TAYLOR, MADISON AND STELLAR …THE SJV “DREAM 3” CAME UP “BIG”

Monday night RBC and SJV played for the 4th time this season. It would be the final time a group of seniors that have been part of one of the best rivalries in New Jersey basketball, boys or girls. It was a rivalry that brought out the best in everyone. It electrified the Shore Conference and gave so many so much joy, pain and sorrow. Just the way we like it. In the end RBC game out on top. Some will say the SJV seniors came up short. Well if the SJV seniors came up short. I can tell you there are thousands of kids in the state of New Jersey who are praying they can come up short as well.

When you talk about Stella Lockhart , Madison Kocis and Taylor Solfilkanick. You must start with the word “WINNERS” due to all their accomplishment’s. Like the 102 games they won over their careers. That is a massive number that only the great ones achieve. The Dream 3 as I will call them, all won, one or two Shore Conference titles. All three were part of nationally ranked teams. They have been part of teams ranked #1 in the state. They have played the #1 teams in the country and went toe to toe with them. They are the reason over 4,000 fans showed up to a girls high school game. They have inspired little girls everywhere across the state. It’s not talk it’s a fact. All three are not good students, there phenomenal students. Each is off to one of the best schools on planet earth. If you call this coming up short please sign me up now. The DREAM 3 have been the backbone of SJV basketball the last three years. They bleed the BLACK AND GOLD. They have kept the SJV tradition alive of accepting nothing less than excellence. No Taylor, Madison and Stella did not come up short. In fact they have lived out their wildest dreams.

TAYLOR SOLFILKANICK is off to Duke University. I don’t have to tell you that Duke is one of the premier academic institutions in the country. I don’t have to tell you about the tradition and success of their basketball program. In many ways Duke is the standard in college athletics. If you want to call this coming up short well I think it’s safe to say there is not a single kid in the state right now who is not begging to come up short. Taylor has gone for a tall girl to the 48th best player in the country… I THINK WE ALL CAN AGREE SHE CAME UP BIG!

MADISON KOCIS is off to the University of Penn. She will attend the Whorton School. If this is coming short well then she and her family hope she keeps coming up short her entire life. Because the Whorton School is only for chosen few. Madison will play in the Ivy League where real student athletes play. Where tradition and high level basketball is played without a kid giving up their soul. She’ll play for one of the most caring, coaches and human beings in the country in Mike McLaughlin. I think it’s safe to say Madison Kocis didn’t come up short but rather she came up big… REAL BIG!

STELLA LOCKHART is off to Georgetown University of the Big East. Yes that Georgetown, one of the best schools in the country. The one that produces., presidents and the people who will run the country. Stella Lockhart will be part of a program that is on the rise. A program much like herself who needed a new start 4 years ago. That’s when Stella decided to she wanted to be a superstar. So she packed her bags and gave her heart to SJV. It’s the same thing she’ll do at Georgetown. You see Stella Lockhart has been everything and more at SJV. She has never come up short. Her greatness will just continue. Stella has come up “BIG BOTH ON AND OFF THE COURT”. Kids can only dream of accomplishing all that she has achieved. In many ways it’s been a transformation for the ages.

These three seniors didn’t come up short on Monday. They just closed the book on one chapter in their life. They’ve did so many big things it would take 4 years to explain it all. The same 4 years it took for them to paint this masterpiece. This season may have been their best work. There were surrounded by young in inexperienced players. Yet they found a way to the Mountain top. Not once making excuses or losing patience with their young and inexperienced teammates. They played half the season without another senior Charlotte Bradley. In many ways this DREAM 3 had to go it alone often. There is no substitute for experience.

MADISON KOCIS,…. TAYLOR SOLFIKANICK …. STELLA LOCKHART are tied to the hip forever. There legacy is in tact. Soon the three will start collecting post season awards. Soon people will be telling stories about their journey. There future Hall of Fame Coach Dawn Karpell will shed a tear. She watched them grow from young wide eyed babies into stars, big winners and young Alpha Females. All three had different roads to get where they are today. All three can sit back now and know …. EVERYONE WISHES THEY COULD COME UP AS “BIG” AS THE SJV DREAM THREE!

THE FUTURE IS CALLING YOU LADIES!