PGH New Jersey’s 2021 Team of the Year: St. John Vianney
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With 2021 coming to an end, the Prep Girls Hoops New Jersey team wanted to take a look back at the year as a whole and take a look at the best of the best from the entire year. The…
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Continue ReadingWith 2021 coming to an end, the Prep Girls Hoops New Jersey team wanted to take a look back at the year as a whole and take a look at the best of the best from the entire year.
The best place to start is with the best team and best player in New Jersey in 2021, so let’s begin with the best team of 2021.
When looking at the best teams in New Jersey, there’s really only one team to pick and that’s St. John Vianney.
The Lady Lancers were undefeated throughout the entire calendar year, going 18-0, taking down every opponent in their path. That includes teams like Paul VI, Trenton Catholic, Saddle River Day, Red Bank Catholic, Manasquan and more.
This team was full of talent from top-to-bottom, a balanced lineup of great players, some of which have graduated.
First, last year’s seniors: Katie Hill, Emma Bruen and Sianna Bradley, were key cogs in a SJV squad that went 14-0 overall and took home the Shore Conference Pod A Tournament Championship.
Hill, in particular, averaged 12.3 PPG, 3.2 APG and 2.1 SPG in her final season with the Lady Lancers. Bruen was fifth on the team in assists as a senior and Bradley, while playing in just nine games, had an impactful defensive presence for the Lady Lancers.
In the spring, SJV rolled out a 14-woman roster and all but four played in all 14 games, showing the sheer level of depth that this team had on a game-to-game basis.
The sophomore class, Janie Bachmann, Ciera Cevallos, Bre Delaney, Charolette Dooley, Mikaela Hubbard Mikaela Hubbard 6'2" | PF St. John Vianney | 2023 State NJ and Ashley Sofilkanich, were incredibly vital as the spring wore on. The latter two, Hubbard and Sofilkanich, had years that signaled future breakout candidates in the Shore Conference.
Julia Karpell Julia Karpell SG St. John Vianney | 2024 State NJ , the lone freshman on last season’s roster, was a budding passing machine, averaging just over one per game in her first season.
That leads us to the junior class, one headed by Madison St. Rose Madison St. Rose 5'10" | PG St. John Vianney | 2022 State #65 Nation NJ , the Princeton commit, who nearly averaged 20.0 PPG as a junior. She’s incredibly important to the success of this team and for good reason.
There are very few players in the state who can do what she does and SJV has a future college and pro star on their hands right now. The other juniors, Megan Calahan, Paige Knutsen and Ashley O’Connor, were incredibly important pieces.
Calahan and O’Connor were two of the top six scorers on the team in the spring and Calahan was the best forward for the Lady Lancers and has continued that into the early part of this season. Calahan and Hubbard are a fierce forward duo who combined for nearly two blocks a game as well.
That leads us to this season and the addition of Trenton Catholic junior guard Zoe Brooks Zoe Brooks 5'8" | CG St. John Vianney | 2023 State NJ , one of the top players in the 2023 class in the country. What a better way to upgrade than with Brooks and she’s been incredibly dominant.
The Brooks-St. Rose combo has combined for around 40.0 PPG so far, and that’s just two players. There’s a reason why the Lady Lancers were ranked as a top-15 team in the nation by ESPN to start this season.
St. John Vianney is the best team in the state and will continue to be until someone de-thrones them. This is dominance at its best and we’ll be watching to see how long the undefeated streak can last.