NJSIAA Central Jersey, Group 1 Tournament 1st Round Takeaways

The New Jersey high school girls basketball playoffs are well underway across the state. There’s so much to cover in such a short amount of time, so we’re doing our best to get ample amounts of coverage to you. First round play in the Central Jersey, Group 1 bracket finished up on Tuesday. Here are some takeaways from Tuesday’s action. <strong>1. Roselle Park came out swinging as the No. 15 seed</strong> It was a rough year for Roselle Park, who entered its game against No. 2 seeded Woodbridge Academy with a 5-15 record. The Panthers struggled in Union County Conference play and were the heavy underdogs in the tournament. However, this team found a way to put up quite the fight against Woodbridge, taking it down to the wire. Senior forward Miranda Taveras had herself a game, leading all scorers with 14 points. She scored 21 points in Roselle Park’s last game, a 10-point win over Woodbridge. The matchups were there, but the Panthers came up just short in a great battle. <strong>2. Shore looked like quite the dangerous team</strong> The postseason is a time for cinderella runs to happen and Shore has that kind of DNA within its program to go on a championship-type run. Shore easily took care of Highland Park in its first round game as the No. 5 seed won by 44 points. It was the [player_tooltip player_id="155445" first="Rylee" last="Drahos"] show on Tuesday for Shore as she scored a career-high 35 points in the win, officially joining the 1000 point club. With Drahos on a roll and Shore feeding off her dominance, this team is one to watch as the tournament rolls on. <strong>3. South Hunterdon took control from the opening tip and never relinquished it</strong> Three Eagles scored in double figures as South Hunterdon easily advanced to the quarterfinals with a 38-point win over Henry Hudson. This game was over within the first quarter as SH led 17-5 after the first eight minutes of play and 33-5 going into the half. Sophie Hinman had a spectacular game from the perimeter, knocking down four three-pointers on her way to a game-high 14 points in the win. South Hunterdon sunk nine threes in the game as nearly half of its scoring came from beyond the arc. The No. 3 seeded Eagles take on Florence in the quarters on Thursday. <strong>4. No. 13 seeded Keansburg provided the lone upset of the first round</strong> It was a tough conference schedule for Keansburg in the Shore Conference, but it prepared this team well for the postseason. The Titans, behind a 19-point day from Neveah Tucker and a double-double from Lindsay Rivera, handed Somerset Tech a 51-31 loss as Keansburg advanced to the quarters. The sophomore Tucker had a career day and had this team playing inspired basketball throughout. Rivera, a freshman forward, recorded her third double-double of the season in the win and has been the post presence down low that this team has been searching for. <strong>5. Florence used defense to advance to the quarters</strong> Florence had its work cut out for it against Manville in the first round as the Mustangs left it all out on the floor. However, a number of important defensive stops helped clinch the game for Florence in the end. Chinenye Nwagbaraji had a five-block game, her third 5+ block game of the season as the Flashes had seven total blocks in the game. [player_tooltip player_id="134656" first="Gabby" last="Loftin"] not only led all scorers with 17 points, but also had eight steals, over half of Florence’s 15 steals in the game alone. The No. 6 seeded Flashes have a tough task ahead of them in the quarters, taking on No. 3 seeded South Hunterdon.