Saint John Vianney Beats Manasquan In 2 OT's For Tournament of Champions Crown

Photo's above by Tom Smith: Campbell #20, Pinho #33, Evans #15, Caponegro #25 Masonius #30 and Mabrey #11

TRENTON – Saint John Vianney and Manasquan, the No.1 and No.3 teams in the state respectively, went into double overtime before the Lancers took back control of the game in the second overtime outscoring the Warriors 12-5 to pull out a 65-58 win in the Tournament of Champions final Monday night at the Sun National Bank Center in Trenton.

A fourth-quarter Manasquan rally - led by freshman sensation Faith Masonius - tied it in regulation before Saint John Vianney senior guard Kelly Campbell’s last-second off-the-mark shot for the win in the first overtime sent the game into double overtime.

Gabrielle Caponegro’s jumper from the left wing for two points was the first of five straight Lancers points to start the second overtime. Masonius’ three-pointer from the top of the key pulled the Warriors to within 60-58 but that’s as close as they would get as Campbell iced the game for the Lancers dropping in eight straight free throws. The 6-foot point guard and DePaul University recruit hit on 14 of her 18 free-throw attempts for the game including going 13-for-16 in the fourth quarter and two overtimes finishing with a team-high 23 points, 11 rebounds and six assists.

With the exception of Zoe Pero, who transferred to Saint John Vianney for her sophomore season, this senior laden team have been playing together since AAU and came in together as SJV freshman when they lost 11 games. Pero joined Campbell – a first team All-Shore selection a year ago - Tina Lebron, Gabrielle Caponegro, Vanessa Pinho, Emily Uribe, Megan Furch, Kellie Crouch and second team All-Shore forward Kim Evans – only a junior.

Anointed the No.1 ranked team in New Jersey in all preseason polls, this tight-knit group faced a ton of pressure – a lot of it self-inflicted. They were expected to bring another Shore Conference Tournament title back to Saint John Vianney for the first time since 2005 and to win the programs first Tournament of Champions title since 2009; they accomplished both. Their 31-1 record caps a season where they went wire-to-wire as the No.1 team in the state and ended the programs drought of postseason titles.

Evans finished with 11 points, six rebounds, two blocks and a steal for the Lancers while Pinho added 10 points, a steal and a block. Pero had eight points and three rebounds and Lebron chipped in with seven points and two steals.

For the Warriors, Masonius led all scorers including scoring 13 of her game-high 27 points in the final 3:50 of the fourth quarter. She also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds and had two blocked shots. Stella Clark added 13 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals for another awesome all-around effort while Dara Mabrey chipped in 10 points and six rebounds.

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