PGH NJ 2021-22 Team Preview: Manasquan

Rivalries in the Shore Conference are illuminated to a different level and one of the best overall rivalries within the Shore, without a doubt, is Manasquan and St. Rose. Last season, the two split a pair of games early on, the first two games of the spring for both schools. However, it was Manasquan who pulled through at the end of the year, winning a deciding third game between the schools for the 2-1 season series victory. The Big Blue Warriors finished 13-2 overall last season, with those two losses coming at the hands of the aforementioned St. Rose and the best team in the state, St. John Vianney, in the Shore Conference Tournament Pod A semis. This season, Manasquan comes in without three key seniors who graduated in the spring, the most impactful of the three being Allison Waters, the second-best three-point shooter on the team last season. Luckily, the Big Blue Warriors lost just 11 percent of its total offense, retaining its top five scorers and six of its top seven scorers overall coming into this season. Prep Girls Hoops New Jersey continues its season preview series with a look at Manasquan, a mainstay in the Shore Conference. This season’s roster is a senior-dominated one, with four of the five starters being seniors. Guard Mary Elizabeth Donnelly is the leader of this team, having led the team in most major statistical categories in the spring. Donnelly is expected to post double-double averages on the year, if not get close like she did as a junior. Fellow senior teammates [player_tooltip player_id="134632" first="Georgia" last="Heine"] and [player_tooltip player_id="155468" first="Brooke" last="Hollawell"] will be alongside her. Heine provides more help in the interior while Hollawell is one of the best pure shooters in the conference, having led Manasquan in three-point shooting as a junior. Dorothy Loffredo is the main forward option for this team and her experience is going to lend to a lot of success in the middle. Her agility situates her more as a stretch four, which will open up the floor for her teammates to score and make plays happen. The lone non-senior in the starting lineup is sophomore guard [player_tooltip player_id="325209" first="Hope" last="Masonius"], who can rebound really well, is a great passer and can shoot from the perimeter. That level of multi-positional versatility opens up the playbook for head coach Lisa Kukoda in a big way. There is plenty of bench depth on this team, with the sixth-woman option looking like sophomore forward Katie Collins, who put herself on the map as a freshman. Collins could see starting time this season, but will see plenty of the court to give Loffredo breaks. There’s already a great deal of confidence that Kukoda has instilled in Collins and that will pay dividends this season. Freshmen [player_tooltip player_id="333318" first="Shea" last="Donnelly"] and Shannon Heine, the younger sisters of teammates Mary and Georgia, respectively, are welcomed bench pieces on this team and will most assuredly transition into starters later in their high school careers. Three additional seniors, Lily Formichella, Quinn McCarthy and Kolby McGowan will provide veteran bench pieces for the Big Blue Warriors and junior Rylyn Orlando will see more of the floor this season to prepare for a starting role next season. The surplus of seniors is a great thing as they’ll provide leadership and coaching for younger players who are going to be needed almost immediately to step up once they’re gone. This is the year for Manasquan to de-throne the top dogs. The pieces are in place and only the court will dictate what happens in the end. PGH NJ has plenty more coverage coming this high school season, so stay tuned.