In a game that featured the host coach coaching against one of his former standout players, the Roselle Catholic girls’ basketball team turned back Needham, Mass. 44-31 Sunday, Jan. 17 at The Lions’ Den at Roselle Catholic.
It was longtime Roselle Catholic head coach Joe Skrec coaching against Needham, Mass. mentor Amanda Sheehy, who played on the varsity for Skrec all four of her high school years.
Sheehy, in her third season at the helm of the Needham, Mass. Rockets, graduated from Roselle Catholic in 2006. As a freshman she was a starter on the program’s first Union County Tournament championship team in 2003 and then as a junior was on the 2005 squad that won the Mountain Valley Conference’s Mountain Division title, captured the NJSIAA’s Parochial A North crown and registered 20 wins for the first time.
On Sunday in Roselle the Lions led 15-14 at the half and then they increased their slim advantage in the final two quarters.
Roselle Catholic won for the third time in a row and for the fourth time in five games to improve to 7-3. Needham, Mass. fell to 3-7.
Senior forward Kamille Jacobs scored a season-high 15 points, with seven rebounds, three steals and one block for Roselle Catholic.
The Lions trailed 20-17 at one point in the third quarter before coming back to win the period 12-8 to take a five point lead into the final eight minutes.
Jacobs went 6-for-6 from the foul line, including 4-for-4 in the fourth quarter.
As a team, RC went 13-for-14 from the charity stripe in the final eight minutes.
Jen McClave, a junior, also went 4-for-4 from the line in the fourth. McClave finished with nine points and 10 rebounds.
RC made 16-of-18 foul shots in the game, all of them coming in the final 16 minutes.
Needham, Mass. shot 11-for-13 from the line for the game, but missed its only free throw attempt in the fourth quarter.
Kathleen Rizzo paced Needham with nine points, including seven in the second half.
Skrec is in his 20th season at the Lions’ helm and seeking to lead RC to an eighth straight season where the team wins 20 games and a division title.
RC’s next game is at home Tuesday, Jan. 19 vs. Union County Conference-Watchung Division rival New Providence.
RC graduate Amanda Sheehy becomes varsity coach
at Needham, Mass.
(below information written in 2013)
Roselle Catholic High School graduate Amanda Sheehy, who helped the Lions’ girls’ basketball program win multiple championships for the first time in school history during her career on the court, will now try to win championships from the sideline as a high school head coach.
Sheehy, who spent the past two seasons as an assistant varsity coach at Newton North HS in Massachusetts, was tabbed the new varsity girls’ basketball coach at Needham High School inNeedham, Mass. earlier this summer.
A 2006 Roselle Catholic graduate and former Linden resident, Sheehy is currently a Behavior Therapist in the Newton (Mass.) Public Schools.
As a freshman, Sheehy was a starter on the RC team that won the won the Union County Tournament for the first time in school history, defeating Union Catholic in the UCT final at the Dunn Center in Elizabeth.
Two years later, Sheehy and the Lions captured the NJSIAA’s Parochial A North title, edging Mount St. Dominic in the sectional final in Paterson. Roselle Catholic lost to St. John Vianney in the Parochial A state final in Toms River.
“Amanda Sheehy was a very smart student and a very smart basketball player, often thinking like a coach on the court,” said RC girls basketball coach Joe Skrec, who’ll guide the Lions for an 18th season this winter. “Amanda helped Roselle Catholic win a lot of basketball games during her four years, from the moment she walked through the doors at RC in 2002.
“Needham High School is lucky to have Amanda Sheehy. She’s a winner from a very good family, who’s going to experience and enjoy continued success.”
With Sheehy playing in the backcourt, Roselle Catholic’s girls’ basketball team also won the program’s first division title, the MVC’s Mountain Division crown, in 2005. The 2004-05 campaign was the first time an RC girls’ basketball team won as many as 20 games in a season.
Sheehy was co-captain of the Lions (with Bridget Sweeney) her senior season in 2006. She was also the RC softball team’s starting second baseman as a senior.
“I’ll always hold a very special place for Roselle Catholic in my heart,” said Sheehy, who wore jersey number 21 during her scholastic career. “The school is a huge reason why I have been as successful both on and off the court as I have been.
“I look forward to coming back to Roselle Catholic to play the Lions in the upcoming years. It’ll be a lot of fun.”
After RC, Sheehy accepted a scholarship to play at Assumption College in Worcester, Mass., a member of the strong Division II Northeast-10 Conference. She was named team captain as a senior at Assumption, where she earned a degree in History with a concentration in Elementary Education.
Sheehy has also worked as a head and an assistant coach in the Massachusetts Huskies AAU program, coaching MetroWest in Wellesley and working numerous camps and clinics teaching the game. She received her Masters in Education from the California State University San Marcos and is now working towards a Masters Certificate in Applied Behavior Analysis.
Needham High School, with approximately 1,500 students, is a member of the Bay State Conference of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association. The Needham HS mascot is a rocket and its colors are gold, navy blue and white.