TOMS RIVER - Even when the elite seniors of the St. Rose High School girls basketball team aren’t at their best, there’s still plenty on talent on the roster to lead the Purple Roses to a lopsided victory in a state championship game.
That’s just how deep this St. Rose team is.
With senior forward Lucy Thomas and senior point guard Mikayla Markham combining for only two points in the first half, the supporting cast of Ari Dalia, Sam Mikos and Lovin Marsicano picked up the slack early and often to lead the Purple Roses to a lopsided 53-38 victory over Immaculate Heart Academy in the Non-Public A final, their first title in their first year in this group and their first overall group title since 2015.
With the victory, the Purple Roses (27-3) will advance to the Tournament of Champions for the first time since 2015.
“This is what we’ve been working for since day one,” Dalia said. “Since the first day in practice, this is where we wanted to be. This is right where we planned to be.”
Markham and Thomas were ice cold from the field in the first half by their lofty standards, shooting a combined 1-for-9. Immaculate Heart jumped out to an 8-2 lead, but that didn’t last long as the Purple Roses started to heat up.
St. Rose junior Sam Mikos noticed she had a mismatch in the post. Mikos worked on the inside and scored seven points in the first half. Dalia, a defensive ace, consistently caused turnovers and finished in transition a couple times, scoring seven points in the first half as well.
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Add in senior forward Lovin Marsicano’s two buckets from beyond the arc, and the Purple Roses turned their early deficit to a 22-15 halftime lead.
“Every game, it can be someone different, and that’s how we prepare,” St. Rose assistant coach Raheem Carter said. “Sam and Ari were huge in the first half. We saw the mismatch with Sam, so we wanted to get it to her inside, and Ari with her defense, steals and finishing. We just want them to be aggressive. Aggressively smart is what we want them to be.”
St. Rose canlegitimately go eight players into their rotation, deeper than most teams in the state. That depth of talent prevented the Purple Roses from smashing the panic button early in the first quarter.
“Having fresh feet come off the bench really helps us,” Dalia said. “When Mikayla or whoever gets sped up, we have a bench full of players who can do the same thing (as Markham).”
As the second half started, Thomas started to find her groove. The senior scored seven of her nine points in the second half as the Purple Roses ballooned their lead to double digits in the third quarter.
With a ton of seniors like Thomas, Markham, Marsicano and Dalia constantly on the floor, the veteran leadership was on display as the Purple Roses easily shook off their slow start.
“These seniors have been together now forfour years, they’ve been through everything together, and they’ve played against everyone,” Carter said. “It’s just a testament to them, to their growth, their leadership and maturity.
"It’s not easy, this is the state championship game. There’s going to be jitters, and there’s going to be times where the game seems bigger than what it is. At the end of the day, it’s just a game.”
St. Rose has made it to the TOC despite some bumps in the road this winter. Before she could even coach her first game, newly hiredhead coach Mary Beth Chambers was suspended for the season by the NJSIAA for what seems now to be a genuine mix up and mistake. They’ve also had to deal with, as they have in the past, being under-seeded, receiving the fourth seed in the Shore Conference Tournament and the fifth seed in the Non-Public South A tournament.
Still, those issues haven’t seemed to distract the Purple Roses at all. They just keep rolling.
“The thing we try to tell them is to focus on the things they can control,” Carter said. “The only thing you have control over is how hard you play, how focused you are and your effort.
Daniel LoGiudice: @danny_logiudice; dlogiudice@gannettnj.com.
