GROUP CHAMPS: St. Rose Captures Tournament of Champions Berth

Kasey Chambers had been here before. Not too long ago, either.

Standing at the free throw line late in the game, as she had been , the St. Rose senior guard had two shots to finish off Immaculate Heart Academy.

The first free throw bounced off the rim. Chambers dribbled the ball and took a deep breath. Then she sank the second, giving the Purple Roses a three-point lead. 

Immaculate Heart drove the length of the court, but Izzy McMahon's 3-point attempt bounced high off the rim and Diana Malanga corraled the rebound away from the crowd of Immaculate Heart defenders. Fouled on the play, Malanga sank the second of her two free throws, finishing off the Blue Eagles and lifting St. Rose to a 42-38 victory and the NJSIAA Non-Public A championship.

The Roses (29-1) also earned a berth in next week's Tournament of Champions, which opens Tuesday at Pine Belt Arena on the campus of Toms River North, their first trip to the TOC since 2000.

"Last night I watched the tape of the last game (against Vianney)," Chambers said, and reviewed the last seconds of the game. In that game she was shooting a 1-and-1 with St. Rose leading by just a point, but missed the front end and Vianney wound up with the ball. "I was tight there and needed to relax. So I took a deep breath. The key was getting my adrenalin under control."

As important as the free throw, however, was the steal by Chambers that led to the foul. Trailing by two, Immaculate Heart was running a set, looking for a shot when Chambers saw her opening and snagged the ball.

"That's years and years of practice and reading the game," St. Rose coach Joe Roman said. "We needed the stop. I am so happy for that kid."

To be sure, there was a lot of adrenalin flowing, especially early in the game. St. Rose struggled, missing its first 11 shots as Immaculate Heart took a 7-1 lead, the Roses' lone point coming on a Malanga free throw. Morgan Barry finally got the Roses going with a 3-pointer with 1:45 left in the quarter and added a second one to tie the game at 8 with 15 seconds remaining. Barry finished with 12 points, all on 3s.

"Morgan stepped up huge for us," Malanga said. "We were getting good shots, they just weren't falling for us."

Immaculate Heart wasn't making it easy, however. The Eagles (24-4) handcuffed St. Rose center Samantha Clark, challenging every entry pass to the Fordham-bound senior in the paint. She had just four points, all on free throws, at halftime, as St. Rose trailed 20-16.

"We've never been in this spot (the state title game) before," Chambers said. "We said, 'Let's just take a deep breath and get this done."

"That was one of the worst halves we've played all year," Roman said. "I told them, 'This half is over, put it behind you. We have another 16 minutes.' "

In the second half Clark was able to get some passes underneath for easy points when the Roses pulled four players out beyond the arc, forcing Immaculate Heart to keep one more defender outside instead of double-teaming Clark.

"They're a good team," said Clark, who finished with 14 points. "In the second half we spread out our offense more, which gave me more room to work in the post."

St. Rose opened the second half with a quick basket on a pass from Sarah Kurtz to Chambers under the basket, to make it 20-18, but the teams battled back and forth, the lead changing nine times before St. Rose finally took the lead for good on a free throw by Malanga with 7:32 left in the game. The Roses clamped down defensively from there, holding Immaculate Heart without a basket from the field for more than 6 minutes.

"We needed one more shot to fall, one more free throw," said Immaculate Heart coach Steve Silver. "They (St. Rose) made just enough shots."

St. Rose continued to play tough defense even after Kurtz and Chambers each picked up their fourth fouls, Kurtz with four minutes remaining and Chambers with three minutes left. It was that aggressiveness that led to the steal by Chambers and the rebound by Malanga with 6 seconds left that ultimately put Immaculate Heart away.

"We've been in close games like this all year, so we didn't have any doubt we could get it done," Chambers said.

It is the first Non-Public Group A championship for St. Rose since 1983, when it was still called the Parochial A title. St. Rose also won the Non-Public Group B title as recently as 2000, when it beat Marist of Bayonne. St. Rose also won Non-Public Group B in 1993 and 1998.

And now they're headed to the TOC. They won't find out until later on Sunday who their opponent will be, after all the public group championships are decided and the field for the TOC is seeded. But they're there, and that's the first step.

"To finally get there is just awesome," Clark said. "We've been working for this since my freshman year."

"Now we want to just keep winning," Roman said.