MVP Bretones, Stokes key Mustang basketball defense limiting Vikings’ star
EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP — Led by Sydney Stokes’ 15 points and 17 rebounds, the Mainland Regional High School girls basketball team shut down Atlantic City to win the Cape-Atlantic League Basketball Championship for the second year in a row.
The Mustangs (23-2), with a starting five of four juniors and one sophomore, beat the Vikings (19-5) 46-26, outscoring Atlantic City in all four quarters but really breaking open the game in the second half.
Mainland neutralized Quanirah Cherry-Montague, the 6’4” Division I recruit, limiting her to 8 points and 7 rebounds at Egg Harbor Township High School.
Mustang coach Scott Betson credited tournament MVP Kasey Bretones and Stokes for limiting the Vikings’ big center.
“The plan was to front and double from behind,” Betson said of the strategy. “I mean the plan is one thing, the credit goes to the athleticism and toughness of Kasey Bretones and Sydney Stokes all day. Plans are great, but you have to have the people to do it and they did a great job.”
The coach said the credit extends to the rest of the team for their outstanding play Saturday afternoon.
“They all grew up together playing a ton and they’re super-coachable. We were always in the right spots,” Betson said. “To be honest, on kind of the next level of it, those two (Bretones and Stokes) were in the right spots, but our other help defenders were there for when Atlantic City went to make their next reads and we had a hand in passing lanes, particularly in the first half. That’s where we were able to build that lead.
“I was proud the way the whole team executed defensively,” he said.
Bretones, who had 12 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 blocked shot, said it was nice to be recognized as MVP, but she, too, credited the entire team.
“It’s a great feeling,” Bretones said about the MVP award. “I honestly think we all contributed as a team. It would be hard to tell who the real MVP was. We all scored, we all did our roles that we needed to do, but it’s awesome to get recognized.”
She said it took “a lot of heart and composure to defeat the Vikings.”
“We knew they would be loud and trying to speed us up. They’re a very good team, they’ll make their runs, but if we kept our heads in it it would be fine. That’s exactly what we did.”
Bretones said repeating as CAL tournament champions had been a team goal but like her teammates believes their work is far from finished.
“We knew we could do it, we just had to work hard so being able to come here and actually do it, we’re very excited,” Bretones said. “Going into the state tournament, it will get us going.”
“We lost in the state final last year so we want to make it back to the state final and win it,” she added.
“Kasey was playing defense on her (Cherry-Montague) and I was on help defense and I feel like we were able to shut her down a little bit,” Stokes said of the defensive effort.
Although she is 6 feet tall herself, Stokes was still giving away four inches to the lanky Vikings center.
“It’s pretty intimidating, I’ve got to be honest, but as long as I didn’t foul, I knew I would be OK,” she said. “And we obviously knew she was going to perform well, because she always does. She’s D1. My goal was not to foul her and make her finish over high hands, making it a little tougher for her.
“Boxing out was one of the biggest deals for us. If she (Cherry-Montague) doesn’t get the ball, we can have another person in (to get it). We had to focus on boxing her out first and then getting the rebound.”
Stokes was thrilled the team was able to repeat as CAL champs.
“It’s an amazing feeling to be able to win that two years in a row. Not every team gets to do that,” she said.
Looking to the tournament beginning two days later, Stokes added, “If we play like we did today, we’ll make it far in states. This was just like a step on the way there. It’s our main goal to win that.”
Ava Mazur also was strong the boards, collecting 9 rebounds to go with her 5 steals and 6 points. Twin sister Bella Mazur had 6 rebounds, 5 points and a steal. Ava Sheeran had 5 rebounds and 5 points, Jane Meade had 2 rebounds, Natalie Higbee, Savannah Jones and Emily Paytas had 1 rebound apiece. Jones added 1 point.
For Atlantic City, Alexis Gormley had 5 points, Taison Parked and Sasha Lemons had 4 each, Bridger Roach 3, Zashirah Jackson 2. Lemons and Cherry-Montague had 3 steals each and Jackson and Parker 2 each.
“The two-peat, it feels really nice,” Bella Mazur said. “Actually, I’ve never played here (at EHT) my entire career at Mainland. It’s real nice playing here. I want to be back here against next year.”
She agreed the strategy was stopping the Vikings’ powerhouse.
“We just knew we had to stop 6’4” Cherry-Montague. Kasey did a great job guarding her and we knew we had to help her out in the middle to not let her get those easy buckets,” Bella Mazur said.
She noted her Mustangs are the No. 1 seed in the Group III South Jersey sectional tournament. “We’re looking forward to keep moving on and hopefully get back to the state finals.”
Sister Ava Mazur was happy for the win and to see Bretones get the MVP award.
“It feels amazing. We knew coming into this they were going to come out strong and try to take it from us, but we didn’t allow them,” she said, adding, “I’m so glad Kasey won MVP. She deserves it.
“It feels great to win the CAL, but our accomplishments go way farther than that. We hope to go far in the state tournament.”
Coach Betson agreed.
“It’s a fun tournament. It’s awesome when you win it, but really it gets you ready for a tournament mindset,” he said. “We have a whole other tournament starting Monday.”
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
