Cape-Atlantic League Preview: Players to Keep an Eye On

The New Jersey basketball season, just like most other sports, has been heavily effected by the coronavirus pandemic. The season has been pushed back to January 11^th when teams can start to practice before games begin on the 26^th. It’s not what anyone expected but there is basketball to look forward to and players chomping at the bit to get back on the court. In a hyper competitive Cape-Atlantic League there are tons of players to keep an eye on in what should be an interesting season. <strong>2021 PG Kate Herlihy – Middle Township</strong> Middle Township is coming off of a great season, going 23-7 but ultimately falling to Manchester Township in the NJSIAA South Jersey Group 2 Championship. A hard fought loss, the team is now undergoing a substantial overhaul as many of the heavy lifters on the team have graduated. It is now Kate Herlihy’s team to lead and the senior point guard looks poised to thrive after filling more of a complementary role last year. Herlihy has already surpassed one thousand career points and has shown she can put up points consistently, averaging 14.2 points per game last year. She has shown a selflessness while running the point and lets her teammates shine in important spots, she sees the game quicker than most and makes sure to get everyone involved. With Middle Township losing the program’s all-time leading scorer to graduation the team really shouldn’t miss a beat with Herlihy at the helm. <strong>2021 5-8 SG Lila Schoen – Mainland Regional High School</strong> Playing next to a superstar player is no easy task, but Lila Schoen has grown into her role on Mainland Regional. Former Mainland player [player_tooltip player_id="134581" first="Kylee" last="Watson"], now playing for the University of Oregon, took a lot of the spotlight each night but it was Schoen who consistently proved that she also has a future at the next level. Schoen is a great shooter but doesn’t mind getting scrappy in the paint, always looking for rebounds or to block a shot. She looks more comfortable playing off the ball but with a tight handle and great vision Schoen has proven she can take on more of a responsibility running an offense. With Watson no longer in the fold I’m excited to see how Lila Schoen steps up to help continue Mainland Regional’s success. <strong>2022 5-3 PG/SG Kimmy Casiello – Wildwood Catholic</strong> Kimmy Casiello is everything you want in a shooting guard. She doesn’t need the ball in her hands at all times to succeed, her catch and shoot prowess is her most impressive trait but she can still do much more. Casiello only averaged 6.7 points per game this past year she makes the most of her opportunities while playing next to a future Division 1 player in [player_tooltip player_id="134625" first="Marianna" last="Papazoglou"] (Class of 2021, committed to Penn). Only a junior, Casiello has a chance to really open some eyes this year as a shooting guard that pairs extremely well with a ball dominant point guard. <strong>2022 5-7 G Marin Panico – Ocean City High School</strong> Ocean City High School rode an impressive group of seniors all the way to a 23-8 record and an NJSIAA Group 3 Championship last year, this year will be much different. With a big roster turnover Ocean City will have to rely on some of the role players to step up. One of those players is Marin Panico, the do it all junior guard. Panico has a nose for the basket and seems to love to get into the lane and fight for tough baskets. She also has a nice touch from outside which makes defenses have to constantly be on their toes when guarding her because they don’t know what she’ll pull out of her bag of tricks. Panico is going to have much more responsibility this year but with a strong supporting cast around her this could be a year where she begins to turn some heads. <strong>2022 6-3 C Cea’anai Jackson – Atlantic County Institute of Technology</strong> Cea’anai Jackson is one of the most physically imposing players in the Cape-Atlantic League. She is one of the reasons why ACIT is so physically imposing on both sides of the ball and what led them to an impressive 17-10 record this past year. Jackson is hard to move out of the paint, her footwork and soft touch around the rim make her an impressive center prospect and her smarts on defense make her a potential player of the year candidate. Jackson knows when to pick and choose her spots to make a big play, never getting too ahead of herself, she is the player that both fans and coaches should be looking at closely this year. <strong>2023 6-0 G/F Quanirah Cherry-Montague – Atlantic City High School</strong> One of the stories of the season this past year was the introduction of Quanirah Cherry-Montague onto the radars of just about everyone paying attention to the Cape-Atlantic League. As a freshman Cherry-Montague lit the league on fire on her way to an average of 7.8 points and 8 rebounds per game. She also had seven double-doubles on the year and at one point strung together four consecutive double-doubles, not too shabby for a freshman playing varsity minutes. Atlantic City performed exceptionally well, finishing the year with a 20-8 record, this year the team is looking to stay the course and with Cherry-Montague leading the team there is confidence Atlantic City can reach new heights.