Made Stronger by Defeat

As they shifted their attention Thursday night to their most significant regular-season game together in four years as a coach-point guard combination, St. Rose girls basketball coach Joe Roman and senior Kasey Chambers recalled their most significant loss together.

"Me and Coach Joe were just talking about the Trenton Catholic (Academy) game from two years ago," Chambers said after St. Rose's 67-26 win over Keansburg to improve its record to 21-0. "That was the best shot we had at a championship and the feeling in that locker room, we never wanted to feel like that again. That game has made us even hungrier the last two years."

Chambers and senior teammate Samantha Clark were sophomore starters during the 2009-2010 season that ended with then-senior Alexx Hall's potential game-winning three-pointer spinning around the rim twice and squirting out to cut the Purple Roses run to a NJSIAA Non-Public Group B championship short with a 44-43 loss to Trenton Catholic Academy. After surviving St. Rose in that sectional semifinal game, Trenton Catholic rolled through its next two games to win the Non-Public B title and advance to the Tournament of Champions.

"We love playing for coach Roman," Chambers said. "It's really easy to play for him because he cares so much. He cares as much as we do and maybe even a little more, and we see that and it makes us want to play for him.

"You could definitely see that after that loss (to Trenton Catholic). He felt it just like we did."

The Tournament of Champions is uncharted waters for the St. Rose program, but during Roman's time at the helm, his players have made it a point to test those waters. Since Chambers and Clark entered the program as freshmen in 2008-09 - Clark as a starter and Chambers as one of the first players off the bench - St. Rose has been to three straight Shore Conference Tournament semifinals and lost to Trenton Catholic by a combined total of six points in each of the last two seasons in the state tournament. In addition to reaching the Tournament of Champions in 2009-10, Trenton Catholic won the whole thing last year after edging St. Rose 37-32 in the South Jersey, Non-Public B Final.

"Our goal is to win every game we play and that eventually means winning a state championship," Roman said. "We've played a lot of big games over the past few years and that's made us mentally tougher as a team."

After three years of coming up just short against a Shore Conference field and state sectional bracket loaded with nationally-ranked opponents like Trenton Catholic, Neptune and St. John Vianney, the Purple Roses finally feel like it is their turn to hang a banner in their gym. The Roses, the third-ranked team in the state according to the Newark Star Ledger, will put that hope to the test Saturday when they host No. 2 Manasquan (20-0).

"This game is going to be right up there," Roman said, comparing Saturday's showdown to past games St. Rose has had, both regular-season and postseason. "The only difference between this game and a playoff game is that if we lose, we're not out of anything. But it's still going to have that intensity for those 32 minutes."

The game is being billed as a potential Shore Conference Tournament final preview and perhaps even a Tournament of Champions preview between two teams that schedule one another annually as part of a long-standing, local rivalry.

"We're so excited to play this game," said Clark, the team's leading scorer and rebounder in each of the last three seasons. "We've been talking about it all season and definitely since we beat Jackson (on Feb. 2) and it's a day I know we as seniors have been looking forward to. It's Manasquan, it's one-vs.-two in the Shore, it's our 'Senior Night, and it's a big rivalry game. We're going to have to keep our composure and stick to our game because the atmosphere is going to be pretty crazy."

Clark, who will play at Fordham University next season, has been the constant over this three-plus year run for the Roses, with Chambers joining the starting lineup as a sophomore and Diana Malanga and Morgan Barry emerging as key cogs over the past two seasons. Barry transferred from Red Bank Catholic before the 2010-11 school year, while Malanga has assumed the role of defensive stalwart and team sparkplug, according to Roman.

"Diana has a motor that just doesn't stop," Roman said. "She's probably our most active defender, she's our secondary ball-handler and she brings a competitiveness that's really the heart and soul of our team."

Malanga was a critical part of St. Rose's 44-27 win over Jackson Memorial on Feb. 2, shutting down Jackson leading scorer Hannah Missry in the Roses' most impressive Shore Conference win to date.

"You gain confidence after every win, especially when you know it's a top team," Chambers said. "It just helps to reinforce everything you've practiced and done as a team."

Manasquan's guards provide a steep challenge for St. Rose, namely University of Notre Dame recruit Michaela Mabrey, who Thursday was named to the prestigious McDonald's All-American game. Even with the Warriors guards in mind, Roman has always liked his chances with Clark down low and Chambers calling the shots at the point.

"Sami obviously draws a lot of attention from defenses and that opens the floor up for other players, but it's the way she handles it that makes her so important to us," Roman said. "With Kasey, she just has a great work ethic and an unmatched basketball I.Q. She's like having another coach on the floor, and between her and Sami, we have two seniors who have been through a lot together and know what we're trying to accomplish."

For the last three years, St. Rose has left its stamp on the Shore Conference by competing with some of the best girls basketball talent in the recent history of the conference. As it enters the heaviest part of the schedule Saturday, the Purple Roses seniors would like to stamp the crowded walls of the McCann Activities Center with something else: a championship banner.