Holmdel Boys and Girls Basketball Teams Start Playoff Action

Holmdel girls basketball coach Bob Ward knows that the Shore Conference’s 800-pound gorilla, Neptune, waits on the other side of the Hornets’ state playoff bracket, but there’s still no reason why his squad can’t make a run to the sectional final.

The third-seeded Hornets (16-9) begin what they hope is a journey to their first sectional championship game since 2003 when they host 14th-seeded Princeton in the first round of the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III playoffs on Tuesday. They enter as a balanced, guard-oriented team led by sophomore Tara Inman and senior Ally Mnich, who average a combined 25 points per game.

Holmdel has as good a shot as any to be the team on the other side in the championship game where Neptune, the three-time defending sectional champion and the defending NJSIAA Tournament of Champions winner, will almost certainly be waiting.

“I'm happy with our draw and the fact that Middletown South and Neptune are both on the other side of bracket, so we have a good opportunity to get to (the championship game) next Monday,’’ Ward said.

The Hornets are a battle-tested team that had a combined four games against Shore Conference powers Rumson-Fair Haven and St. John Vianney during the regular season while playing in Class A Central, and they also played teams like Red Bank Catholic and Manasquan outside the division.

“One of the things we talk about in practice is that teams in the state tournament haven't played the level of competition we played,’’ Ward said.

In addition to Mnich and Inman on the perimeter, the Hornets have started to develop more of an inside game with junior Amanda Hall and sophomore Lauren Kelly, and they have a bulldog defender at the guard position in freshman Victoria Cardaci.

They will face a Princeton team led by Julie Barry that they match up well with, because the Little Tigers are also a guard-oriented team that runs a motion offense. Princeton also likes to jump in and out of multiple defenses, from box-and-one to a 3-2 match-up zone to a man-to-man look.

If Holmdel can pick up the victory, it will host the winner of sixth-seeded Hamilton West and 11th-seeded Wall in the quarterfinals on Thursday. A victory there, and the Hornets will most likely have to travel to second-seeded Hopewell Valley for the semifinals on Saturday with a possible shot at Neptune on the line.

On the boys side, the Hornets are hoping to duplicate the feat engineered by Bridgeton in the South Jersey Group II bracket on Monday when the Bulldogs stunned top-seeded Lakewood, 62-55, in the first round.

Holmdel’s boys team enters the Central Jersey Group III bracket as the No. 16 seed and will face No. 1 Colts Neck on the road on Tuesday. The Hornets have engineered plenty of upsets before under head coach Sean Devaney, including a 49-48 upset of defending CJ III champion Middletown South in the first round in 2008.

Holmdel (6-15) has played a brutal schedule that included numerous Top 10 teams in the Shore Conference, so it has the experience against top competition despite being a young team that only starts one senior. Junior sharpshooter Christian Vikse has been among the Shore Conference leaders in 3-pointers all season, while sophomore point guard Rob Cantelli has done an admirable job of filling the shoes of graduated star Mike Perillo. Junior guard Kyle Nodes has also been another important contributor.

 The Hornets face a Colts Neck team led by a standout trio of juniors, point guard Brian Kenny, forward Hunter Wysocki, and shooting guard Sean O’Reilly. Kenny has received Division I interest from the Ivy League and Northeast Conference, while Wysocki has been among the top scorers in the Shore Conference much of the season.

“For a team that's been so inconsistent, I just would like to us to play as close to our best game as we can and see where we are,’’ Devaney said. “I just want us to play well and go from there. We’ve shown glimpses and had games like when we beat Matawan, but we haven’t been nearly as consistent as we need to be.’’