By DAVE O’SULLIVAN
Staff Writer
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LINWOOD — Most teams say they want to be playing their best basketball when it’s time for the state sectional tournament. Toms River East girls hoops coach Kevin Cohen just wanted his team to be healthy.
His Raiders were banged up throughout the month of February, and lost 5-of-7 games before the state playoffs kicked off on Feb. 27. One of those losses was a blowout loss against Mainland Regional at the War vs. The Shore showcase, hosted by the Mustangs in early February.
Nearly a month later, Toms River East exacted some revenge in a hard-fought, scrappy matchup with the host Stangs, rallying to post a 62-54 victory in the South Jersey Group 3 quarterfinals on Monday night. The No. 6 Raiders advance to the sectional semifinals for the second straight year, where they’ll travel to No. 2 Moorestown on Wednesday night. Top-seeded and defending state champion Cherry Hill West hosts No. 5 Hammonton in the other semifinal.
The game had more swings than a kids playground, as Mainland started off hot, then gave up the lead, then came storming back with a 16-2 run that gave the Mustangs a 27-21 lead. Toms River East seemed frazzled as Mainland’s defense kept creating turnovers and fast-break points. Cohen even got a technical foul for jawing at the refs about calls, something that’s only happened one other time in his career, he said.
“It’s only the second ‘T’ in my entire career, and I’ve been here a long time. I’m not proud of myself for doing that, but I’m proud of them rallying behind me and never giving up. They believed. I can’t be more proud of these girls. I really can’t,” he said. “We had a great start to our year but then we lost one of our best players for most of the year (sophomore Ciley Francis). She’s the girl at the top of our 1-3-1 (defense). She brings energy to the court, like nobody else,” he said. And my point guard, Kacey Briles, did a great job tonight. And my big girl (Brooke Gathman) hit a bunch of threes when we needed her to, and my leading scorer (Libby Dickman) was in foul trouble for most of the game.”
Mainland took a 30-26 lead into halftime, and could have taken an even bigger lead into the fourth quarter, but the Stangs missed several layups, and Toms River East made them pay at the other end in the form of 3-pointers from Dickman and Gathman that tied the game at 38 heading into the fourth quarter. Dickman’s shot was from NBA range and banked off the glass to get the Raiders to within 38-35 with 48 seconds left in the third.
“I’d be lying to you if I said part of the game plan was to not pack it in, play man-to-man and make them shoot contested shots — and they hit some banked 3-pointers, they hit some shots that are uncharacteristic, but kudos to them. They are a phenomenal team and they have some great athletes. (Cohen) does a great job with them,” said Mainland’s first-year coach Bobby Edmunds, who took over for Scott Betson, who coached the Stangs to state championships in 2019 and 2024. “I’ll never fault the girls for their energy and effort. They play hard for 32 minutes every game. It was the turnovers and missed layups. Their girl, Ciley Francis, plays really tough at the top of that zone and our girls threw some lazy passes, and they were able to get layups and get open shots. But we missed a couple of bunnies (short layups) at the end of the third quarter, and they came down at the other end and hit some threes. I think that gave them some momentum going into the fourth quarter.”
Dickman nailed a 3-pointer — one of nine by the Raiders (15-12, 5-3 Shore Conference A-South) in the game — at the start of the fourth quarter, giving East the lead for good at 41-38. Three minutes later, East had a 50-40 lead after another three from Dickman, who hit four 3-pointers and finished with a team-high 19 points.
“We played this team a few weeks ago, but we didn’t have (Francis) and two of my other players were hurt when we played that game. I think they were very excited to play Mainland again, knowing we were a different team than we were a few weeks ago,” said Cohen. “It really was a good game. (Edmonds) is a good coach and it’s a great program. I’ve known (former Mainland coach Scott) Betson forever and he did a great job all those years before handing it off to the new coach. Kudos to them, they are a very good team. We hit some shots tonight. As much as we did so many other good things — we hit some shots tonight when we needed to, and that’s the big reason why we ended up winning. I’m in a fog right now. I’m just so proud of these girls for every second of this game.”
Mainland (18-10, 7-5 Cape-Atlantic American) made a valiant comeback effort down the stretch behind the Smith sisters — Callie, the team’s lone senior, and Brielle, a junior who has scored in double figures 14 times this season. Callie finished with nine points while Brielle scored a career-high 29, and the sisters combined to make seven 3-pointers.
“Anytime you get one of those teams from the Olympic Conference or Shore Conference — Toms River East had a tough schedule. They played tough teams every single night, so you have to be prepared for that. Luckily for us, we’re in the American Conference of the Cape-Atlantic League; we play Middle Township twice, which mentally and physically prepares us for these types of games. Group 3 is a bear. It always has been and always will be,” Edmunds said. “Going into the locker room, I wanted to talk to Callie specifically and let her know that her contributions the last two years haven’t gone unnoticed. She’s exactly the senior leader we needed this year. She helped turn around this program from 9-16 last year to a winning record this year, so she was awesome.”
The Mustangs took the defeat hard, but coach Edmunds said he hopes it stings for awhile, and motivates his players in the offseason. He’ll return all but Callie Smith to a roster that produced nearly 20 wins this season.
“The message was, ‘remember this feeling.’ All the girls were crying and upset. They wanted this one. But when you come back next year, when you start your offseason program, when you go to AAU, when you start your fall workouts — remember this feeling,” he said, “because going into next year you’re going to have to be better if you want to make it past this round.”
WHAT’S NEXT: No. 6 Toms River East travels to No. 2 Moorestown on Wednesday at 6 p.m. for the South Jersey Group 3 semifinals. Mainland’s season is complete.
