Posted by Scott Stump
Thursday was an exciting day of hoops that saw Christian Brothers Academy pick itself up off the mat, Lacey pick up its biggest win of the season to continue a great start, and No. 1 Middletown North overcome a rough shooting afternoon to take sole possession of first place in Class A North.
Click here for the Thursday scoreboard
Click here for a story and video highlights from Lacey’s win over Lakewood
Click here for a story and video highlights from Middletown North’s win over Manalapan
Click here for a story and highlights from Asbury Park’s win over St. Rose
Player of the Night
Jim Dengler, Sr., G, CBA
CBA’s back was against the wall as it threatened to fall to 6-6 and suffer its fourth divisional loss of the season, an unheard-of total for the Colts. They were at home against a Freehold Township team that entered ranked No. 5 in the All Shore Media Top 10 and found a way to put themselves back into the conversation as a Top 10 team after their first loss ever to Manalapan only two days earlier. Dengler, who was starting just his second game, scored a career-high 17 points and make the biggest shot of CBA’s season thus far, a free throw with two seconds left in overtime, to give the Colts a one-point win amidst a roaring crowd on their home floor. CBA has had trouble scoring all season, so Dengler’s emergence would be huge. CBA had four players in double figures, including another senior guard, Joe Saker, who made a huge, game-tying shot with six seconds left in regulation to send it into overtime. To keep up with a team like Freehold Township that can score in bunches and push the tempo is a good sign. Don’t write off the Colts just yet.
Thoughts/Notes
—Outside of Middletown North, Class A North is starting to cannibalize itself. Manalapan, CBA and Freehold Township are all taking turns beating one another, pulling each other further down in the rankings in the process. CBA has to prove its win over Freehold Township wasn’t a blip on the radar, but I think all three are solid teams. It will be interesting how the Shore Conference Tournament seeding committee will view Class A North this season. Will they rate it highly and say that it was a very competitive division so even if the teams beat up on one another, they should all be seeded highly, or will teams like a Holmdel or a Lacey or others from arguably weaker divisions get higher seeds over A North teams because they have gaudier records?
—I was at Middletown North, which had a Washington Generals-type shooting afternoon yet still pulled out a 7-point win over Manalapan. It definitely helped that the Lions were at home so that even though they struggled mightily to make shots, they didn’t have to hear it from an opposing crowd. I liked their aggressiveness late in the game, particularly senior guard Jason Huelbig. Last season, when Huelbig would be struggling, he would often settle for long jumpers and off-balance shots, but on Thursday he took it strong to the rim. He didn’t always get the call, but the best way to break out of a shooting slump is to get to the rim and get to the foul line, and rather than back off, Huelbig attacked more despite not shooting well.
—Junior guard Will Boman is one of the top on-the-ball defenders in the Shore. Manalapan junior Anthony Firkser got 19 points but had to really work for them and get them mainly on jumpers because Boman kept Firkser in front of him the whole time. Middletown North’s defense kept the Lions in the game long enough for them to finally make something from the perimeter and bring home the win.
—Firkser is asked to do so much for that team. They don’t run any high screens for him or anything. He essentially brings the ball up, tries to make a move to shake his defender to get into the lane or pops a stepback 3-pointer. Just about everything they get is created by him, whether it’s his own scoring, finding his teammates on the block or forwards like Russell Isom and Bryan Adams getting weakside putbacks on missed shots by Firkser after he draws the defense. Firkser is big enough (6-4, 215) that even if a defender is pressed up on him, he can use his body to create space to get off his lefty jumper. He also is a menace defensively because of his length. When he was matched up with Huelbig, he did a solid job of holding him in check by getting a hand in his face and keeping him from getting into the lane for anything easy.
—Manalapan had to play the fourth quarter without senior guard Andrew Saray, a 3-point threat who gashed his forehead open with 1:03 left in the third quarter while taking a charge against Middletown North guard Cody Thompson and did not return. Middletown North athletic trainer Danielle Kanski did an admirable job trying to close up a large cut, but it was just too big to keep completely shut. That took one more 3-point shooter off the floor when the Braves tried to come back in the final minutes. Saray appeared to be OK other than the cut and should be ready to go for Manalapan’s next game.
—As is customary for the Lions, the game concluded with a Jason Huelbig breakaway dunk that you can check out here.
—While the Class A North race has started to get a little wild, so has the Class B Central race, and I went to check out Asbury Park at St. Rose to see an important game in that division. Asbury Park was stunned by Point Beach on Jan. 9, but in the interim before it met St. Rose, the Blue Bishops reclaimed sole possession of first place. A Keyport team that entered with one win stunned Point Beach in overtime behind a 24-point game from one of the most underrated sophomores in the Shore, Alex Thomson, and Keansburg beat St. Rose for the first time since 1997. That put Asbury Park back in the driver’s seat to win the division after sharing the overall title with St. Rose last season.
The Blue Bishops got a battle from an undermanned St. Rose team missing two starters, Dean Devaney and Sean Maguire, due to injury. Both were on crutches on the bench. St. Rose always plays well in its own building, and it shot the ball well enough from deep (eight 3-pointers) to stay right in the game. St. Rose’s 2-3 zone also bothered Asbury Park, often forcing contested jumpers and negating the Blue Bishops’ speed. The Purple Roses played their butts off and nearly pulled it off. You can’t ask for much more if you are coach Dennis Devaney.
However, it was only a matter of time before the speed advantage took over, and the quickness of the Conover twins, Amir and Armond, along with senior guards Thomond Hammary and Danron Morrissey, was too much in the end. The Conovers were beating their defenders off the dribble and flying into the lane for baskets or dropoffs to each other or Hammary for easy layups. St. Rose senior guard Mark Kukoda was outstanding as usual, and junior guard Conor Leddy also showed some good fearlessness in taking it into the lane.
Asbury Park is very talented, and I think it just needs to tighten up the defense, particularly in protecting the rim, to really take off. Their press becomes a little more ordinary when they leave the confines of their biddy ball-sized home court, but they still have the lethal quickness to become a ferocious pressing team on a regulation-sized court. Their outside shooting, with the exception of Hammary, also looks a little shaky so they are going to have to be more consistent because most teams are just going to sit in a zone all game because they can’t compete one-on-one with Asbury’s explosiveness.
—I went to interview Armond Conover shortly after the game, and he and his brother were both already busy programming the phone numbers into their cell phones of two girls who had come out of the stands to meet them. “C’mon Stump, you’re messing up their flow!” Asbury Park head coach Dave Johnson cracked when I interrupted the number exchange to grab Armond. I guess their scoring prowess extends beyond the court.
—The win over Lakewood is the one Lacey has been looking for – a takedown of an established power. While the Lions’ defense has been excellent all year, it’s improved offense has been the difference. They were able to put up 55 points on a pretty good defensive team at Lakewood, and when the Piners’ press started eating them up in the second half, they made some adjustments, took care of the ball better and closed out the win. Point guard Tasheen Carrow is huge when it comes to that because not only is he quick and can handle the ball, he can make free throws, as he went 10-for-10 from the stripe in the win. At 11-1, Lacey is right up there among the most surprising teams in the Shore, and you have to put head coach Ryan O’Rourke among the early Coach of the Year candidates.
—While senior forward/center Mike Aaman was his usual dominant self in helping Raritan avenge an earlier loss to Shore Regional, it was the Rockets’ other big man, 6-5 senior Connor Flynn, who had the most encouraging night. He had a career-high 13 points and 16 rebounds in the 55-37 win. He probably became the first player besides Aaman to lead Raritan in rebounding in a game since about 2009.
General Notes
Junior guard Sam Brodsky scored a career-high 21 points and buried six threes in Middletown South’s win over Howell…Manchester senior guard Damiun Moore hit a career-high six threes in a win over Marlboro…Sophomore guard Vinny Facchino made his debut for St. John Vianney in a loss to Red Bank Regional. Facchino, a transfer from Marlboro, scored a career-high 17 points and his five threes in the loss in his first game back after sitting out 30 days because of the NJSIAA transfer rule…Keansburg has beaten Mater Dei Prep in consecutive games for the first time in 14 years, according to Titans coach James McCarthy.
Alumnus of the Day
Richard Stockton College junior forward Bill McDonough (St. Rose) is second on the team at 13 points per game and leads the team at 8.3 rebounds per game. On Wednesday, he had 21 points and 15 boards in a win over Rowan. Guard Ibn Moye (Central) also had a season-high 13 points off the bench in the win. Click here for more.
