Live Chat Tonight/High School Football Show

I will have a live football chat tonight at 8, so make sure to pop in here and get your questions in about the Shore Conference football scene.

Also, make sure to check out the High School Football Show on WOBM 1160 a.m. and Fox Sports 1310 a.m. tonight from 6-8 p.m. You also can stream it over your computer at http://www.shoresportsnetwork.com. Tonight’s show will feature spots by The Asbury Park Press’s Steve Falk and myself (7:05-7:15 p.m.) along with Brick Memorial coach Walt Currie and standout lineman Billy Miller from 6:30-6:45 p.m. followed by Toms River North head coach Chip LaBarca Jr. and standout senior wideout/defensive back Drew Kollman from 7:15-7:30 p.m. as Kevin Williams, Ed Sarluca and Matt Harmon preview the showdown between Toms River North and Brick Memorial on Friday night that will be broadcasted live at the aforemetioned radio spots and over the Internet. Also appearing will be Rumson-Fair Haven coach Shane Fallon, fresh off a big win over Asbury Park and facing rival Shore Regional this week, from 7:32-7:40 p.m. Fallon will be followed by Monmouth University coach Kevin Callahan, giving the latest on the Hawks, who are coming off a bye week and face Wagner on Saturday.

The show is live from Boston’s in Toms River, so stop by if you get a chance to get something to eat and listen to some high school football talk.

Camp Reports on Jax Liberty, Brick Mem. and Ocean/Alumni Updates and More…

Here are some more camp reports brought to you by our own Bob Badders, followed by some alumni links, updates and other notes.

JACKSON LIBERTY

The current group of Lions’ seniors is the first group to attend Jackson Liberty for all four years of high school rather than having been moved from Jackson Memorial when Jackson Liberty opened, which should add to the school solidarity under coach Tim Osborn. This is now the Lions’ third varsity season as a program after going 2-8 last year.

The offense has changed from the spread to the pro-I that Osborn engineered during a successful tenure as offensive coordinator under Bob Nani at Toms River North, so it’s more back to the bread and butter for Osborn. Dylan Wright and Steve Oborn are competing to replace Chris Castronuova at quarterback, and Mike Patterson looks to be the primary running back after starting on defense last year.

A key returner up front is center/inside linebacker Brendan Kahle, a name that instantly rang a bell because Kahle tied Middletown South lineman Travis Sodon as the winner of the essay contest at the first annual Donald Brown Player-to-Player Leadership Conference in April. Conducted by Indianapolis Colts rookie running back Donald Brown, a Red Bank Catholic graduate, the conference involved players writing 250-word essays about leadership, who they consider a leader, and what it means to them. Kahle’s reward for his prize-winning essay is an all-expenses paid trip to a Colts game this season. Who knows, maybe it will be the Colts’ home game on Dec. 13, after the high school season has ended, when the Denver Broncos and running back Knowshon Moreno come to town.

Senior Matt Tracy is another important returner up front at right tackle/defensive end, and a newcomer to watch with good size who has come out for the team this year is senior defensive tackle Miles Whitney. A big emphasis for the Lions has been putting forth a full 48-minute effort because in a lot of their games against high-profile opponents, they hung right with them for a half only to watch the game get away from them after the break.

BRICK MEMORIAL

Bob was at the scrimmage the other day between Brick Memorial and Ocean, which he said was 14-14 when the two teams had their varsity players in the game. Senior fullback Vinnie Sabba ran for a pair of touchdowns of about 25 and 15 yards for the Mustangs, who are the defending Central Jersey Group IV champions.

Senior running back Glenn McGinnis has added plenty of size and appears ready to have a big season along with Sabba in the backfield of the Mustangs’ triple option offense. However, he has been battling a nagging hamstring injury that he suffered during an offseason combine that kept him out of the scrimmage the other day. He looks to be ready for the team’s season opener and also is a good linebacker.

In the “Big Shoes to Fill” Department, junior Mike Diguilmi takes over for graduated star Brian Staub at quarterback, and against Ocean he showed good poise and athleticisim and made some good reads. With McGinnis and Sabba back there plus another talented back, senior Jared Aksdal, Diguilmi doesn’t have to put everything on his shoulders, he just needs to keep the ship running smoothly. What’s also helping is that Brick Memorial has Rob Orrok as its new quarterbacks coach. Orrok ran the triple option under Mustangs head coach Walt Currie when the two were at Point Boro, so he knows it inside and out, and Currie said his addition has been huge.

The Mustangs have three starters back on the O-line as well as several promising newcomers, so they should be fine up front as well.

Senior Billy Miller, who is also a talented wrestler, looked outstanding up front defensively in Memorial’s 3-4 set, as he has slimmed down from 250 pounds 220 and was in Ocean’s backfield several times.

All signs point to this team contending for the American Division title and reaching the postseason to defend its state sectional title. A big key will be getting over the hump against two-time defending division champion Toms River North, which has had Memorial’s number for the past few years, outscoring the Mustangs 59-10 in their last two meetings.

OCEAN

A player who jumped out immediately for coach Don Klein‘s crew at the scrimmage and should be a major playmaker for the Spartans this year is Brandon Robinson, who had a touchdown run and a touchdown catch against Brick Memorial. He lined up all over the field, from the backfield to splitting out wide, and looks like he will be a real weapon for them this season who is a threat to go the distance on any play.

Christian Bailoni returns at quarterback after rotating with the now-graduated Rhett Cowley last year, and sophomore Greg Moore is a promising newcomer who is another good athlete in the backfield along with Robinson.

Senior R.J. D’Apolito is one of the Shore’s better returning linebackers and also is back at fullback. He should be a team leader this season along with senior two-way tackle George Sofield, who has attracted some Ivy League interest. The Spartans also now have guard/defensive tackle Shaun Florke, a transfer from Long Branch who saw plenty of time with the Green Wave last year.

The goals are like they always are at Ocean – make a run at the Liberty Division title and try to get deeper into the playoffs after losing to Middletown South in the Central Jersey Group III semifinals last year. It looks like their offense should be more explosive after sputtering at times last year. The defense loses studs like defensive tackle Ricky Lyster, Cowley at safety and more, so we’ll see if it can approximate last year’s physical unit, which did not give up a point in any of the Spartans’ home games and only allowed 6.8 points per game.

As for some notes from Saturday, Asbury Park did well in a scrimmage that featured New Brunswick and Morristown, as senior RB George Stephens ran for multiple touchdowns and Lamar Davenport had two nice catches, according to Blue Bishops coach Don Sofilkanich. Davenport appears ready to take over where Derrell Bell left off last year. Stephens has received interest from several Division I-A schools in the Mid-American Conference but no offers yet, according to Sofilkanich. Sofilkanich also noted that New Brunswick, where he used to be an assistant, is huge up front, in the 290-pound range. That should make for some good battles as it faces Freehold and Middletown South this year and is also part of the rugged Central Jersey Group II bracket.

I also caught a glimpse of Manalapan as it faced off against defending South Jersey Group IV champion Mainland on Friday in the pouring rain and the Braves looked solid against a program that is perennially in the playoffs no matter who graduates. Junior quarterback Mike Bimonte has added about 25 pounds and refined his throwing motion, and the next beast of a running back to replace Jimmy Gilburn appears to be junior Josh Firkser, who saw time last year. Just like Gilburn, he has moved from tight end to tailback and has good size and speed. Speedy senior Kevin Cruz looks like he also should be able to make some plays down the field at wideout. The Braves also have a very strong sophomore class that should help make this team a real force over the next three years, including one running back/linebacker whose name I don’t want to butcher until I get the official spelling. I didn’t get to see much of the defense, so I can’t give a great read on that, but defensive end Johnny Dokouslis looked good and there appeared to be some good speed at linebacker.

And now finally, a few quick updates on some alumni:

–Linebacker Kevin Malast (Manchester/Rutgers) looks to continue a strong preseason camp on Sunday against the Broncos as he tries to make the Bears roster as an undrafted free agent.

–Kicker Pete Czech (Keyport) most likely won’t unseat one of the NFL’s best kickers, Pittsburgh’s Jeff Reed, but hopefully he has showcased himself enough in Reed’s absence in the preseason to get a good look from another NFL team.

—There has been a little bit of  a learning curve for highly-regarded Cincinnati Reds prospect Todd Frazier (Toms River South/Rutgers) since his recent promotion to Triple A.

—Frazier is one of four former Shore players currently in Triple A as we near the September call-up period when major-league rosters expand. Frazier’s older brother, Jeff Frazier (Toms River South/Rutgers), is in Triple A for the Detroit Tigers and having a solid season. Also, right-handed pitcher Jeff Sues (Red Bank Catholic) was recently promoted to Indianapolis, which is the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Triple-A team. Catcher Lou Santangelo (Christian Brothers Academy) is currently hitting .194 with the Round Rock Express, the Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros.

Boys SCT Round of 16 picks/Girls Round of 16 Extras

Before I get to the extra stuff from the girls Shore Conference Tournament Round of 16 action on Thursday night, here are my picks for the boys Round of 16 on Friday.

Also, just a quick note: I will be doing live updates from the St. Rose at Manasquan game on Friday. Manasquan is expecting a sellout, and St. Rose athletic director Jim Agnello told me at the girls game on Thursday night that he was told the doors at Manasquan will be opening at 5:30 p.m. for a 6:30 p.m. tip-off. If you can’t make it, I’ll have updates and video highlights.

Now, on to the picks. I went 9-5 in the preliminary round, which is nothing great. I’ll try to do better in this round. Hopefully I can take the momentum from my girls Round of 16 picks, where I went 8-0. There is more parity on the boys side, so it won’ t be as easy. I’ve seen all 30 teams in the field, many of them multiple times, and I still bricked a couple picks in the first round. Time to do better. Here goes.

(17) Colts Neck at (1) Christian Brothers Academy: CBA already has beaten Colts Neck twice this season in Class A North, and this is going to be No. 3. I just don’t think the Cougars have enough scoring depth to stay with CBA. The Cougars will have to hope that the Colts struggle shooting from the perimeter if they are going to have a chance. Colts Neck is a hard-nosed team and doesn’t back down from anyone, but CBA’s high-scoring group of Brian Neller, Roy Mabrey, Pat Light and Matt McMullen is just too much to try and match up with. The pick: CBA.

(25) Keyport at (9) Brick Memorial: Obviously, this game got a whole lot more interesting after Keyport shocked Monsignor Donovan in double overtime. The Red Raiders won’t be sneaking up on anyone this time, and I think Brick Memorial matches up well with them. Keyport’s Mark Ziobro is an athletic swingman, and so is Brick Memorial’s Matt O’Brien. Keyport’s Shawn Dowd is a rugged forward who is also a good athlete, and so is Brick Memorial’s Steve Zrowka. Keyport’s Tony Lopez is a streak-shooting 3-point sniper, and so is Brick Memorial guard Jose Ramos. Keyport’s Bryan Thomson is the muscle underneath who is primarily a rebounder and defender, and so is Brick Memorial’s Brian Rushalski. Maybe Keyport will make me look bad again for picking against them, but I see Brick Memorial being able to counter what they do well and being a little bit deeper, which I think will make the difference in the fourth quarter. The pick: Brick Memorial.

(12) Freehold Township at (5) Middletown South: Will the third time be the charm for the Patriots? Middletown South has beaten them twice this season, including a 66-64 nail-biter that I covered in their last meeting. The Patriots were able to score in a hurry via their full-court pressure, so we’ll see if they just try and play that way for 32 minutes this time. With Matt Devine and Steve Talbott, they are going to score, so that’s not the problem – it’s that they haven’t been able to mount a 32-minute defensive effort in a big game this season. Kyle Cancillieri is starting to emerge as an All-Shore candidate for the Eagles, and the Patriots have not been able to solve them once Middletown South gets into its halfcourt sets. Freehold Township has to turn this into a fast-paced game and turn Middletown South over in the backcourt. I still think the Eagles will find a way behind Cancillieri and Matt Callori, who are tough to match up with in the halfcourt. The pick: Middletown South.

(20) Holmdel at (4) Freehold: On paper, this looks like a mismatch, but I would never count out Holmdel. Freehold has better athletes, but Holmdel has some size that could bother the Colonials, or at least allow the Hornets to play inside-out with Mike Kelly and others and maybe get some good looks for Mike Perillo and Erik Shirvanian from behind the arc on kickouts. This game is about tempo, because Freehold is going to try and get Holmdel to play fast. I think senior Andrew Gerbehy could have a big game because Holmdel doesn’t really have a player who matches up well with him, and the match-up of Perillo and Freehold’s Lance McKenzie at point guard is definitely one to watch. I think Freehold has just enough of an edge offensively that it will take this one unless Holmdel gets hot from behind the 3-point line. The pick: Freehold.

(14) Lakewood at (3) Monmouth: The Falcons already beat the Piners once this season, but that’s back when Joe Willman was dunking on everyone’s head. Lakewood hasn’t shown me they can beat a team of Monmouth’s caliber, especially on the road, this season. I think Monmouth’s guards, Anthony Gibson and Neil Thompson, can turn over Lakewood’s young guards in the backcourt for some easy points. The wildcard here is Lakewood sophomore Jarrod Davis, who I don’t think Monmouth has anyone in particular who matches up well with. A good battle in the paint looks to be Monmouth’s Brent Shelton vs. Lakewood’s Tyquan Strand. I give the edge to Monmouth here just on experience and a proven track record, which Lakewood doesn’t have. The pick: Monmouth.

(11) St. Rose at (6) Manasquan: It’s going to be a madhouse in Warrior-land for this one, as two local rivals battle it out less than a week since St. Rose upended Manasquan in the regular season. Manasquan’s Matt Vadas is one of the top guards in the Shore and a match-up nightmare. Put a smaller defender on him and he’ll post him up or shoot over him from behind the arc. Put a bigger defender on him, and he’ll blow by him off the dribble. The one thing I like about Vadas is his patience, as he does a good job of reading how a defender is going to play him off a screen, and he waits for the play to develop. He also has that killer instinct that all good scorers have. If he knows he can score on you, he will bust you up on every single possession until someone calls timeout or orders a double team to come at Vadas. If Manasquan can just get something close to double figures out of Zach Rodgers, Neal Sterling and Kyle Wehner, this team could make it to the final. Senior center Sean McPaul leads the way for St. Rose, and he has size that Manasquan has had trouble dealing with. If St. Rose’s guards knock down shots off kickouts, the Roses will win again. One scary thing about St. Rose is that it is not a good foul-shooting team, which doesn’t bode well at tournament time. However, I am sticking with my pre-tournament pick of the Purple Roses to go into enemy territory and pull it out. The pick: St. Rose.

(10) Point Boro at (7) Asbury Park: I’ve tried to figure out this game for a while and I just can’t seem to get a handle on it. Will Point Boro handle Asbury Park’s pressure and do enough in the halfcourt to win? The Panthers’ offense is not built to come from behind double-digit deficits, so they can’t let the Blue Bishops hit them with a big run early on. I’ve seen Asbury Park a few times, and other than maybe Ron Berardesco, they flat-out can’t shoot. They get all their points on second chances, turnovers and transition because they are so fast and anticipate rebounds so well on the offensive glass. Plus, Jamar Smalls does a good job of running the break in the open floor and the Blue Bishops have tons of finishers. They are way faster and way quicker than Point Boro, but I can see Kevin Hynes coming up with a gimmicky defense that could frustrate Asbury Park. My main hesitation in picking the upset is that Asbury is so tough on its home court. I’m chickening out and going with the chalk, although I think this is one I might regret, especially because junior guard Wil Hawthorne may have snapped out of his scoring slump in Point Boro’s first-round win over Central. The pick: Asbury Park.

(15) Toms River East at (2) Neptune: This is not a good match-up for Toms River East because I don’t know if the Raiders’ guards can handle Neptune’s full-court pressure. Plus, if Richie Suhr has to expend a lot of energy just trying to get the ball up the court, he won’t have as much in the tank to focus on scoring. I’m guessing the Raiders will sit in a zone because they have nobody who can keep someone like D.J. Gutridge in front of him. I’m interested to see if Alex Bergstrom can cause some trouble on the offensive glass against the smaller Scarlet Fliers, but conversely, Neptune senior Dan Singleton is so quick off the dribble for a forward that TRE doesn’t really have any big men who can match that, except for maybe Ray Cochran. The pick: Neptune.

OK, now, on to some extra girls SCT stuff from Thursday night.

I was at St. Rose‘s 52-49 overtime thriller against Freehold, which was one of the better games I saw this season from the standpoint of a big fourth-quarter comeback and a great crowd (and not from the foul shooting, which only Shaq could have loved).

St. Rose coach Joe Roman wanted to push the pace from the beginning because the Purple Roses have a deeper bench, and I think it paid off. Freehold missed a lot of free throws down the stretch which could’ve been tired legs, and on Alexx Hall’s coast-to-coast, game-tying lay-up at the fourth-quarter buzzer for St. Rose, fatigue also may have played a role for the Colonials. I give St. Rose a lot of credit because the way it was shooting and the amount of lay-ups it was missing, added to Alex Eagle’s buzzer-beating 30-footer at the end of the third quarter for Freehold, it would have been enough to frustrate anyone into thinking it just wasn’t their night. Hall was playing in another gear down the stretch, blowing by defenders routinely and finishing with the left hand, and freshman Sam Clark hit some big shots as well. The fact that a girl with that kind of size can step out and knock down threes as a freshman is scary.

St. Rose also did a good job of making Shannon Mayrose catch the ball 15 feet and out on most occasions, while also running another defender at her repeatedly. She scored 18 points, but she had to expend a lot of energy to do it. I know most will remember Hall’s heroics, Clark’s steady play and Alison Sweeney‘s clutch 3-pointer, but I think senior Mary Hagaman did a nice job as well with a big fourth-quarter bucket and two huge free throws in overtime on a night when seemingly no player on either side could convert two consecutive foul shots. Also, there’s something to be said for team chemistry. The girls on St. Rose seem to genuinely root for one another and don’t seem to care who gets the credit, which, believe me, is becoming a more and more rare quality in top teams. I think that helped them stick together when they couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn for three quarters.

Freehold also shot itself in the foot with a rash of missed free throws and by shooting early in possessions even though it was up by double digits with only 4 minutes left in regulation. That gave St. Rose more possessions, and the Purple Roses took advantage of them.

As for the other games, it was a little dicey for Rumson-Fair Haven, which trailed 21-12 at the half to Freehold Township before coming back to claim a 36-31 win. It sure helps to have Kate Miller, who had 15 points, and a defense that can pitch a shutout for a whole quarter, like the Bulldogs did in a 15-0 third-quarter showing that gave them the lead back for good.

The rest was all pretty predictable, although Red Bank Catholic beating Middetown South was seen as a trendy upset pick that obviously didn’t happen.  I think the Eagles are just solid and this is just not RBC’s year. Danielle Pankey turned in another big effort for the Eagles with 26 points and her profile will dramatically raise if she can do something like that against undefeated Neptune in the quarterfinals to give the Eagles a fighting chance. The Scarlet Fliers were stuck in a tight game with Raritan for a little while before running the Rockets out of the gym down the stretch to win by 29.

As for the quarterfinals, I don’t see St. John Vianney-Manchester being much of a game, Colts Neck-St. Rose could possibly be interesting but Colts Neck is a heavy favorite, and Neptune has already beaten Middletown South by 20-plus this season, so that leaves Rumson-Southern. Rumson edged the Rams with a big fourth-quarter comeback in the WOBM Classic final back in December, and Southern is playing some great basketball right now behind junior center Kristen Sharkey.

B/G Hoops: A Banner Night For Midd. South/Matawan Football Duo Makes College Commitments

Posted 2:45 a.m.

Before I get to basketball, there were two more football signings from Wednesday to announce. Matawan linebacker/fullback Jamiel Sims is headed to Wagner, and his Huskies teammate, wide receiver Kyle Hardy, will join Colts Neck linebacker Sean Smith and St. Peter’s Prep quarterback Justin Perez (a Freehold Twp. resident) at C.W. Post. Congrats to both of them.

Now, on to Thursday night, where there were plenty of interesting games, headlined by the performances of the Middletown South boys and girls teams.

I’ll star with the girls, who rolled Freehold, 51-33, in a nondivisional game behind 32 points from senior Danielle Pankey, the reigning All Shore Media Player of the Week, who also helped limit the Shore Conference’s leading scorer, Freehold forward Shannon Mayrose, who was in foul trouble all game. That win certainly adds to Middletown South’s Shore Conference Tournament seeding resume and continues some scorching-hot play as they also knocked off Rumson. Pankey is playing her way right into the All-Shore discussion with two big games in high-profile wins, and she has shown that she can be a force offensively and defensively. She always could put it on the floor and get to the basket, but her improved outside shooting has made the difference as she nailed five threes in the win over the Colonials.

Tom Brennan‘s crew is playing its best basketball of the season at the right time as it seems to have taken consecutive losses to Middletown North and Southern to heart and has come roaring back into the SCT seeding picture. I’m sure Southern is quietly loving every minute of it because the Rams have a nice bargaining chip in that SCT seeding meeting with every impressive South victory.

Also on the girls side, a few non-suspenseful division titles were wrapped up as Neptune, which is currently without sophomore guard Syessence Davis as she recuperates from a broken nose, routed Wall to claim the outright Class B North championship and St. Rose rolled past Mater Dei to clinch the Class B Central non-public title. Keyport’s win over Asbury Park means that the Red Raiders need to knock off Academy Charter in their final game before the state cut-off on Saturday to qualify for the NJSIAA playoffs, while Brick now has to beat Central on Friday night to get in after being knocked off by Lacey, which has become a real thorn in some teams’ sides with some good late-season play.

On the boys side, injuries continue to play a significant role as No. 8 Middletown South knocked off No. 3 Freehold, 58-45, in a nondivisional game as the Colonials were without their main inside presence, junior forward Christian Garcia, who was out with a sprained ankle suffered on Monday in a win over Monmouth. Meanwhile, Middletown South welcomed back its main inside presence, 6-5 junior Kyle Cancillieri, from a broken nose, and he dropped in a game-high 18 points to get the win. South certainly knows what it’s like to lose a key game while short-handed as it fell to Rumson on Saturday without Cancillieri. That’s a big win for the Eagles’ SCT seeding hopes, and I also think it helps Neptune in its quest to cement the No. 2 seed because the Scarlet Fliers have a win over the Eagles while Freehold now has a loss to them. I continue to say that the Eagles have the goods to make a run to the SCT final (unless they run into CBA in the semis) as long as everyone stays healthy.

Garcia is expected to return soon, so at least Freehold won’t be without him for long. Colonials coach Ben DiBiase is also a no-excuses guy so I’m sure he is not writing this loss off just because they didn’t have Garcia. They still expected to win.

I took in Monsignor Donovan‘s 43-41 win over Point Boro in front of a packed house down at Mon Don with two good student cheering sections. The Griffins kicked off a stretch in which they play No. 5 Point Boro, No. 2 Neptune and No. 10 Lakewood in succession, and they can now take the overall Class B South title outright with a win over Lakewood at home on Monday and then a victory over Pinelands in their final divisional game.

Mon Don sophomore point guard Sean Grennan continues to impress, as he had a game-high 19 points. You can tell that Grennan really worked hard in the off-season to add to his game. He can catch and shoot from mid-range and behind the arc, he can get to the rim, and he has a nice fadeaway off the dribble from about 15 feet that is becoming automatic. He also will pull the trigger off the dribble from behind the arc and does a nice job of using his body and inside-out dribbles to create space between him and a defender. Other than packing on more size, I think his other main area for improvement looks to be defensively, but his offensive game now has a ton more variety than it did last season and that is a testament to his hard work on his game.

I also like the size and athletic ability of sophomore forward Anthony Duszczak, who is about 6-5 and is a good leaper. He’s still feeling his way offensively, but the more aggressive he becomes, the more dangerous he will be. The inside-outside tandem of Duszczak and Grennan could be a fearsome one in the not-too-distant future. Junior Ryan Milana also had a solid game with some big free throws near the end, and he just has that bulldog, football mentality that every successful team needs.

Point Boro’s Pat Hart had 13 points after dropping 29 on Mon Don the first time around, but I think that was more because of Point Boro’s limited possessions. When you work the ball around the perimeter for 30-35 seconds at a time before a shot, you’re not going to get a ton of chances to score, especially if the other team is also methodical offensively. Hart has one of the better post-up games of any guard in the Shore, as once he gets a shorter defender pinned on his hip, it’s over. I know there was a lot of howling over the no-call when Hart got into the lane in the final seconds and ended up throwing up an off-balance jumper that fell short after making some contact with Milana, but after watching the video a couple times, the contact with Milana was not that significant. If any foul might have been called, it should have been on one of the two defenders who bumped Hart when he split a double team off the dribble before getting into the lane. Still, it’s a judgement call, and it went Mon Don’s way.

Point Boro coach Kevin Hynes wasn’t exactly thrilled about that no-call after the game, but he felt his team gave a good performance, it just came down to a few little things. It’s always interesting to see how different coaches view this public/non-public division title stuff. A lot of the coaches in A North value the public (i.e., non-CBA) title and consider it a good accomplishment, whereas in other divisions, coaches could care less about winning a title if it’s not the overall title. When informed that Point Boro could still win a share of the Class B South public title even if Mon Don all but clinches the overall (and the non-public) title with a win over Lakewood on Monday, Hynes looked like I wrapped a turd in a box and told him to have a Merry Christmas. I guess the Panthers won’t be springing for “Class B South public co-champs” jackets if they end up tied with Lakewood behind Mon Don in the end.

Brick Memorial received an unexpected gift when it was able to clinch the Class A South title outright by virtue of a 72-68 win over Southern and a loss by a reeling Toms River North team to a sub-.500 Jackson Memorial squad. Senior Matt O’Brien dropped 25 for the Mustangs, who are getting hot at the right time with the SCT looming.

CBA also squeaked by Marlboro, 90-47, to clinch the overall Class A North title, believed to be its 8 billionth division title. Right now it’s just the Colts and everyone else in the Shore. Raritan clinched its state playoff berth with a win over Shore Regional, which now has to beat Red Bank Regional on Saturday to earn its berth in the state playoffs.

Congrats to Howell, which earned a rare state playoff berth of its own by routing Allentown. If I’m not mistaken, Howell’s last state playoff berth was the year I started covering Shore hoops way back when in 1999-2000, so great job by head coach Brian Quick and a team led by guards Tom Callahan and one of the most underrated sophomores in the conference, guard Ryan Keegan. Also congrats to a young Manchester team for clinching its spot in the playoffs with a nice win over Central.

Freehold Township beat Manalapan in a game that has an interesting wrinkle in that Patriots senior Matt Devine, one of the Shore’s top scorers, lives in Manalapan, but that part of Manalapan is districted for Freehold Township (only in bizarro world the Freehold Regional District). He had 21 in the victory.

Asbury Park almost got caught looking ahead to Friday night’s showdown on the road with Point Beach in Class B Central as it edged Keyport, 42-39. That would have dented the Blue Bishops’ SCT seeding case pretty hard had they lost, but now they can stay on a roll by beating the Garnet Gulls, who are looking for their most significant win of the season.

After a loss to St. Rose, Mater Dei now has its back against the wall and must win against Jackson Memorial on Saturday to get into the state playoffs. The Seraphs couldn’t have been excited to see that the Jaguars are playing well as they upset Toms River North.

A team that has been the definition of under the radar, Long Branch, routed Keansburg to get into the state playoffs as well, so congrats to the Green Wave.

Finally, I hope you took some time out of your night to watch that Celtics-Lakers OT thriller on TNT. Great game, featuring some cold-blooded jumpers from Kobe Bryant down the stretch. I am an unabashed NBA fan along with Miss All Shore Media (the biggest Lakers fan this side of Jack Nicholson), as we are probably the only people in Monmouth County who have NBA League Pass that gets us all of the games even though I am a Knicks fan and can get their games on MSG. So yes, that means I’m the guy watching Sacramento-Golden State at 1 in the morning while I’m writing for this site. If you can’t get fired up watching LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett or Kevin Durant (who I love) and others on a regular basis, you don’t like basketball.

However, I feel like being an NBA fan is seen as some kind of mental illness at this point by the so-called purists. I remember telling a hoops junkie like Holmdel coach Sean Devaney that I loved the NBA way more than college hoops (which is only good for gambling during March Madness but fairly boring until then) and he looked at me like I said that I enjoyed punching puppies in the face. The egos and the individualism gets to a lot of people, but I love every minute of it, even Oklahoma City vs. Minnesota. The Knicks are even watchable at this point for crying out loud, and I’ll take David Lee and Wilson Chandler (and hopefully LeBron) on my team any day. One day I will write a full treatise to the NBA on this blog just to annoy everyone singing the praises of the college game and its no-name players (although I wish the best for all Shore grads playing in college), just to drive everyone nuts.

B South boys battle tonight/Freehold-Midd. South girls square off

Posted 2:10 p.m.

Some quick hoops stuff to watch for tonight and some reaction from last night.

On the girls side, my apologies first for not getting out to see Rumson’s George Sourlis and Kate Miller get their twin milestones of 500 wins and 1,500  points on a snowy Tuesday, as shaking hands and talking with too many sick teenagers, coaches and fans finally caught up with me and knocked me flat for a day. Congrats again on two tremendous accomplishments.

Tonight, Freehold heads to Middletown South in a nondivisional game that should have some big Shore Conference Tournament seeding implications. Middletown South, led by senior Danielle Pankey, is a defensive-minded team, so we’ll see if the Eagles’ scheme can slow down the top scorer in the Shore in Freehold senior forward Shannon Mayrose. Freehold likes to push the ball, while Middletown South is a little more of a half-court team, so we’ll see who wins the battle of tempo. The key is keeping Mayrose off the offensive glass, where she can kill teams with putbacks.

As for last night, that’s a big and gutsy win for Toms River North over Jackson in a game where both teams were missing top players. Jackson center Christa Evans is out for the season with an injury, while TRN guard Dana Coronato missed the game with illness. That meant the game was begging for someone to step up, and it was TRN’s Ashley Vandenbulcke, who had a career-high 16 points in the game. Those cheers you heard after that 44-40 win came from Southern, which now has a chance to tie for the Class A South title or even win it outright if Jackson stumbles again and the Rams win their final divisional game. Jackson has hung tough without Evans, who leaves a big void in the middle, so we’ll see if the Jaguars can pull it together and win their final A South game to get their piece of the title after so much hard work to get to this point. Toms River North also now boasts wins over Jackson and Southern, which can’t hurt come SCT seeding time.

Congrats to Barnegat, which has qualified for the state playoffs for the first time in school history after a win over Pinelands. Howell also picked up a crucial overtime win against Lacey to get to 7-8 with the state cutoff coming Saturday, as they withstood a 30-point effort by Lacey’s Jami Snyder, who hit a school-record six 3-pointers.

Also, Neptune‘s undefeated girls can put the finishing touches on the outright Class B North title with a win over Wall tonight. St. Rose, which is unbeaten in Class B Central, can clinch the non-public division title tonight by knocking off Mater Dei. I believe the Nixon administration marked the last time St. Rose lost a B Central game. Manchester can also clinch at least a tie for the Class B South title by knocking off Central tonight.

On the boys side, the two big games that stand out tonight are Point Boro at Monsignor Donovan and Middletown South at Freehold. Monsignor Donovan handed Point Boro its first loss of the season with an overtime victory in their first meeting that was basically a game of one-upmanship between Point Boro’s Pat Hart and Mon Don’s Sean Grennan. This game is all about execution in the half-court sets, and we’ll see if each coach decides to run extra defenders at Hart and Grennan to make someone else beat them. Mark Ward and Wil Hawthorne are the ones to watch on Point Boro, while Anthony Duszczak has been a good complement to Grennan for the Griffins.

The Panthers could take a huge step toward claiming at least a piece of the Class B South title with a win, while Mon Don has home games against Point Boro and Lakewood and could win another Class B South overall title if it can knock off both of those teams. If Point Boro gets a win and then Mon Don beats Lakewood, that would give the Panthers the outright crown. This is provided that all three teams win their other remaining Class B South games.

As for the Freehold-Middletown South game, it has SCT seeding implications just like the girls game between the two teams, and both teams come in banged up. Middletown South’s Kyle Cancillieri has not played since Friday because of a broken nose, while Freehold’s Christian Garcia is out with a sprained ankle suffered on Monday against Monmouth. The 6-5 Cancillieri should be suiting up, so we’ll see if he can take advantage of Garcia’s absence in the middle against a Freehold team where everyone is about 6-3 and under. I think Middletown South needs this game a little more than Freehold as far as ammunition in the SCT seeding argument, but it is big for both teams.

Brick Memorial can clinch at least a tie for the Class A South title by beating Southern tonight, while No. 1 Christian Brothers Academy can take care of the formality that is clinching the overall Class A North title this afternoon by beating visiting Marlboro.

Mater Dei, which is fighting for its playoff life at 8-8 and just added a game against Jackson Memorial on the state cut-off day on Saturday, will face St. Rose in Class B Central. Raritan against Shore is another game pitting two teams hovering at or just above the .500 mark as the state cutoff looms.

Boys Hoops Division Races Heat Up/Neptune’s Manfre Commits to Marist/National Signing Day Coming Up

Before I get to Monday’s hoops action, Neptune senior offensive lineman Rocco Manfre (who also served as the Scarlet Fliers’ punter), has committed to play at Marist, according to Neptune coach John Fiore. Manfre was an All-Federal Division selection by the coaches in the fall. The commitments are coming quickly with national signing day coming up on Wednesday, when a host of athletes will sign their National Letters of Intent to make their college commitments binding and official. Anyone who is signing a letter of intent on Wednesday who can take a digital photo of the signing, please e-mail it to me at stump@allshoremedia.com and I will post it because I would like to recognize all of the athletes who are signing on a proud day for them and their families.

Now, on to Monday night’s hoops action. With four of the six girls basketball divisions a foregone conclusion (Class A North – Colts Neck; Class B North – Neptune; Class B Central – St. Rose; Class B South – Manchester), it has been the boys divisional races that have begun to heat up as we head into the home stretch of the regular season.

I took in Freehold’s 56-47 win over Monmouth, which continues to struggle against top opponents without Joe Willman. It was clear from the beginning that Freehold was going to attack the interior and establish junior forward Christian Garcia. I thought Freehold did a nice job of rotating in time off penetration by Monmouth’s Neil Thompson and Anthony Gibson to challenge any shot in the lane, and Monmouth’s forwards, Justin Ruiz and Brent Shelton, missed a few chippies that hurt the Falcons early on.

Freehold’s Lance McKenzie has become the grim reaper for opposing teams when he gets to the foul line late in the game as he is one of the better clutch free throw shooters in the Shore. The Colonials are hoping that Garcia is OK after spraining his left ankle when he missed a dunk late in the fourth quarter and came down awkwardly, resulting in him limping off the court and wrapping the ankle in ice for the rest of the game.

As for Monmouth, teams are just extending their defenses much farther out on the perimeter because they are not as worried about Willman wreaking havoc in the middle. Ruiz and Shelton just have to be more consistent in finishing around the basket, but the potential is there. Shelton had some nice spin moves inside but just had trouble finishing the play. Gibson kept them in it with five 3-pointers, but I think Freehold would live with that because the big key was keeping him out of the paint where he could create easy baskets for himself and others. I still think Monmouth is capable of making noise in the SCT if Gibson and Thompson play aggressively and their forwards finish inside.

Senior guard D.J. Gutridge and some of his Neptune teammates were there along with head coach Ken O’Donnell in hopes of a Freehold win, which now creates a three-way tie for first in the loss column in Class B North. I would think that Red Bank would be the main team that could potentially throw a monkey wrench into a three-way tie, and that’s who Neptune is schedule to play on Tuesday, weather permitting. I wonder how the three will be seeded in the SCT if none of them lose a game before the seeding meeting on Feb. 15. It really depends if the committee looks at the season as a body of work or if the most recent results carry more weight because Neptune just beat the other two back-to-back on consecutive days, which may help the Fliers potentially grab that No. 2 seed behind Christian Brothers Academy. The fight will be for that third seed because no one wants to get the No. 4 or No. 5 because you don’t want to have to see CBA until the final, rather than the SCT semifinals.

As far as the other games, the big thriller was Point Boro‘s 46-44 overtime win against Lakewood, and those cheers you heard were coming from Monsignor Donovan, which is now right back in the picture as well for the overall Class B South title. (I know there are public and non-public titles and all that, but that means nothing to me. You win the overall title or you don’t.) You can tell by the final score that it was Point Boro’s type of game because Lakewood would much rather get into a 75-70 type of game that is more fast-paced. Senior Pat Hart banked in the winner at the buzzer for the Panthers, plunging Class B South into a 3-way tie as well. Hart has been big for them all season, and we’ll see if he can keep it up when the lights are shining the brightest in the SCT, where All-Shore reputations are made or broken.

Point Boro’s win on Monday means the game to circle on the calendar is Point Boro at Monsignor Donovan on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. and then Lakewood at Mon Don on Feb. 9 at 6:30 p.m. The Griffins have both games on their home court, so the opportunity is there to pull out a division title after lurking just out of first place for most of the season. Point Boro cleared a big hurdle on Monday night and now has a chance to get a win over Mon Don and then hope the Griffins go on to take down Lakewood to give the Panthers the title all for itself.

Brick Memorial took a big step toward claiming the Class A South title by playing its best all-around game of the season in a 21-point win on the road over Toms River North, which added injury to insult when it lost senior starter Pat Szukics just two minutes into the game with a possible dislocated or separated shoulder that was so bad it took about 30 minutes to get Szukics off the court and directly to the hospital. Senior Matt O’Brien led the Mustangs with 17 points, and they have now built up a little cushion in A South to put themselves in a great spot to claim the division title. Guard Jose Ramos also helped hold TRN’s leading scorer, senior Steve Nyisztor, to only two points in the victory. Ramos is a huge key for Memorial. He has been playing better lately, and it’s no coincidence that the Mustangs have been as well.

St. Rose took care of Freehold Township, 67-59, which helps add some more credibility to Class B Central come SCT seeding time, and it was a nice bounce back after a loss to Asbury Park on Saturday. If it doesn’t get snowed out, Asbury Park’s big game in the spotlight comes on Tuesday when it travels to Point Beach for a game that looks like it should decide the Class B Central title.

I give a lot of credit to St. John Vianney, which lost sophomore star Michael Balkovic to a season-ending wrist injury in a loss to Manasquan on Friday but has come back to beat Holmdel and Ocean to keep its state playoff hopes alive. A quick update on Balkovic – he will have surgery on Tuesday morning to have pins placed in his left wrist and will be sidelined for 6-8 weeks. Here’s hoping for a swift recovery.

As for the girls side, the Class A South race just got a whole lot more interesting for a very unfortunate reason. As previously reported here, sophomore center Christa Evans is done for the season with a fractured ankle for first-place Jackson Memorial, which had to pull out a last-second win over a sub-.500 Toms River South team on Monday night thanks to a pair of free throws by Dana Costello. The Jaguars are clinging to a one-game lead in the race and now have to go to face a tough Toms River North team on the road on Wednesday night, which will be a big test of Jackson’s mettle without Evans, who was their leading scorer and rebounder. Costello and Caitlyn Testa will be counted on to rise to the occasion if the Jaguars are going to finish the job and not let Southern potentially get a piece of that Class A South title.

Just like with Willman and Monmouth on the boys side, teams can attack Jackson differently without worrying about Evans coming off to alter shots on defense or causing trouble in the paint offensively.

Everything else was basically status quo on the girls side on Monday night, as Ocean picked up a solid nondivisional win over a Holmdel team desperate for victories in its quest to make the state playoffs.

If we aren’t buried under snow on Tuesday, it should be a big night at Rumson-Fair Haven against visiting Manasquan as head coach George Sourlis goes for his 500th career win and senior Kate Miller is just nine points shy of the rare 1,500-point milestone for her brilliant career.

Boys/girls hoops ramblings/More football commitments

Barnegat’s Dan Cintron isn’t the only wideout from the Shore Conference headed to Lehigh as Freehold Township wideout Ryan Spadola also has verbally committed to play for the Mountain Hawks, while his teammate, linebacker Paul Amakihe, is headed to William & Mary. That still leaves Patriots linebacker Matt Faiella, who has received several high-level Division I-AA looks, to commit for the Patriots. For a list of the college commitments that have been reported from the Shore so far, click here.

Now, on to a few quick boys and girls basketball extras. On the boys side, Monmouth is showing it can get it done so far without Joe Willman as it picked up a convincing win over a reeling Freehold Township team on Monday night thanks to 28 points from Anthony Gibson. I actually ran into Gibson and junior guard Neil Thompson at the Neptune game out in Trenton on Saturday and asked them how it was going and they said that Willman was not outwardly trying to show it, but they could tell how disappointed he was inside after his season-ending injury. They also noted how they didn’t even have a chance to practice without Willman before they had to play Red Bank the next night and pulled out a two-point win. Now that they had a couple days to get used to their sets and their attack without Willman, they did a nice job on Monday night. They have a huge 1-2 coming up as they play Neptune on the road on Friday and then Freehold on the road next Monday in what will decide the Class B North title.

Toms River North and Brick Memorial appear set up on a collision course for the Class A South title as North picked up a key win over Toms River East on Monday night and Memorial took care of business against Lacey. If the two take care of business the rest of this week, Memorial will head to Toms River North on Feb. 2 (next Monday) for all of the marbles in A South. I’ll tell you who wouldn’t mind Brick Memorial winning the division – Holmdel. The Hornets beat the Mustangs 52-49 in the final seconds on Saturday as junior guard Erik Shirvanian had 22 points, so a win over a division champ is never a bad thing when heading into the Shore Conference Tournament seeding meeting.

One team that appears to be coming on strong is Middletown South. They might be my darkhorse pick to reach the SCT final if they don’t run into Christian Brothers Academy in the semifinals. With junior point guard Pat O’Connell helping to stabilize the ball-handling situation, they are looking strong right now, and they beat Southern by 22 points on Saturday on the road for a solid win.

I took in a little bit of Neptune‘s blowout of Trenton on Saturday, and beforehand I was talking with our good friend Nep84 (yes, he is alive and well and tied up in meetings for hours on end every day) that the Fliers would have to break out of their shooting slump sooner or later and bury somebody. As I was driving home I got a text message with the final score that said “Today was that day,” so maybe the Fliers are starting to come around as they get ready for a huge game with Monmouth on Friday.

Monsignor Donovan caught St. Rose at the perfect time on Saturday after the Roses had played their best game of the season in a big divisional win over Point Beach on Friday night and had to come back to earth a little, and the Griffins capitalized with a 71-60 win that will help their argument come SCT seeding time. Sophomore Anthony Duszczak is one to watch for Mon Don after star Sean Grennan, as he continues to hover right around a double-double in most games. The more he comes along, the more dangerous this team is going to be.

One other note from Saturday – if that Monsignor McClancy (N.Y.)-Mater Dei score looked a little crazy (McClancy won 89-78), don’t forget about a certain wrinkle in the New York City game. As Seraphs assistant Pat Riddell put it in a text, “The shot clock is fun!” I really wish there was a shot clock down here because watching 43-40 games is brutal.

As for the girls side, I saw Neptune roll past Trenton on Saturday and I’m definitely interested to see how the Scarlet Fliers do come SCT time. I really think they are going to have to show they can consistently knock down jumpers because I can’t see too many teams playing them man-to-man. Teams can’t match Neptune’s speed usually, so they play a zone and try to turn the Fliers into a jumpshooting team while limiting second shots, but teams like Colts Neck and St. John Vianney can match Neptune’s speed, so those are the two that could play them man-to-man. I just wouldn’t want to have a guard have to try to stay in front of Syessence Davis or Shakena Richardson for a whole game because that has foul trouble written all over it. Still, Colts Neck has three guards who can rotate on them and St. John Vianney is so deep that it can afford to get into foul trouble because there is plenty of help off the bench. Still, I think Neptune has a shot against those teams.

I could see guard Morgan Thompson becoming important if she can regularly knock down threes when the others draw attention. Neptune’s shots weren’t really falling from the outside, and it kept Trenton in the game for a little while considering Trenton didn’t have anybody who could shoot, so all the Fliers had to do was seal off the defensive backboards to get the win. Senior forward Marley Mauvais has definitely improved on her game from last season and is a reliable finisher inside and much more of an offensive threat. Depth is huge with Neptune. If it gets in foul trouble early against a good team, it could spell doom. Sophomore point guard Shakena Richardson has become more patient and under control offensively, and she might be the best passer in the entire Shore.

With Monday’s action, Lacey had a nice win over Brick Memorial, and the most important win was probably Manchester‘s dismantling of Point Boro, 72-37, in Class B South. Point Boro was the Hawks’ closest pursuer, so that win all but iced the division title for the Hawks.

Where NFL Mock Drafts Rank Moreno/Story Links, hoops and more

ESPN and Sports Illustrated rolled out their mock NFL drafts today (at least the early versions of them) so we got our first dose of Mel Kiper before we will be sick of him and his hair in a couple of months. One player who looks to be minted as a millionaire and smiling widely for the cameras on ESPN on April 25-26 in New York City is former Middletown South and Georgia star Knowshon Moreno, who elected to leave after leading the SEC in rushing and being named Associated Press first-team All-American for the Bulldogs this fall.

Kiper has Moreno going at No. 16 to the San Diego Chargers right now as the first running back to be selected in the draft. Sports Illustrated’s Don Banks has Moreno way down at No. 28 to the Eagles to be a complement to Brian Westbrook. Please, just anywhere but in the AFC East because if I have to watch him tear up the Jets six times a year I’m going to go nuts. Oh that’s right, Rex Ryan is going to make everything (cough, cough) OK for one of the worst-run franchises this side of the Lions (yet one that I keep giving money to). It will be even worse than watching the Phillies’ Cole Hamels, who is a good guy who I got to know when he started his pro career with the Lakewood BlueClaws and that I caught up with every year at spring training, come back and kill the Mets.

Speaking of sportswriter dilemmas, here is one that I hope happens to me one day.

As for tonight’s hoops, we’ll see if No. 3 Freehold continues to have No. 7 Freehold Township‘s number on the boys side and who the main challenger to Toms River North’s Class A South supremacy will be when Toms River East meets Brick Memorial. Red Bank Catholic heads to Manasquan to see if the Class A Central madness continues.

Also, if you want to listen live to the Central at Monsignor Donovan game at 6:30 p.m. tonight, it’s on the Shore Sports Network, which you can get to by clicking here and clicking on the “Listen Live” link. The first meeting between these teams went to overtime and was won by Central. With Central guard Ibn Moye dueling Griffins’ guard Sean Grennan, it should be a fun one.

On the girls side, the main game is No. 4 Rumson-Fair Haven at No. 5 St. Rose. This should be a good indicator of the gulf between the top four teams in the Shore and everybody else, or show us that St. Rose deserves some consideration to be in the hunt for a Shore Conference Tournament semifinal berth as well. I will get some highlights and a story from this game while also hopefully catching some boys hoops action before the 7 p.m. tip-off at St. Rose.

STORY LINKS

And finally, here are some general interest stories that I’ve read that you might want to check out. I have a wide variety of interests, so not everything is about sports, although I also left out any of the political stories because I know people don’t want to read about that here. I will try to have an edition of some good high school stories when I get the time. I also put this section at the bottom so that if you don’t care about anything but high school sports, you can just skip it. I will try to sprinkle these links throughout the week as I come across different stuff. Also, if you have any book recommendations, feel free to pass them along. I’m currently trying to fly through “Cinderella Man” by Jeremy Schaap (yeah, I know I’m way late on that one):

• It’s a little old, but a great story on legendary Division II basketball coach Don Meyer from North Dakota, who had his legs amputated after a car accident.
• There’s a good story on baseball psychologist Harvey Dorfman in the latest Men’s Journal with Mickey Rourke on the cover. They don’t have it linked on their site, so maybe just pass 20 minutes at Barnes and Noble for a good read. There’s also a pretty good story on skiiing wild man Bode Miller in the same issue.
• In-depth profile of Ultimate Fighting Championship’s Rampage Jackson in Atlantic Monthly.
• There are some lucrative jobs out there that I never thought would have existed.
• This story is a little gross, but I thought it was hilarious and it’s one of the better stories in Outside Magazine in the last year or so. Let’s just say that when you go whitewater rafting, someone has to deal with the less-than-desirable results of it.
• Online chats can be great, but there is a flipside. Just ask St. Louis Cardinals GM John Mozeliak.
• This is not the most uplifting story (it’s about a plane crash), but it is riveting, and it’s crazy that better technology rather than outdated stuff, was part of the reason for the collision.
• There are con artists, and then there is this guy.

Wednesday Hoops Ramblings/RBC’s O’Leary Commits to Campbell for Football

Before I get to some quick hoops thoughts, Red Bank Catholic senior quarterback Connor O’Leary has committed to Division I-AA (or FCS, whichever you prefer) Campbell University in North Carolina, which is a member of the Pioneer League, whose champion plays the winner of the Northeast Conference (the league Monmouth University and others are in) in a bowl game every season. Campbell just completed its first season of football in 2008 after a 58-year hiatus. Congrats to O’Leary, an All-Liberty Division selection who was part of a Caseys’ team that finished the season ranked No. 1 in the All Shore Media Top 10.

If any coaches or players out there have football commitments to report, please e-mail them to me at stump@allshoremedia.com.

Now, on to the hoops. The boys basketball Shore alumni page is up and running now and can be found by clicking here or by going to the “Boys Basketball” page on the site and clicking on the “Alumni” link. I’ll work on the girls page tomorrow because it is insanely tedious, but worth it to keep up on all the former Shore players. I’m sure I probably missed some people, so feel free to fill me in on anyone who is not on the list by sending an e-mail to stump@allshoremedia.com. I also will try to post some blog entries with the latest news on the accomplishments of former Shore players.

Time for some ramblings, starting with the girls hoops side.

Can a freshman make All-Shore if she doesn’t start but is excellent in big games (cough, cough, Michaela Mabrey)?…Can Jackson Memorial finish strong and close out the Class A South title despite a loss to Southern on Monday? If they can, that would be a great confidence-booster for a team that is experienced but still fairly young…Holmdel’s Alex Diekmann might be known a little more as a field hockey standout but has been an underrated scorer for the Hornets…When Red Bank Catholic‘s guards get used to getting Sam Guastella and Chyna Golden the ball in the right spots to score and consistently knocking down 3-pointers to allow the Caseys to play inside-out, this could be a much different team. Think about the Achilles’ heel of St. John Vianney and Colts Neck – defensive rebounding. Guastella and Golden are built to punish teams on the offensive glass, but RBC’s guards have to avoid the large amount of turnovers that have doomed them in big games this season…Senior Alex Eagle played a great game on both sides of the ball for Freehold, including a huge steal near the end, in its upset of RBC…It was a little under the radar, but nice win for Manasquan over Shore on Tuesday, with Tori Grille leading the way with 19 points…Brick is quietly playing much better as the season goes on and that was an impressive win over Toms River North on Tuesday given that the Mariners had recently knocked off Southern. Vicky DeTata is one of Ocean County’s more underrated players….Mater Dei and Keansburg played an overtime game and a 3-point game, both of which the Seraphs won, in their two meetings this season, which is a nice showing for the Titans because Mater Dei and St. Rose have usually had a decent amount of separation from the rest of Class B Central for the past few seasons…Wondering just how good Middletown South is – not quite in Neptune and Colts Neck’s league, but could the Eagles beat RBC, Freehold or St. Rose? I would like to see one of those games happen…While Mabrey, St. Rose’s Samantha Clark and others deservedly get recognition as top freshmen in the Shore, Point Beach’s Brianna Feerst has quietly emerged as one of the Garnet Gulls’ top scorers and has them on pace for another trip to the postseason…Can we just skip to the Shore Conference Tournament semifinals now so we can see the match-ups we’ve been waiting for?

And now on to the boys side...

Class A Central, you’re killing me. Shore Regional is the hottest team in the division right now, and a week ago it was Red Bank Catholic, and before that it was Manasquan and Holmdel. It’s getting hard to pick a team to rank because once one of them starts to look good, another one yanks they back down into the moshpit. This race looks like it will come down to the last week, with the winner getting a home game in the SCT. Things aren’t looking too good over at preseason contender Rumson-Fair Haven, either, as leading scorer Matt Blumel went scoreless and was benched in the second half of a loss to Matawan, which was winless in the division before the win over the Bulldogs on Tuesday. RBC got back on track with a win over Raritan, which has already surpassed last season’s win total (6), but is being ravaged by injuries to its front line. RBC plays at Manasquan on Thursday, so we’ll see if the madness continues…Middletown South could be gaining steam now that point guard Pat O’Connell is eligible, as the Eagles avenged an earlier loss to Colts Neck. The more this team can get into its halfcourt sets without turnovers, the more difficult it becomes to stop because with the emergence of Rob Callori and Jake Brodsky as 3-point threats, they can make teams pay for doubling down on Kyle Cancillieri and Matt Callori. It also means that those last two will have to handle the ball less and can worry more about just lighting up their defender…I’m curious to see how Middletown North does on its second trip through Class A North because the Lions were on a roll before running into CBA, who would halt pretty much any team’s momentum right now. Can they recapture that momentum and keep making a push to the postseason? It’s certainly not going to be easy because guess who the Lions play on Thursday? That’s right, No. 1 and undefeated Monmouth. That’s the most brutal 1-2 punch a local team could face right now…

Holmdel’s Erik Shirvanian returned with a vengeance after sitting out the Manasquan game as he put 30 on St. John Vianney on Tuesday night. With him as a 3-point threat, the Hornets are a different team because opponents can’t sag in the lane, which slows down junior forward Mike Kelly and allows more defenders to rotate and help when point guard Mike Perillo takes it to the hole. With Shirvanian out there, it helps court spacing and keeps teams honest or he will just fire away from behind the arc. Manasquan’s players essentially said that they defended Holmdel much differently than they would have had Shirvanian not been out of the lineup with an injury…Brick Memorial almost got caught looking ahead to a big game against Toms River East on Thursday when Toms River South took the Mustangs to overtime. However, that’s what seniors are for, to bail out the team in those situations and pull out the win, and that’s what Matt O’Brien did with 24 points…Senior forward Corey Whitman quietly had a 28-point night for Wall against the No. 3 team in the Shore, Freehold, on Tuesday…Marlboro showed how treacherous Class A North can be when the two-win Mustangs pushed Freehold Township to quadruple overtime on Tuesday. There are no days off in that division. The Patriots have a big one on Thursday as they face off with No. 3 Freehold after having lost to the Colonials in the Jack Kuhnert Holiday Tournament semifinals and in last season’s Shore Conference Tournament. Both of those wins took place on Township’s home court, where the game will tip off at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday in front of what is sure to be a raucous home crowd.