South Brunswick freshman, Ashley Silva goes up for a shot against East Brunswick’s Rotem Barda in the 2023 East Brunswick/GMC JV Girls Championship at East Brunswick High School. South Brunswick won, 42-25.
Jenne and Silva Help JV Vikings Overcome First Quarter Deficit and Pull Away from EB
EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ – In the past two full seasons, East Brunswick and Monroe played for the East Brunswick/GMC JV Girls Championship with the JV Lady Bears coming out on top both times. This year, East Brunswick returned to the Championship Game for the third straight season while South Brunswick reached the final. The fourth seeded JV Lady Bears defeated Monroe in the Quarterfinals and top seeded Spotswood in the semifinals to get to the final.
Meanwhile, second seeded South Brunswick defeated 7th seeded Woodbridge in the Elite Eight, and third seeded Old Bridge in the other semifinal. Both teams are Red Division foes that know each other very well. At the varsity level, EB and SBHS played each other three times. The first two times, South Brunswick won by an average margin of 25.5 points per game. However, in the 2023 GMCT Quarterfinals, the two schools played the best game of the girls tournament in a 73-70 overtime thriller won by the Lady Vikes.
The first half of the 2023 EB/GMC JV Girls Championship was competitive. Behind the efforts of center Rotem Barda, East Brunswick jumped out to a 13-10 first quarter lead. Then, South Brunswick outscored EB by a 9-4 margin in the second for a slim, 19-17 edge at the intermission. The JV Lady Vikings increased their lead to five in the third quarter with a 7-4 showing, but then surged in the fourth to pull away for a 42-25 victory. The tandem of Avery Jenne and Ashley Silva combined to lift SBHS to the tourney title.
Jenne, a sophomore guard, scored a team high 13 points on four total field goals including a three and four made free throws. Silva, a freshman guard, added 12 points on 4 field goals and four made foul shots. Sophomore Kendall Dixon chipped in with 7 points on three field goals and a made free throw. Trisha Reddy (4 points), Quinn Fitzgerald (4 points), and Christina Isaac (2 points) rounded out the South Brunswick scoring in the contest.
Barda led East Brunswick in a losing cause with a team high 8 points on two field goals and four made free throws. Junior Gabby Nieves added 6 points on two field goals and two made foul shots. Molly Blateiss chipped in with 4 points on two field goals. Erika Riggio (3 points), Joy Girgis (2 points), and Julie Hernandez (2 points) rounded out the EB scoring in the contest. South Brunswick outscored EB by a margin of 32-12 over the final three periods including a 16-4 showing in the fourth to pull away from a 26-21 third quarter lead.
South Brunswick tallied its 42 points on 16 total field goals including a three and 9 made free throws while East Brunswick scored its 25 on 7 total field goals including a three and 10 made foul shots. Both teams scored three points from long distance, and EB had a 10-9 edge in points from the foul line, but South Brunswick had a decisive 30-12 advantage in points scored within the arc. East Brunswick had 15 team fouls versus just 11 for South Brunswick.
With Nieves pushing the tempo, and Barda controlling the glass, EB was able to jump out a first quarter lead. Barda scored 7 of her 8 points in the opening frame on two field goals and 3 of 4 from the line. Nieves added a field goal and Blateiss scored all four of her points to give the Lady Bears the early edge. The JV Lady Vikes actually opened the game with a 4-0 lead before the JV Lady Bears finished the period by scoring 13 of the last 19 points for the 13-10 lead.
Highlighting that late first quarter spurt was a layup from the left side by Blateiss off an assist from Nieves, who pushed the ball up the court near right sideline, and dribbled in towards the foul line before dishing to her left for the dime. Both teams opened up the second with four points as EB maintained a three point, 17-14 lead despite a jumper from the left side by Silva with 2:18 left in the first half. SBHS then ended the second by scoring the last 5 points to take the two point halftime lead into the locker room.
After the JV Lady Vikings had a balanced scoring effort with contributions from five different players in the first period, Jenne (5 points) and Silva (4 points) did all the scoring in the second. Both Jenne and Silva scored 6 points in the first half. Silva made three two point field goals while Jenne had two and made 2 of 6 from the foul line. In the third quarter, four different SB players scored as Silva, Reddy, and Fitzgerald each had a field goal while Jenne made 1 of 2 from the foul line. Silva’s bucket came on a follow off a Jenne miss in the waning moments of the third for a five point lead.
On the other hand, EB had only two players score in the third and all four points came courtesy of the foul line as Girgis and Nieves each made both of their attempts. As a matter of fact, the JV Lady Bears only had one field goal in the second half. The lone East Brunswick field goal came in the fourth quarter from Nieves. Meanwhile, South Brunswick’s offense finished with a flourish as four different players scored five total field goals including a three and made 5 of 9 from the line.
Jenne led the JV Lady Vikes with 6 points in the final period including the team’s only three pointer that made the score 33-21 with 4:50 remaining. Dixon added 4 points on two field goals including a drive down the right lane for a layup for a 35-23 lead with 4:08 to play. Fitzgerald added a bucket with a minute and a half to play for a 41-23 lead. Silva also contributed by going a perfect 4 of 4 from the charity stripe.
The group of Jenne, Silva, Dixon, Reddy, and Zoe Wilcher then went on to contribute to South Brunswick’s varsity opening round victory over Freehold Township (63-31) in the Central Jersey Group 4 State Tournament. In that game, Jenne collected 2 points, 2 assists, 2 steals, and a rebound while Wilcher tallied 3 points, 4 rebounds, and an assist.