Boys Basketball – 2015-16 All-Shore Teams
Shore Sports Network 2015-16 All-Shore Boys Basketball Teams
All-Shore selections are made by Senior Staff Writer Matt Manley based on coaches input over the course of the season, statistics and many, many games watched.
First Team
Pat Andree, Sr., Forward, Christian Brothers Academy
Key Stats: 24.0 points per game, 10.3 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.3 blocks, 83.74% FT percentage, 76 three-pointers
Signature Game: Scored 31 points on 11-for-13 shooting from the floor in a win over East Orange at the Valerie Fund Showcase.
The Shore Sports Network Player of the Year closed out his standout four-year career at CBA by shattering the program’s all-time scoring record in his best year as a high school player. In his senior season, Andree averaged 24 points per game to go with 10.3 rebounds, 3.4 assists and a little more than a block per game. That left Andree with 1,984 points to finish his career, and he was likely a snow day away from finishing with 2,000. A divisional game against Middletown North was pushed back until two days before the Shore Conference Tournament final and CBA’s starters sat out in preparation for the final.
Andree opened the season on a scoring spree and during one stretch of the early-going, he threw up 30 points or more in four straight games, including a career-high 43 points against Moses Brown of R.I. In CBA’s hardest-fought division game, Andree scored 35 of his team’s points in a 69-65 overtime win over Marlboro, which was the fourth of the four straight 30-plus point games. He also went for 37 against Trenton Central, 31 against Manalapan, and added four more 30-point games over the course of the season for eight total. Andree led CBA to the Shore Conference Tournament championship game for the third straight year, scoring 30 points in a round-of-16 win over Middletown North, 25 in a quarterfinal win over Lakewood and 24 in win over No. 3 Manasquan in the semifinals. The SCT run followed CBA’s third straight Class A North championship, which might have been an unbeaten A North season if not for the snow-out against Middletown North.
After a high school career that included the three division championships, three SCT finals appearances and a South Jersey Non-Public A sectional title as a junior in 2014-15, Andree will continue his playing career at Lehigh University.
Brendan Barry, Sr., Guard, Rumson-Fair Haven
Key Stats: 25.7 points per game, 5.1 assists, 2.7 steals, 84.24% FT percentage, 67 three-pointers
Signature Game: Scored 50 points in a win over Middletown North, the first 50-point game by a Shore Conference player in 14 years.
Like Andree, Barry will leave high school as his program’s all-time leading scorer, surpassing the old record in late January and finishing his standout four-year varsity career with 1,812 points. He was the Shore Sports Network Player of the Year as a junior in 2014-15 while leading Rumson to its first ever Shore Conference Tournament champion and as a sophomore, he helped lead the Bulldogs to the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group II final.
With that being said, this is not a career award for Barry, who might have had a better overall season than the one he had as the Shore Sports Network Player of the Year last year. He finished second in the Shore Conference in scoring average with 25.7 points per game, third in both three-pointers made (67) and free-throw percentage (84 percent), sixth in assists (5.1) and 15th in steals per game (2.7). His 25-point second half to beat CBA in the Shore Conference Tournament final as a junior will likely be the defining performance of his career but he gave that performance some competition when he exploded for a career-high 50 points in a win over Middletown North – the first Shore Conference Player in 14 years to score 50 points or more in a game. The 50-point effort was one of seven game in which Barry scored at least 30 points.
Barry is nearing a college decision, which he said will be between Brown University, Dartmouth College and Colgate University.
Ryan Jensen, Sr., Forward, Manasquan
Key Stats: 14.7 points per game, 13.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 3.4 blocks, 1.6 steals, 73.71% FT percentage
Signature Game: Scored a career-high 30 points to go with 25 rebounds and five blocks in a win over St. John Vianney while also joining the 1,000-point club on his final basket of the game.
Another four-year varsity standout for his program, Jensen racked up 1,151 points during his career while also hauling in 1,089 career rebounds for a Warriors program that went 88-19 during his four seasons. The 6-foot-5 forward is the second Manasquan player to ever eclipse 1,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds and the third player to accomplish the feat playing for head coach Andrew Bilodeau. Two-time All-Shore forward Jimmy Walsh accomplished the feat before graduating in 2013 – Jensen’s freshman season – and former Manchester and Rutgers forward Jaron Griffin did the same in 2004 when Bilodeau was coaching the Hawks.
During his senior season, Jensen expanded his all-around game by improving on his scoring, assist, blocks and steals numbers. His 14.7 points per game, 3.4 assists, and 3.4 blocks were all new career highs and his 13.7 rebounds per game were good for third in the conference. Led by Jensen and fellow senior Jack Sheehan, Manasquan won the Class A Central championship for the fourth straight year, reached the Shore Conference Tournament semifinals and the Central Jersey Group II final. In an SCT win over Southern, he outdueled Rams 2,000-point scorer Peyton Wejnert by posting 20 points, 22 rebounds, five assists and eight blocks. He then helped lead two postseason wins over rival Rumson-Fair Haven, including 20 points and 27 rebounds in a triple-overtime Shore Conference Tournament win and 16 points and 14 boards in a 19-point win in the sectional semifinals. In that triple-overtime win, Jensen hit game-tying free throws with two seconds left in regulation to send the game to extra time.
With an accomplished high school career now behind him, Jensen will continue his playing career at the College of New Jersey.
NyQuan McCombs, Sr., Guard, Mater Dei Prep
Key Stats: 12.5 points per game, 2.3 assists, 1.3 steals, 33 three-pointers
Signature Game: Scored 18 points to go along with six assists and two steals in a regular-season home win over Ranney while also holding Ranney freshman Bryan Antoine (17 points) under his scoring average (20.6 per game).
In his first year as a Shore Conference player, McCombs had his second first-team all-conference season. The 5-foot-10 guard was an All-Greater-Middlesex First-Team player according to the conference’s coaches as a junior last year at Cardinal McCarrick, but the South Amboy School shut its doors following the 2014-15 season, leaving McCombs and the handful of potential Eagles returnees on roster without a school to call home. Coach Ben Gamble was hired as the Mater Dei coach and McCombs and three of his McCarrick teammates followed, setting up arguably the greatest season in Seraphs basketball history.
While his overall statistics, don’t leap off the page, McCombs was the leading scorer and best defender on the Shore Conference Tournament champions. In three meetings against Ranney, McCombs held Panthers freshman and leading scorer Bryan Antoine below his season average of 20.6 points in each game, the last of which was a Shore Conference Tournament win in a 47-39 defensive struggle. During the SCT, McCombs averaged 10.5 points, four assists and 2.5 assists and opposing guards that McCombs covered averaged only 7.5. His pressure defense on the ball sparked Mater Dei’s monumental comeback against CBA in the Shore Conference Tournament final, during which the Seraphs outscored the Colts 32-7 over the final nine minutes to overcome an 18-point deficit.
After starting his career with two years on the St. Anthony bench and jumping schools twice in the final two years of his high school career, McCombs is now looking for a landing spot at the next level and is still undecided.
Lloyd Daniels, Sr., Guard, Colts Neck
Key Stats: 18.2 points per game, 3.3 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.2 steals, 72.41% FT percentage, 31 three-pointers
Signature Game: Scored 24 points while adding five rebounds, four assists and four steals in a Central Jersey Group IV quarterfinal win over Marlboro.
Just about every year, an All-Shore first team spot is won during the NJSIAA Tournament and this year, it was the Colts Neck point guard who locked up an All-Shore First Team slot by leading his Cougars to their first ever sectional championship. During that run, plus the Group IV semifinal against Atlantic City, Daniels averaged 20.8 points, 6.2 rebounds and three assists, including 23 points or more in three of those games – Marlboro (24), South Brunswick (23) and Atlantic City (23). In the Central Jersey IV championship game against Freehold Township, Daniels scored 16 of his 18 points in the first half and assisted Brendan Clarke’s game-winning shot at the buzzer after the Patriots threw a double-team his way.
Daniels – the son of former NBA forward and New York City High School legend Lloyd Daniels Sr. – began his varsity career as a sophomore and was on his way to a likely 1,000-point career before a midseason ankle injury during his junior year slowed him down the stretch of the 2014-15 season. Any scoring milestones also took a backseat to his standing as the point guard, reflected in his five assists per game this season after averaging 3.7 as a junior. Even with those point guard responsibilities, Daniels’s 18.2 points per game was good for seventh in the Shore Conference.
Some late Division I interest has come in on Daniels, although he is still awaiting offers while weighing his options for next season.
Bryan Antoine, Fr., Guard, Ranney
Key Stats: 20.6 points per game, 4.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 3.1 steals, 80.99% FT percentage, 50 three-pointers
Signature Game: Posted 34 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, three steals and three blocks in a win over Sayreville in the Albert E. Martin Buc Classic semifinals.
With the possible exception of Andree, no player stormed out of the gate in 2015-16 faster than Ranney’s freshman point guard. Antoine scored 26 points against St. Rose on opening night and went on to average 29.3 points in three games at the Albert E. Martin Buc Holiday Classic over the Holiday Break as the Panthers captured the tournament title. He also went off for a season-high 39 points at Asbury Park in early January. Although Antoine’s scoring pace slowed to a more reasonable level for a freshman as defenses adjusted, he was still one of only five players in the conference to average more than 20 points per game.
As a team, Ranney reached the Shore Conference Tournament quarterfinals for the first time in school history and won its first ever NJSIAA Tournament game, all with a starting lineup of four freshmen. Antoine led his team in scoring, three-pointers made (50), free-throw percentage (81 percent), assists per game (3.9) and steals per game (3.1). The Panthers’ only losses this season came against No. 1 Mater Dei three times and to Roselle Catholic – the No. 2 team in the state according to NJ.com’s final rankings.
After just one year of high school, Division I programs are already pursuing Antoine and his classmate Scottie Lewis, with St. John’s, Notre Dame and UConn already extending offers.
Second Team
Jack Sheehan, Sr., Guard, Manasquan
Sheehan was the star of the Shore’s most exciting game of 2016 – Manasquan’s 80-77 triple-overtime win over Rumson-Fair Haven in the Shore Conference Tournament quarterfinals at Brookdale College. In that game, Sheehan scored a career-high 35 points, including two crucial, late three-point plays and a clutch, game-tying 19-footer to send the game to triple overtime. In the NJSIAA Tournament, he scored 28 points in a win over Lincoln and posted 11 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists in another win over Rumson. Those performances were at the top of Sheehan’s standout year, which included 14.6 points, six rebounds, five assists and 1.5 steals per game. Sheehan is committed to play baseball at the University of Notre Dame along with his younger brother, Tommy, who is a junior.
Scottie Lewis, Fr., Forward, Ranney
Although Antoine was the more productive offensive player throughout the season, Lewis was among the Shore leaders in rebounding (8.8) and shot-blocking (2.2). He also led the team in scoring in postseason games by averaging 14.8 points in five games between the Shore Conference and NJSIAA Tournaments. Lewis scored 20 points in an SCT win over Brick and 19 in a win over Freehold Township a round later. He also had an eight-block game in the Buc Classic final against Red Bank Regional. Lewis finished his freshman year by averaging 15.9 points along with two assists and two steals per game.
Peyton Wejnert, Sr., Forward, Southern
Statistically speaking, no player in the Shore Conference had a year like Wejnert. The 6-foot-6 Rams forward finished second in all of N.J. with 29.4 points per game while also grabbing 11.7 rebounds. His last field goal of the season in Southern’s first-round state loss to Lenape made Wejnert the first Shore Conference player to reach the 2,000-point milestone since Central’s Jermaine Clay in 1990. He lapped the field with 13 games of 30 points or more, including a 49-point game against Toms River East and a 43-point game against Jackson Memorial. The only thing separating Wejnert from the first-team field is that Southern did not play on the grand stage in the postseason, losing at Manasquan in the SCT round of 16 and to aforementioned Lenape in the opening round of the NJSIAA Tournament. After his record-setting career between Point Pleasant Boro and Southern, Wejnert will continue his college career at Pace University.
Amir Tyler, Sr., Guard, Lakewood
The fifth of the four-year varsity players on this year’s three All-Shore teams, Tyler began his career as a reserve on Lakewood’s 2013 Shore Conference Tournament championship team and ended it as one of school’s best all-around athletes of the last two decades. While Tyler’s future is on the gridiron – he is headed to Temple on a football scholarship in the fall – he made a lasting impression on the basketball court this season by leading the Piners to a sixth straight outright division title and into the Shore Conference Tournament quarterfinals for the fifth time in sixth years. Tyler finished in the top-10 in Shore in scoring with 18.5 points per game and added 2.7 assists and 2.7 steals while also joining the 1,000-point club.
Elijah Barnes, Jr., Forward, Mater Dei Prep
Playing at his third high school in three years, the 6-foot-7 forward from Freehold enjoyed a breakout season as the rim-protector and inside-the-paint enforcer for the Shore’s No. 1 team. Barnes checked in at 11.9 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.2 blocks for a Seraphs team that had five players average between 12.5 and 7.9 points per game. Barnes was the game MVP of both the Dan Finn Classic and Valerie Fund Showcases. He blocked 12 shots in two games against defending B Central division co-champion Point Pleasant Beach and also blocked six in a 14-point effort against Notre Dame. Barnes is slated to headline a group of three returning starters next year as the Seraphs look to repeat as Shore Conference champions.
Jack McGuire, Sr., Forward, Christian Brothers Academy
CBA made its Shore Conference Tournament run with McGuire less than 100 percent because of a severe cold that limited his minutes in two of the Colts’ games, but before and after the SCT, McGuire was firmly in the running for one of the five All-Shore First-team spots. Even after being slowed during that two-week stretch, he ended up averaging 14.6 points and 4.5 rebounds on the Shore’s No. 2 team. He also bailed the Colts out in the South Jersey Non-Public A quarterfinals against Donovan Catholic with the game-winning steal and layup in the final 40 seconds. McGuire’s best all-around performance came in a resounding win over a top-20 Bergen Catholic squad in which he posted 25 points, five rebounds and nine assists.
Third Team
Sean Barksdale, Sr., Forward, Lakewood
The versatile 6-foot-5 swingman averaged 15.7 points, 8.6 rebounds and 2.7 blocks for the Piners, who rode Barksdale and Tyler to the Shore Conference Tournament quarterfinals and NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III semifinals. Barksdale carried Lakewood into the sectional semifinals with career-high 35-point performance in a win over Long Branch. He finished his career one point shy of the 1,000-point club and has entertained inquiries from a number of Division I programs, including St. Peter’s – the alma mater of his high school head coach, Randy Holmes.
Phil Lingat, Jr., Guard, Toms River East
Toms River East enjoyed one of its best seasons in recent memory and Lingat has been at the heart of the Raiders resurgence. He finished fourth in the Shore Conference with 21 points per game for a 16-7 Raiders team that reached the South Jersey Group III semifinals. He scored a career-high 36 points in a win over Brick on Feb. 1 and also hit a game-winning shot with one second left to beat Donovan Catholic in the Shore Conference Tournament opening round. Lingat will be the lone returning starter on next year’s Toms River East team.
Kyle Elliot, Sr., Guard, Mater Dei Prep
Mater Dei had three players – Elliot, McCombs and Barnes – average between 12.5 and 11.9 points per game and Elliot was second among the trio with 12.2. The senior transfer from Marist High School quickly established himself as a force on both sides of the floor for his new team, chipping in 2.4 steals per game to go with his slashing style on offense. He scored a season-high 22 points and was named game MVP in a Boardwalk Showcase win over Neptune and also scored a team-high 17 points in Mater Dei’s SCT semifinal win over Toms River North.
Nick Facendo, Sr., Guard, Freehold Twp.
As the lone returning starter from last year’s Central Jersey Group IV runner-up, Facendo had a lot of weight to bear this year and with the help of some emerging stars alongside him, he helped the Patriots pick up where they left off last year. Freehold Township was a defensive rebound away from winning the program’s first ever sectional title before Colts Neck shocked the Patriots at the buzzer. Facendo averaged 14.7 points and 6.9 assists and flirted with a triple-double on multiple occasions over the course of his senior year. He averaged 19 points and 7.2 assists in Freehold Township’s four NJSIAA Tournament games and fell a point shy of a triple-double in a semifinal upset of top-seeded Hunterdon Central (nine points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists). Facendo recently committed to play soccer at Lehigh University next year.
Shavar Reynolds, Sr., Guard, Manchester
Reynolds was the only one of Manchester’s four-year varsity letter-winners on this year’s team to come off the bench as a freshman and here he is, the All-Shore member of the group. The 6-foot-2 combo guard averaged team-highs in points (16.2) and assists (5.8) while also averaging 6.7 rebounds and 3.6 steals per game. Reynolds did some of his best work in two games against division rival Lakewood, averaging 21.5 points, seven rebounds and 5.5 assists in the two Class B South showdowns. In the first of those meetings, Reynolds had 19 points, six rebounds and six assists as Manchester beat Lakewood for the first time since 2009 and ended the Piners’ 45-game winning streak in B South divisional play.
Jaden Rhoden, Jr., Forward, Toms River North
The last All-Shore spot goes to the leading scorer on the No. 8 team in the Shore Conference, who also happened to a newcomer on the Class A South champs. Rhoden led Toms River North with 14.2 points and 3.6 steals per game and was second on the team with 8.8 rebounds. The versatile 6-foot-3 junior moved around the court for the guard-heavy Mariners, scoring on the interior on offense while also playing at the top of Toms River North’s mix of pressing and trapping defenses. He scored a team-high 15 points in a hard-fought SCT quarterfinal win over Long Branch after putting up 20 points, five rebounds and three blocks in a round-of-16 win over Toms River East. He and fellow juniors Darrion Carrington and Mike Nyisztor are due back next year for a Toms River North team that could return the best roster of any public school in the Shore Conference.
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