hope Masonius behind-the-back pass to Katie Collins that got the Warriors within two points but SJV sophomore Taylor Sofilkanich scored four straight points to give the Lancers a 28-24 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
The final eight minutes saw both teams patiently trying to get the best look at the basket and coming up empty. The lone exception was Karpell scoring a hoop and foul in the paint for Vianney’s only field goal of the fourth quarter. In the end, Saint John Vianney outscored Manasquan 5-3 in the fourth with the Warriors only scoring from the free throw line. In the regular season meeting, Manasquan owned the boards with a 38-25 advantage. In Sunday’s championship game, the Lancers turned the tables with a 33-24 edge. Sofilkanich had six points and 12 rebounds to lead SJV’s work on the offensive and defensive glass.
“Taylor is a kid who really, really wants it,” Coach Karpell said. “A couple of weeks ago when we played Morris Catholic she was upset with her playing time. Her and I had a real heart-to-heart and told her something I needed her to show and she bought into owning the defensive end and owning the boards and doing what she needed to do.”
Sofilkanich responded from that high profile game and played with great poise for a sophomore adding three blocked shots and a steal in the win.
“We have a lot of leaders, but we really needed someone to step up and talk through the backend,” Sofilkanich said. “I am back there and I can see everything so I try to point out every single thing which was a really big help in our 3-2 (zone defense).”
Everyone savored the win in the postgame celebration but it was especially sweet for Julia Karpell who stepped up and assured herself of a fourth straight Shore Conference championship.
“Her leadership has been tested throughout the year and I thought today she played like a senior,” coach Karpell said about Julia’s play in the final. “She hit shots when we needed them, she got rebounds and she just did incredible things from a leadership angle that we just needed for us to get to that victory.”
Dawn Karpell let her guard down for a moment and shared a tearful embrace with her daughter shortly after the win. Coach Karpell is always first and foremost throughout the season but Mom was able to enjoy her daughter’s incredible game that made for tears of joy on both sides.
“It was so special,” Julia said. “I got to see my sister (Sarah) experience it and now that it was me – four times in a row, it’s so special to me.”
The Lancers are the fourth seed in the upcoming Non-Public “A” state playoffs and will need to get by top seed Red Bank Catholic, who was upset by Manasquan in the Shore semifinal and a possible rematch with Trinity Hall. The Monarchs are the second seed and lost to SJV in overtime in the Shore semis. There are some who say winning a Shore Conference title is as hard as winning a state championship so Saint John Vianney enters the postseason with confidence and the winning pedigree of one of the country’s elite girls basketball programs is well intact.
This article originally appeared in the February 22 – 28, 2024 print edition of The Two River Times.
