St. Rose basketball turns to Roselle Catholic after first section title win in 19 years

MEDFORD – A season that began with incredible possibilities has now taken St. Rose to the doorstep of history.

The latest chapter in the Purple Roses' meteoric rise was written in Wednesday’s NJSIAA South Non-Public B final. Behind an intense defensive effort and fourth-quarter offensive surge, they rolled to a 59-43 victory over Bishop Eustace to win the title for the first time in 19 years.

Leading the way with 20 points was junior forward Matt Hodge, who ignited a late rally to put the game away, while sophomore guard Bryan Eberling finished with 13 points. It caps a remarkable transformation over the past 12 months after losing to Bishop Eustace on a buzzer-beater in the opening round a year ago, with six high-level transfers altering the program’s trajectory.

“When we were able to get the players in I realized we were talented, and this might be a possibility,” St. Rose coach Brian Lynch said.

St. Rose (24-4) is now in position to win the program’s first state championship in 46 years. And standing in the way is North Non-Public B and defending state champion Roselle Catholic, considered among the top teams in the country. That game is set for Friday at 7 p.m. at Jersey Mike's Arena in Piscataway.

And while Roselle Catholic beat St. Rose, 77-56, on Jan. 21, the Purple Roses were without freshman guard Jayden Hodge, their leading scorer at the time, who had the flu, while several other players were under the weather that game.

“I don’t want to bring up any excuses, but that game was kind of like our dark game,” Matt Hodge said. “Everybody wasn’t healthy, my brother couldn’t play because he was sick, so we’re excited.”

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“Obviously, they are huge favorites. They’re a tremendous, tremendous team. We know that,” Lynch said. “We just would have liked to have had a chance to play (at full strength), so we circled it on our calendar, maybe have a chance to play them again for everything when all the marbles are there and we’re fully stacked, and we are.”

Lessons learned

As Bishop Eustace scored twice in the opening minute of the fourth quarter to trim the St. Rose lead to 40-32, you couldn’t help but think back to the semifinal loss to Ranney in the Shore Conference Tournament, when St. Rose had a 13-point lead and was at the free throw line with 1:56 to play, eventually losing in overtime.

But Matt Hodge would have none of it

He hit a pair of 3-pointers to ignite a rally that put the game out of reach, with Eberling following with a triple of his own with less than four minutes to play to give St. Rose a 49-34 lead, which eventually swelled to 19 points.

“After losing a heartbreaking game against Ranney, everybody looked themselves in the mirror and asked what happened, what went wrong? " Matt Hodge said. "I think that is what we worked really hard on the last few weeks. We’re too good a team to let down in those situations, we’ve got to stay smart and keep our composure and that is what we did today.”

Added Lynch: “I when I was that Matt started getting going, we basically spread the floor and gave it to him.

“Matt is a great leader for us. He is elite defender and an elite passer and when he gets everybody going we’re just so much better. So that is what he did today. He took it upon himself to do some more scoring and that was a big step up for Matt. I was really proud of him.”

Fast start

St. Rose, which opened the season with 14 straight wins, got off to a solid start, as Eberling drained a 3-pointer and Gio Panzini scored on a drive in the final seconds to take a 12-7 lead after the first quarter.

They took their biggest lead of the first half at 21-10 on a Pater Mauro score midway through the second quarter, with Bishop Eustace scoring the final four points of the half to cut the lead to seven points.

It was the third straight win for St. Rose, which got a share of the Shore Conference C North division title along with Manasquan, which is playing Thursday night in the Group 2 semifinal. The two teams split during the regular season.

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It was as impressive as any of St. Rose’s performances this season, an 87-52 punishing of St. Joseph of Hammonton in Monday night’s NJSIAA South Non-Public B semifinal that saw the Purple Roses build a 31-9 lead after the first quarter, stretching the advantage to 30 points by halftime.

And it came nearly two weeks after the season’s most disappointing moment, that Shore Conference Tournament semifinal meltdown against Ranney, when the Purple Roses coughed up a big lead in the final two minutes and losing in overtime.

But from a game that could have derailed its postseason dreams, St. Rose (23-4) has risen again with a pair of dominating tournament wins, looking very much like the team that won 14 straight games to open the season.

“I’ve always been trying to look forward with these guys, so the best you can on that next possession type of mentality,” said St. Rose coach Brian Lynch. “So I didn’t want to dwell too long on the Ranney game, but that was a tough loss. You’re up 13 points and at the line (with 1:56 to play). Fans are walking out of the gym thinking the game is over, so our kids felt it.

“But sometimes you have to take a step back to go two steps forward, and we used it as a learning experience for all of us and how we could do better.”

Now the Purple Roses face Bishop Eustace (18-10) in the South Non-Public B final Wednesday (5 p.m.) at Lenape High School in Medford. And the Crusaders happen to be coming off a 48-44 overtime win over Ranney in the semifinals.

Here’s what you need to know as the Purple Roses look to survive and advance:

1.  A loaded lineup

St. Rose’s meteoric rise this season continues on the strength of its six underclass transfers, including a trio of international players in junior 6-8 forward Matt Hodge and his brother, 6-5 freshman Jayden (12.8 ppg.), from Belgium, and sophomore Bryan Eberling (10.5 ppg, 3 rpg.) from Italy, helping to transform the program into a contender.

They’ve blended with sophomores Peter Mauro (Gill St. Bernard) and Evan Romano (Holmdel), and junior Gio Panzini (Red Bank Catholic), all of whom sat out the first 30 days of the season in accordance with NJSIAA transfer rules, to create a formidable lineup.

“I do feel like when you look at our team, the guy with most experience is Gio Panzini,” Lynch said. “We have two freshmen and three sophomores playing. And while Matt Hodge is one of the better players in New Jersey, this is his first year playing in America. So it’s different than Gio, who had two years of varsity-level experience.”

2.  Crusaders battle tested

Like Ranney, Bishop Eustace was in a brutal division, joining Camden, Camden Catholic, Camden Eastside and Paul VI in the Olympic Conference’s National Division. The Crusaders do have some wins over good teams, including Sterling, which played Middle Township in Tuesday’s South Group 2 final.

James Ianelli, the Crusaders’ 6-2 senior guard, is averaging 16.1 points, He had 14 points against Ranney, and 22 points in a lopsided loss to Camden in the Camden County Tournament. Senior guard James Callahan (9.8 ppg.) and sophomore Tommy Semiraglo (10.5 ppg.) round out a guard-driven offense, while senior center Daniel Mason leads the team in rebounding.

3. What it means

With a win, St. Rose would be in position to win its first state championship since capturing the Non-Public B title in 1977. But standing in the way is likely to be powerhouse Roselle Catholic, with the Lions beating St. Rose at home, 77-56, on Jan. 21.

Roselle Catholic is the heavy favorite against Montclair Immaculate in Wednesday’s North Non-Public B final.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: NJ basketball: St. Rose beats Bishop Eustace to win section title