Before St. Rose High School of Belmar faced visiting Our Lady of Mercy in the South Jersey, Non-Public B quarterfinals on March 4, six players shared a moment with former school greats who were a part of past state championships.  

Barbara Paterno Clark, Class of 1976, is the mother of senior Alison Clark and sophomore Sami Clark and played on the 1976 championship team. Clark was teammates with Patti Fixter Kowal, Class of 1977. Kowal played on both the 1976 and 1977 championship teams and is the mother of sophomore Tara Kowal. Mary Beth Chambers, Class of 1979, played on the 1977 team and is the mother of sophomore Kasey Chambers. Ellen Clark Masonius, Class of 1983, played on the ’83 state championship team and is the mother of freshman Ellie Masonious. Although she did not play on a title team, Joan Ford Ward – Class of 1946 – is in the St. Rose High School Athletic Hall of Fame and is the grandmother of senior Kelly Roddy.

The Purple Roses did not dampen the mood. Their 58-32 victory included four players (Samantha Clark, Nicole Donahue, Alexx Hall, and Alison Sweeney) who scored in double figures. (Click here for photos of the game)

In their next outing two nights later, the Purple Roses lost a heartbreaking 44-43 decision to eventual state champion Trenton Catholic Academy.

“It was wonderful,” said Masonius, the mother of 10 and one of 13 siblings. “It was like history repeating itself. They didn’t win a state championship, but they were a pretty successful team in their  own right.”

Masonius, who coached the St. Catharine’s of Spring Lake grade school varsity girls’ basketball team to a 46-0 record this year, said it was an opportunity for the younger girls to gain a sense of what it was like for their moms.

“They can envision all the mothers out there going through what they are going through now,” she said.  “So many of us have a great passion for St. Rose. We all share that.”

Kowal, who has been a physical education, health, and driver’s education teacher at St. Rose’s High School for the past five years, agreed.

“The whole experience was fantastic,” said Kowal. “We’ve been talking about how much we have in common with the girls. Just reminiscing a lot. We never thought about having a night like that. It’s something that no one will ever forget.”

Kowal laughed when she compared the two gyms. Although the gymnasium that she and the former state champs played in burned down in the 80’s, Kowal said the two venues are similar.

“We used to call our gym ‘The Telephone Booth,’” she said. “Now it’s not that small, but it’s close. It has more room to sit. But the atmosphere is the same, and that’s really nice.”

Although the Purple Roses were unable to duplicate their mom’s accomplishments – at least so far – Kowal said they had nothing to be ashamed of.

“The whole school should be proud of what they accomplished,” she said. “To link ‘disappointment’ with this team wouldn’t be accurate. It would have been great to beat Trenton and keep going. We were down by 11 and almost pulled it off. We had the last shot and it bounced around the rim, but unfortunately it didn’t go in.”

Spoken like a true basketball player.

Still.

John Knebels can be reached at [email protected]