PGH NJ 2021-22 Team Preview: Red Bank Catholic

This spring’s Covid-shortened season was one that caused a lot of adjustments and changes for high school programs across the state of New Jersey. It was a weird season, hopefully the only one that will be like this for a long, long time, but in the end, the best teams still found their way to the top. In the Shore Conference, Red Bank Catholic was for sure part of that list, finishing 10-2 with a perfect 7-0 record in their temporary pod for the season. The Caseys are hoping the success they sustained over the short season will translate in a positive way for the winter. Prep Girls Hoops New Jersey continues its season preview series with Red Bank Catholic, a veteran-led squad with a number of impact players returning this season. Three seniors, Lucy Alberici, Antonia Panayides and Sophia Sabino, graduated in the spring, three of the top six scorers for the Caseys. All three were excellent three-point shooters, with Panayides being the best of the trio in that department. Their production will be missed, but Red Bank Catholic has the returning reinforcements to soften the blow, starting with junior [player_tooltip player_id="325213" first="Casey" last="Prior"] and senior [player_tooltip player_id="134627" first="Justine" last="Pissott"], two guards who can shoot the lights out. Last season, Prior and Pissott knocked down nearly 3.4 three-pointers a game, putting up better numbers from the perimeter between the two of them than the spring’s senior class. That’s incredibly encouraging for this season as it looks like junior Molly Kelly is likely the other returning perimeter threat for the Caseys. Pissott is one of two main leaders on this team along with senior [player_tooltip player_id="134631" first="Ally" last="Carman"], who averaged 13.9 PPG and was one of the best centers in the Shore Conference overall. Carman and her sister, Emma, who is now a junior, along with Pissott, will be some of the key forwards this team uses, with Ally being the main one as she’s essentially been since freshman year. It’s very likely that the Carman sister, Pissott, Prior and Kelly will be the main starting rotation for Red Bank Catholic, and with more freshman reinforcements coming in, that’s one of the best starting lineups in the state. The Caseys have a great combination of size and speed and can stretch the floor with ease and fill up the stat sheet on any given night. It will be interesting to see just how much RBC chooses to rely on shooting threes or if they play a more inside and midrange game, but having the flexibility of options there is an advantage for this team.