Manchester Wins TOC Opener, Earns Rematch With Saddle River Day

TOMS RIVER, NJ — It's on to the semifinals for the Manchester Township girls basketball team.

The Hawks (32-2) sprinted out to an 18-point lead after the first quarter and never looked back in dispatching Mainland, 74-44, in the quarterfinals of the NJSIAA Tournament of Champions.

Leilani Correa had 24 points, Destiny Adams had 16 points and Dakota Adams had 11 for Manchester. Coach Dave Beauchemin pulled those three and Kemari Reynolds after 24 minutes, as Manchester led at the end of the third quarter, 65-23.

The victory advanced Manchester to the TOC semifinals on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at RWJ Barnabas Arena, where the Hawks get a rematch with Saddle River Day School. The Colonial Rebels (27-2) are one of just two teams to beat Manchester this season, grabbing a 61-52 victory on Jan. 4 in Saddle River. Manchester's only other loss was a 70-55 defeat at the hands of Bishop McNamara of Maryland on Jan. 6.

Saddle River Day, the Non-Public B champion, earned a bye into the semifinals by virtue of the win over Manchester, and the Hawks will no doubt be looking for some redemption.

In the first meeting, Rebels' leading scorer Michelle Sidor had 24 points and Jenna Jordan had 21 and 14 rebounds. The senior-laden team had smaller contributions from the rest of its squad.

Manchester, meanwhile, received a 19-point effort from Correa and a 17-point, 12-rebound performance from Destiny Adams. The Hawks will need more scoring from the rest of the squad this time around.

Saddle River Day's two losses are to Franklin, the Group IV champion and the top seed in the TOC, 59-53 on Jan. 5, and to St. John Vianney, a 67-59 loss on Jan. 27. Sidor had 19 points that game, below her 26.5-point average, and Jordan had just 6 points in that game, and 10 rebounds. The Lancers got 26 points from Sajada Bonner in that game, and Rahmena Anderson had 10.

Manchester defeated Vianney, 58-42, on Feb. 23 to capture the Shore Conference Tournament championship. The Hawks got big games from Destiny Adams (19 points, 10 rebounds), Dakota Adams (12 points, 12 rebounds) and Correa (14 points, 11 rebounds).

Thursday's game is a 5:30 p.m. tipoff, and the winner gets the winner of the St. Rose-Franklin semfina.

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