Top-Ranked St. John Vianney Squeaks By Third-Ranked Manasquan In Overtime

Above game photo’s courtesy of Tom Smith

MANASQUAN – Two of the top three teams in the state squared off Friday night and put on quite a show for the standing-room only crowd inside a sweltering sold-out Manasquan gym.

Kelly Campbell - playing in her second game since returning from a troublesome shin injury – hit junior center Kim Evans with a perfect feed for the go-ahead layup with 40.7 seconds left to play to put St. John Vianney up for good. Then on Manasquan’s ensuing possession freshman Sarah Karpell forced a steal, was fouled and added two clutch free throws to put the finishing touches on the Lancers dramatic 52-48 overtime win.

Manasquan was down by two and had possession with mere seconds left in regulation when junior guard Addie Masonius found her sister – freshman sensation Faith – with an over the top feed for a left-handed layup to send the game into overtime tied at 42 all.

It was a gutsy performance by the Warrriors (7-1) who played without the services of their lockdown defender and leading scorer (15.5 ppg) Dara Mabrey.

The 6-foot-3 Evan’s scored 10 of her 15 team-high points in the second half along with grabbing a game-high 10 boards to lead the Lancers. Campbell finished with nine points, four rebounds, five assists and three steals while Tina Lebron added eight points and 6-foot-1 senior forward Gigi Caponegro picked up five points, eight boards, three steals and a block.

For the Warriors, Stella Clark was once again stellar scoring 19 points to lead Manasquan while Faith Masonius scored eight of her 15 points between the fourth quarter and overtime and Addie Masonius added seven points and eight rebounds. Sophomore swing Maggie Kelly – who started in place of Mabrey – pulled down seven boards.

It doesn’t get any easier for the Lancers as they travel to NYC to take on city power Christ the King – ranked No.5 in the MSG tri-state poll - at 3:00 p.m. today.

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