Boys Basketball – CBA Erupts in Third Quarter, Hammers Pats

FREEHOLD TWP. – Despite what the final scores of its games might suggest, the Christian Brothers Academy basketball team – No. 2 in the Shore Sports Network Top 10 – insists that its Class A North schedule has been challenging the Colts.

For the first time this season Saturday at Freehold Township, the score reflected as much at halftime, but by the end of the game, it was the same old CBA story.

After trailing at halftime, the Colts overwhelmed the Patriots in the third quarter en route to an 81-58 win, their 10th straight Class A North win to open the season – all of which have been decided by 11 points or more.

“Coach (Geoff) Billet came into the locker room and he was really matter-of-fact, not yelling or jumping on us about the first half,” junior Jack Laffey said. “We knew what we needed to do against this team, and we knew we just didn’t do it in the first half.”

Trailing 32-30 heading into the third quarter, CBA scored the first 14 points of the quarter and outscored Freehold Township 29-10 in the third quarter.

Laffey capped the quarter with a 3-pointer as time expired, his third three of the game. Laffey finished with 19 points, while sophomore Pat Andree led CBA with 23 points. Senior Rob Kennedy also had 13 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, included an eight-point third quarter.

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CBA turned the ball over 11 times in the first half against Freehold Township’s full-court pressure and the Patriots took advantage by turning those miscues into offense.

“Preparing for Freehold Township is unlike preparing for any other team on our schedule. It’s almost like preparing to play Navy in football,” Billet said. “You have to be disciplined in how you execute your gameplan and in the first half, we did a little too much dribbling against their press and that caused us problems.

“We were a little too passive with the ball and a little too passive on defense and it led to some open shots. We were actually fortunate that they missed as many as they did.”

Senior Evan Gordinier also scored 11 points off the bench to give CBA a fourth scorer in double-figures. Gordinier has given CBA scoring off the bench since returning from a foot injury on Jan. 18.

“Getting Evan back has made life easier in obvious ways, but it’s also made life harder,” Billet said. “He’s another guy deserving of playing time that I’m trying to get minutes. He’s averaging 10 points a game and coming off the bench which I know can be tough, but we have five other guys who are also playing at a high level right now. It’s challenging, but I’m certainly not complaining because that’s a good problem to have.”

The Colts put up 81 points Saturday despite senior Louie Pillari – a recruit of the U.S. Naval Academy – scoring only eight of those points.

“I’ve been really pleased with Louie because he has worked tirelessly on his ball-handling leading up to this year and it really showed in a game like today,” Billet said. “He scored eight points, but he was bringing the ball up against their press in the second half and him being able to break it with the dribble was huge for us.”

CBA, Point Pleasant Beach and Lakewood are all unbeaten within their respective divisions, and CBA and Point Beach have each won all of their division games by double-figures. CBA has four more division games remaining, including another game against Freehold Township to go with match-ups against Middletown North, Marlboro and Howell.

“I feel like we’ve been challenged,” Laffey said. “It may not show in the scores, but in Class A North, you’re playing a quality team every time out and with us especially, we know we’re getting the other team’s best. We took their best shot today during the first half and when it was time to respond, we stayed together and got it done.”

“The first goal I gave to these guys is to take back the division and they’ve done that,” Billet said. "I know people want to look ahead, but the only thing we can accomplish right now is winning the next game in A North and to the credit of our kids, they have embraced that challenge.”

Box Score

CBA 81, Freehold Twp. 58

CBA (81): Rob Kennedy 4 3-4 13, Louie Pillari 3 2-2 8, Pat Andree 10 2-2 23, Chima Ekekeugbor 1 3-5 5, Jack Laffey 7 2-4 19, Evan Gordinier 3 5-5 11, Shaun Belbey 0 0-0 0, Derek Loehner 0 0-0 0, Jack Mcguire 1 0-0 2, John Salcedo 0 0-0 0, Connor Aldridge 0 0-0 0. Totals: 29 17-22 81

Three-pointers: Kennedy 2, Andree, Laffey 3

Freehold Twp. (58): Nick Facendo 0 0-0 0, Jason Czajkowski 3 6-8 13, Brian Dziobak 0 0-2 0, Dan Saunders 1 2-2 4, Chris Talbott 3 3-4 10, Kyle Czajkowski 4 1-1 10, Jordan McGill 4 1-1 10, Tyree Wilson 2 3-3 7, Mike Alexander 2 0-0 4, C.J. Stenftennagel 0 0-0 0, Mike Staklinski 0 0-0 0, Jack O’Brien 0 0-0 0, Logan Pascocli 0 0-0 0, Brandon Tajfel 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19 16-21 58

Three-pointers: J. Czajkowski, Talbott, K. Czajkowski, McGill