Three Juniors Lead Red Bank Regional
Team Basketball Domination
BY TIM MORRIS
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TheJournalNJ.com | APRIL 2020 21
Reaching the quarternals of the state
basketball tournament may be suf-
cient for most high school basketball
teams. But just making the tournament
is no longer enough for the Red Bank Regional
girls.
“The bar has been raised,” said Head
Coach John Truhan. “Our expectations
keep getting higher. That we fell short of
winning Central Jersey Group III tells you
where the program is.”
Coming off a 20-9 season that was
one of the school’s best in many years, Red
Bank began the 2019-20 season with lofty
expectations – win a championship or bust.
The Bucs didn’t go bust as they won
the Shore Conference B North Division
public school championship, the program’s
rst since 1996.
“That was huge,” Truhan said. “Putting
a banner up for the girls was important.”
The win was validation for the girls,
proof they had gone from contender to
winner. It was also a big reason they were
ranked in the top 20 in the state throughout
the season.
To win the division title, the Bucs had to play well game-in and
game-out without slipping up in order to hold off the likes of Colts Neck
and Neptune.
Juniors Chloe Teter, Amelia Medolla and Caitlin Decker provided
experience and leadership.
“They ran the team, made everyone better,” Truhan explained.
The three have started every game for the Bucs since their freshman
year. The value of that experience of playing together for three
years is immeasurable.
Decker, a guard, led the team in assists and steals, and she averaged
nearly 10 points per game.
Teter took her game to a new level this year and scored the most
points, averaging more than 13 ppg and hit 40 three-pointers.
Medolla was RBR’s top marksman from beyond the arc, sinking
61 during the campaign and averaging 10 ppg.
Transfer junior Taylor Crystain gave the offense a lift. Truhan said
the guard is an “electrifying scorer.” She averaged more than 13 ppg
like Teter.
Forward Erin Moriarity, also a junior, provided the Bucs with an
inside post presence and topped the team in rebounds.
Another junior, Mia Strand, was a zone breaker with her threepoint
shooting. She made 37 eld goals on the season, 33 of them
behind the arc.
Senior Lulu Attia, although undersized, was an added force up front.
With the division title secured, the Bucs were looking to bring home
another championship from the Central Jersey Group III game. It was
there for the taking as the team’s outstanding season led to Red Bank
getting the No. 1 seed and home court throughout.
It wasn’t to be in 2020 though, as Jackson Liberty leapt out to a
15-4 lead in the rst quarter and never
looked back, pulling out a 54-41 win.
While disappointing, the setback
hardly diminished what the Bucs
achieved in 2020 and how bright the
future is for the team.
“It was a great overall season,” said
Truhan.
Red Bank nished 21-7, two wins
shy of the single-season school record.
That and the coveted CJ crown will be on
the list of goals for 2021.
This was Truhan’s third season at
Red Bank, and he had a goal of winning
a championship banner in three
years. In achieving this feat, he credited
upperclassmen Meghan Murray, Mia
Conti and Bridget Tobin, who have since
graduated and were leaders of his team.
They provided the leadership example
that was been carried on by Teter, Decker
and Medolla.
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