Boys Basketball – 2024 Hoop Group Boardwalk Showcase Preview

The annual Hoop Group Boardwalk Showcase returns to Brookdale Community College for a four-game slate Saturday at Collins Arena and the lineup includes some high-level talent on the floor, as well as a pair of rivalry games within the Shore Conference. To get you ready for the quartet of games, which start at 12:30 p.m., here is a quick look at each matchup.

College Achieve Asbury Park (3-3) vs. Gill St. Bernard’s (7-2), 12:30 p.m.

The first game of the day is the Boardwalk debut of College Achieve, which is still one game away from welcoming senior transfers Deuce Jones and Isaiah Oliver, according to the schedule. The Knights have opened the season 3-3 and the intrigue surrounding them remains considerable, which was on display when Manasquan hosted them in front of a packed gymnasium. As currently constructed, College Achieve relies on 6-foot-8 Bergen Catholic transfer David Munro, Payne Tech transfer Jamir Westry and 6-9 Keyport transfer Nas Hart – the latter of whom has already been offered by Seton Hall. Anthony Mauro is a freshman guard to watch as the season goes on for College Achieve.

While College Achieve coach Dave Boff waits on his seniors to become eligible, Gill St. Bernard’s does not have many seniors to begin with. There are no seniors in the first seven of GSB’s rotation, with junior Kobe Closeil leading the Knights at 14.6 points per game. Junior Stanley Njekwe and freshman Kieran Quinn each average 10.6 points and sophomore Jakub Malecki is putting up 9.7 per game with a team-high nine rebounds per game. Njekwe (8.4) and Quinn (7.2) are each averaging better than seven rebounds as well.

No. 5 CBA (4-2) vs. No. 3 Manasquan (7-1), 2:10 p.m.

Game two of the schedule pits to teams ranked in the top five of the Shore Sports Network Shore 16 against one another and will be the first meeting between the Shore blue-blood programs since the postseason of the COVID-shortened 2021 season, during which Manasquan went 12-0. While Manasquan and CBA have had their share of clashes over the years, it has not been annual and it has almost always come in the Shore Conference Tournament.

Manasquan enters Saturday having reset with a 59-25 win over Freehold after losing its final game of 2023 in the form of a 10-point defeat at Toms River North. Junior Griffin Linstra has been a consistent source of everything for Manasquan, including scoring at 20.75 points per game. With senior starters Ryan Frauenheim and Alex Konov sidelined by injury, Manasquan has needed multiple players to pick up the slack and senior Jason Larned and freshman Rey Weinseimer, in particular, have delivered. Seniors Luke Roy and Ryan Mulvaney have also shined in their roles for the Warriors.

CBA lost back-to-back games after pulling out a slugfest at Rumson-Fair Haven on opening night, but won its last two games of 2023 with impressive offensive performances and put up 72 more points in a one-sided win over Middletown South on Friday night. The Colts can turn to several sources for scoring, with junior Justin Fuerbacher, junior Kevin Pikiell, sophomore Charlie Marcoullier and senior Peter Noble all having top scoring games, while sophomore Connor Andree has been a dependable clutch scorer inside as well.

No. 1 St. Rose (8-1) vs. St. Benedict’s (4-3), 3:50 p.m.

St. Rose is this year’s main attraction, with a team ranked No. 2 in the state, according to NJ Advance Media on currently on an eight-game winning streak. Villanova commit Matt Hodge has already authored two of the best individual offensive performances of the Shore Conference season – one a 30-point effort in a loss to unbeaten Patrick School and the other a 38-point explosion on 15-for-17 shooting in a win at Rutgers Prep – but most of his games have been well-rounded performances in which he has kept teammates involved on offense and dominated on defense.

The rest of St. Rose’s roster has settled into the season starting with the win at Rutgers Prep. Sophomore Jayden Hodge, junior Bryan Ebeling and senior Gio Panzini have all had standout performances during this recent stretch of games, while junior Evan Romano, sophomore Tyler Cameron and freshman Avery Lynch have all had spurts as well and handled themselves vs. top competition.

More of that top competition awaits on Saturday at Brookdale, where St. Benedict’s will look to make a statement against the Shore’s top team. Four-star sophomore Chidi Nwigwe will present a major challenge for St. Rose, with the 6-foot-6 wing already putting up three 20-plus point games this season for the Gray Bees.

No. 4 Red Bank (8-1) vs. No. 10 Red Bank Catholic (6-3), 5:30 p.m.

Round one of the Battle of Red Bank will take place in Lincroft, with both teams rolling into Saturday’s game riding high. Red Bank Catholic went 2-1 at the WOBM Christmas Classic with wins over Middletown South and Central and a loss to Manasquan. The Caseys have split this week vs. two quality teams in East Orange on the road (66-49 loss) and Northern Highlands at home (60-53 win) and will try to make it a winning week against three teams that started 2024 with one loss each.

As well as Red Bank Catholic is playing, Red Bank Regional is on fire. The Bucs dropped to 1-1 with a one-sided loss to Manasquan and have since rattled off seven wins in a row behind stellar guard play and the emergence of some role players around 2023 All-Shore guard Zayier Dean, who transferred from Ocean for his junior season and is making an immediate impact. Senior Jameson Ackerman has also been a breakout scorer for Red Bank and will be a threat at multiple levels for the RBC defense.

RBC will counter with an experienced lineup that has size (6-6 Tyler Burnham), shooting (Colin Cavanaugh), athleticism (Pasquale Sabino) and a combination of everything (Ryan Prior). The two teams will meet again at RBC on Feb. 1 in a game that will count toward the Class B North division race. Saturday’s game will not count in the division standings, but bragging rights and Shore Conference rankings are very much in play.