Kayden Clark has been waiting for her breakout moment for Manasquan since she transferred over from Ocean Township.
The senior finally came through with arguably her best performance in a Manasquan uniform against a ranked opponent.
Clark scored 10 of her game-high 16 points, lifting No. 13 Manasquan to a comeback win over No. 14 St. Thomas Aquinas, 56-51, on Sunday at the annual Coaches Choice Shore Challenge Showcase at Holmdel High School.
Clark connected on two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, the first one giving Manasquan (15-3) its first lead of the contest, 42-41, early in the period.
The second one, a corner 3-pointer, gave Manasquan the lead for good at 49-46 with 2:22 left to play.
"I think in the third quarter, I think I missed a pretty big shot in the quarter, and then my coaches just told me to keep shooting. I was like, OK, so I just keep shooting and luckily they were going in," Clark said. "I was getting great passes from my teammates."
Manasquan trailed for most of the contest, at one point by 10 points on two separate occasions in the second quarter as St. Thomas Aquinas (16-5) jumped on Manasquan early.
But Manasquan kept chipping away, cutting the deficit to four, 41-37, entering the fourth quarter.
That's when Clark took over, knocking down clutch bucket after clutch bucket.
"It's definitely good. I feel like I'm finally getting into my groove," Clark said. "I know I've been on the court for a while but obviously, it's a brand new team. Playing with a new team is definitely tough. But at the end, it's great. These girls are great to play with."
Shea Donnelly added 11 points for Manasquan, while Jordyn Hollawell chipped in with 10 points by going 10-for-10 at the free-throw line.
Leah Crosby and Trista Whitney each scored 12 points for St. Thomas Aquinas.
Luis Torres covers girls basketball. You can reach him at [email protected].