Posted by Scott Stump
As always, it was a full day in the opening round of WOBM Classic with eight games at the Ritacco Center, so I’ll get right to it and then on to some thoughts from the other games, including Freehold’s 69-67 thriller over Neptune. By the way, here is Matt’s game story if you haven’t read it as well as the highlights. As you can see, Matt has raised the bar for video highlights here with an edited recap with his voiceover of all the action of a thrilling game.
As for WOBM, you can read the recap and watch some highlights by clicking here, and read a feature on Manchester here.
—It was great to see former veteran Toms River East coach Tom Carpenter, who suffered a stroke during the offseason that removed him from the sidelines for this season and possibly for good, in the house to take in the action. His former player and assistant, Mike Konopka, got his first win as a head coach in crazy fashion, 52-49, as Ocean got a technical foul for having six players on the floor while inbounding the ball with 8 seconds left and the score tied at 49 to help TRE win the game.
“I’ll take wins any way I can get them at this point,” Konopka joked.
Carpenter, who uses a cane but pretty much looks like his old self already, said Konopka was basically the heir apparent anyway, it’s just that the timetable got sped up because of his stroke. Carpenter, who is a New Jersey State Coaches Association Hall of Famer, sat behind the bench for a season-opening loss to Lacey but said he will remove himself from being too close to the team because he caught the players looking at him sometimes for guidance during the Lacey game and he wants it to be clear that this is Konopka’s team and his turn to develop the program. It’s been a tough two-year stretch for the Toms River East program, as in addition to Carpenter’s stroke, the now-graduated Ray Cochran had his mother pass away on the day of the season opener last season.
As for the Raiders, if senior forward Justin Sampson can play as well as he did (19 points) against Ocean consistently, they should be tough. Ocean threw a 3-2 zone at them and it limited their looks from the perimeter, but Sampson and forward Alex Bergstrom combined for 27 points to make the Spartans pay for extending their defense out to the 3-point line.
Ocean coach John Terlecsky is probably currently punching a wall somewhere, but his team fought hard and did some nice things defensively. They look like a team that will get better as the year goes along.
—It was also great to see another veteran coach back on the bench as former Manasquan coach Kurt Fenchel, another coach who has done a ton of winning in his career, is back as an assistant under Kevin Hynes at Point Boro.
“It’s a lot different sitting in this seat than in that front seat,” Fenchel said before smiling. “Now I don’t have to worry about getting blamed for anything.”
Fenchel and Hynes are good friends, and it adds one more veteran mind to a good staff that produces tough teams every year. The Panthers beat Lacey to advance to the quarterfinals to face Manchester. Also, in the “random fact” department, Fenchel coached current Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Raheem Morris in basketball back when Fenchel was at Irvington. Fenchel was on the sideline when the Bucs played the Saints earlier this season.
As for Point Boro, a big key to the Panthers season looks to be the emergence of sophomore point guard Shaun Cooke as a good complement to the inside-outside tandem of senior guard Wil Hawthorne and junior forward Ryan Malleck. Hynes likes the fact that Cooke, who saw significant minutes as a freshman, plays at an even keel, not getting too riled up or too down on himself, and makes good decisions. The main area he is looking to improve on is a quicker release on his jump shot. He is a good shooter, but needs time to get the shot off.
—Jackson Memorial picked up a nice 44-43 win over Toms River South, which is a good confidence-booster for a young team. The Jaguars did enough from the perimeter to come back and get the win, and it’s clear that Joe Fagan‘s coaching has started to pay dividends in his second season at the helm. They were disciplined down the stretch to get the win, not throwing up any crazy shots or panicking. Their quarterfinal against St. Rose could be interesting. Sophomore Brandon McDonald looks like he could be a tough match-up with his shooting range and height (6-4), and senior Andrew Papis can also hurt teams with his shooting.
—The Manchester-Brick game was pretty forgettable. One seasoned Shore Conference basketball observer walked out of the auxiliary gym at Toms River North as I was walking in and he had a look on his face like one of the paramedics who come to clean up the mess at Camp Crystal Lake at the end of a Friday the 13th movie. “You don’t want to go in there. It’s bad,” he said. Manchester led 19-2 at that point on its way to a 70-34 win. The Point Boro game in the quarterfinals should be a true test of the Hawks because that will be the toughest defense they have faced thus far.
—Southern did some nice things in transition against Wall, and I liked what I saw from Rams guards Harry Givas and Luke Sheehan. Teams are going to try and zone them like Wall did, sagging on big man Ray Darnell and forcing the Rams to settle for long jumpers. The ability of the guards to push the ball in transition before teams can set up the zone will be a key.
—The team that opened my eyes the most on the day was Brick Memorial. Their entire lineup is new, but these kids are talented. They were just stuck behind a great senior group last season. They are all fast, they all get out and run and push the ball constantly under Ed Sarluca‘s system. Junior forward Jahmere Calhoun is very fluid in the open court and a good leaper, and Alex Sliazis can put up points in a hurry. They are going to give top-seeded Monroe all it can handle and I wouldn’t be surprised if they won. I think this Mustangs team can make a serious run at defending its Class A South title despite all it lost to graduation. A South is ripe for the taking. That would be a huge program accomplishment for Sarluca, who really seems to be building a strong foundation to the point where the program can weather the loss of a whole lineup yet still be a strong team. He is a young coach to watch in the Shore.
—Monroe looked beatable as Barnegat hung with the Falcons for 2 1/2 quarters. Barnegat is going to be good in two years and maybe sooner. The Bengals have a great sophomore class – the McGugan brothers, Aaron and Anthony, and Toms River South transfer Jordan Salt are all talented. They just need to reign themselves in a little, as they often tried to single-handedly dribble through the press instead of passing the ball and it resulted in a bunch of turnovers that let Monroe run away with the game by the end. They are all very quick off the dribble and fast in the open court, so once they are more polished, this team will be tough.
As for Monroe, they run and run and run. Also, they were coming off a triple overtime game against Sayreville, so it would make sense that they got off to a slow start. Their quarterfinal game against a Brick Memorial team that also loves to push the ball is going to be whiplash-inducing. Their players all seem interchangeable as they are all about 6-1, will shoot the three, and can get up and down the floor in a hurry.
Also, former Jackson Memorial standout Jeff Warner, who played on those strong Jaguars teams with Kenny Simms earlier this decade, is now the freshman coach at Monroe. That makes me feel old. I covered him, Mike Konopka and Wall coach Mike Puorro when they were in high school. Warner also happens to be Miss All Shore Media’s cousin and the nephew of Freehold Township freshman coach Dave Warner, so it was good to see him on Tuesday.
—I still can’t really get a handle on St. Rose. They don’t seem to have an offensive identity yet. Senior guard J.J. Kurtz is the most aggressive offensive player they have, but I think the other guards are still finding their way and need to look for their shot more. They were all over Toms River North, but to the Mariners’ credit, they fought back. Their freshman, Damian Singleton, is one to keep an eye on.
—The rampant transferring is just nuts at this point. On opening night, I talked to Asbury Park junior forward Maurice Dickerson, who has attended Long Branch, Asbury Park, Monmouth and Asbury Park (again) during his career. Today is was Manchester’s Martin Brown, who was at Manchester, Toms River South and now Manchester again, and John Marshall, who I believe just transferred again in the time it took me to write this sentence. In the last two months, he was at Toms River North, then Lakewood and now is at Manchester.
I was joking with Maureen Clemente, the wife of veteran Central coach Mike Clemente and the ultimate basketball wife/mom lifer, that I’m waiting for a player to switch jerseys at halftime and come out playing for the other team in the second half. She knows the drill, as the Dillard twins transferred from Central to Toms River South earlier this decade to break up what could’ve been a great Central team that also featured Clemente’s son.
Lest you think this is a new phenomenon, the point guard at RBC my sophomore year during the early 1990s was Josh Brody, who had transferred there from Middletown South. A year later, he was the point guard at Red Bank Regional, which had a loaded team featuring Mark Donnelly, Mustapha Barksdale and Billy Gilligan and just so happened to have “point guard” as the missing ingredient. They went on to win the Group III title. I think there’s less of the bitterness/good riddance feeling now when kids leave because kids from all different schools are friends through AAU. Back then, it was a little different.
—Finally, much thanks to tournament director Kevin Williams and his crew for all their help. No one runs a tournament better. Plus, there was a hospitality room that was filled with pizzas from Boston’s Restaurant and Sports Bar in Toms River on Tuesday. First class job.
—There were a handful of coaches who were in the house to scout on a day they weren’t playing games, as I saw Keyport’s Phil Recco, Jackson Liberty’s Mark Lax, and Pinelands’ John Tierney sizing up some teams they will face this season. Tierney is just hoping for his Wildcats to stay healthy as they try to make the Shore Conference Tournament this season. He is hoping to avoid the conversation he had two years ago when former standout Paul Huch, a 6-foot-6 senior who had a triple double in a season-opening win over Lakewood for the first win over the Piners in school history, called him one night early in the season. Pinelands appeared on its way to its best season in years. Huch had played two games since injuring his hand, so Tierney thought everything was OK when Huch called him one night when Tierney was out to dinner with his wife.
“Uh, coach, I’m done.”
Done with what? Dinner?
“No, I’m out for the season. I went to the doctor and they said my right hand is broken, so I can’t play any more this season.”
“I told my wife to give me a minute because I had to go sit out in the car by myself after that one,” Tierney said before smiling.
Now, on to some other stuff from the rest of Tuesday’s action on the boys and girls sides.
—Congrats to Manasquan senior Matt Vadas, who scored his 1,000th career point as part of a 28-point night in a win over Red Bank Catholic. It’s funny because when Vadas played as a sophomore, he was considered a defensive ace, so it shows how far his offensive game has come as he is now one of the most potent scorers in the Shore Conference.
—Freehold Township is going to be in for a tough stretch in a rough field in the Jack Kuhnert Holiday Tournament now that the Patriots are without two starters on an inexperienced team. (Click here for more on that) Plus, what is it with Freehold Township kids getting hurt at work? I remember three years ago when an outfielder on the baseball team, Dan Klinsky, missed an entire season for the Patriots because of a freak accident while messing around with shopping carts at his job at a grocery store. The coaches at Township are going to have to start getting these kids a job at the local library or at a pillow factory or something.
—We’ll find out what Middletown North is made of after an 0-2 start in which the Lions probably had the toughest 1-2 opening of any team in the Shore against No. 1 Christian Brothers Academy and No. 4 Middletown South.
—Guess who one of the top scorers in the Shore is through the first two games at 19.5 points per game? It’s Raritan’s 6-foot-8 sophomore center Mike Aaman, who had 20 points in a season-opening loss to RBC and then had 19 points and 18 rebounds in a win over Matawan on Tuesday. His main concern is staying healthy, as he has had persistent ankle problems as his body continues to grow.
—St. John Vianney’s Ishaq Pitt continues to impress and carry the scoring in the absence of Mike Balkovic as he had 28 points in a 66-55 win over Shore, who got a career-high 29 points from Rich Vivian. Pitt has immediately stamped himself as one of the top scorers in the Shore and is a true Division I prospect. Talking to Jay Gomes of NJHoops on Saturday, who has been a close follower of the recruiting scene in New Jersey for a long time, he said Pitt is a legit Division I player. I’m anxious to see him, hopefully in the Bayshore Tournament.
—As for the Freehold-Neptune game, I am in agreement with our man Nep84 for what he wrote in The ShoreLine. This was a great win for Freehold, but also a very encouraging game for a Neptune team with a host of newcomers who showed their character in fighting to the end. Freehold senior Christian Garcia always seems to play well against Neptune – he had 31 points on Tuesday and last season he had 22 points and 14 rebounds in the season opener against Neptune. Neptune’s up-tempo game is perfect for the slashing Garcia, who is a great open-court player. Now the key is doing it every night against all different opponents, which was his main issue last season.
—Finally, a quick update on Colts Neck sophomore guard Brian Kenny. He just had a cramp at the end of the Middletown South game, so there was no damage to his knee or anything like that, so he is good to go for the Cougars.
On the girls side, there were a few things that caught my eye.
—Matawan’s 34-31 win over Raritan is huge for that Huskies program. They have not beaten the Rockets in at least 17 years and possibly ever, so to get a divisional win is big for a team trying to rise from the ashes of a 1-21 season. Great win for them, and it came in the final 12 seconds after they had squandered a big lead.
—Red Bank is already 2-0 under new coach James Young after winning 8 games all of last season. The Bucs are winning the close ones in a Class B North division in which Neptune will crush everyone, Wall is solid and then it’s a free-for-all.
—The gulf in Class B Central is still wide between St. Rose and everyone else, as the Purple Roses showed with a 67-26 rout of a solid Point Beach team that looks to be the main contender for the public title in the division.
—Finally, Long Branch picked up a 17-point win over Keansburg for its first win after winning two games all of last season, so, like Matawan, it’s good to see the Green Wave making progress.
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