NEPTUNE - For a team that has struggled to score at times in big games this season, Neptune certainly didn't look that way in the second half on Thursday night against visiting Holmdel in a Shore Conference Tournament Round-of-16 game.

A big reason was because the Scarlet Fliers went back to a tried-and-true method for creating offense that they have leaned on throughout their illustrious history - pressure defense. Neptune forced 11 second-half turnovers and senior guards Myles Mooney and Shakeem Richardson combined for 45 points as the Scarlet Fliers shot a sizzling 18-for-25 (72 percent) from the field after halftime to pull away for a 66-50 victory.

Neptune senior guard Shakeem Richardson had 22 points and eight rebounds to help the Scarlet Fliers beat Holmdel and advance to the Shore Conference Tournament quarterfinals.
Neptune senior guard Shakeem Richardson had 22 points and eight rebounds to help the Scarlet Fliers beat Holmdel and advance to the Shore Conference Tournament quarterfinals.
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The seventh-seeded Scarlet Fliers (13-7) will now renew acquaintances with old rival Christian Brothers Academy, the No. 2 seed, in the SCT quarterfinals at 11 a.m. on Sunday at Long Branch High School. They hope to carry over the momentum from the second half on Thursday night, when they outscored Holmdel 33-17 over the final 11 minutes to blow open a tie game and prevent any upset by the 23rd-seeded Hornets (12-12), who knocked off No. 10 Freehold Township in the first round.

"We were just hungry,'' said Mooney, who shot 9-for-13 from the field. "We were the underdogs according to the media, and we felt like we needed to step up and prove to everybody and ourselves that we had that in our game and that we can blow any team out. Defense played a big part of it."

Mooney scored a team-high 23 points, one shy of his career high, and Richardson added 22 points and eight rebounds on the heels of a 27-point game in the Scarlet Fliers' first-round win over Lacey. Neptune also got a lift from its bench, as forwards Lamar Ford and Marque Ellington combined for 17 points, including 10 points on 5-for-5 shooting in the second half by Ellington.

Neptune also did a good job of defending the 3-point line, which is Holmdel's bread and butter. A rotation of defenders held Holmdel junior Jeff Harris, who had 27 points and hit seven 3-pointers in the first-round win, to six points on 2-for-14 shooting from the field. Senior Gerard Nocera led the Hornets with a game-high 27 points, but Holmdel shot 4-for-17 from 3-point range for the game and 1-for-7 from downtown in the second half.

"We said at halftime, we had to clamp down defensively, and the kids came through,'' said Neptune head coach Ken O'Donnell. "They were 4-for-17 from three, and if they were going to beat us, it was going to be from three, so we took that away. One three that (Harris) made was an NBA three, but other than that, we did a good job against him."

A coast-to-coast lay-up by Holmdel guard Jack Flanagan (11 points) gave the Hornets a two-point lead midway through the third quarter before Neptune went on its decisive run. The Scarlet Fliers ripped off a 15-2 burst bridging the third and fourth quarters in which Richardson and Mooney combined for 11 points to seize a 46-35 advantage two minutes into the final period. It broke open a game that neither team had led by more than four points until Neptune pulled away late in the third quarter.

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"Offensively, we spread the floor and we used our speed,'' O'Donnell said. "At the end, they had to double, and we got a lot of lay-ups. We did very well because we only took eight threes, and we had so many lay-ups."

Holmdel had done a good job of taking care of the ball up to that point, but Neptune's intensity and ball pressure in halfcourt sets started to take its toll while its trademark full-court pressure also forced three turnovers that were quickly converted into lay-ups. Mooney had multiple run-outs for easy baskets.

"We had to guard up,'' Richardson said. "Don't give them a cushion. If you get a foul, you get a foul. We had to play up in their face and keep them in front of us."

A basket and foul for Nocera looked to slow Neptune's momentum with 5:47 left in the game to trim the lead to nine points, but a lay-up by Mooney off a dish by Richardson and a pull-up jumper by Richardson pushed the lead to 50-37 with 4:35 to go. Holmdel never got closer than 11 points the rest of the way. Ellington dropped in six of his 10 points in the fourth quarter on finishes in the open court and along the baseline to help seal the win.

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"Now the supporting cast is starting to come through for us a little bit, and each day somebody else steps up like Marque stepped up today,'' O'Donnell said.

The win sets up the latest installment of one of the Shore's oldest and most storied rivalries when Neptune clashes with CBA on Sunday.

"I'm excited,'' Richardson said. "It's going to be a good crowd at Long Branch. We're ready for this game and looking forward to it."

"We haven't played them in a while,'' O'Donnell said. "They're a good team, they're on the rise again, and hopefully so are we."

Box score

Neptune 66, Holmdel 50

Holmdel (50): LaForte 1 0-0 2, Flanagan 5 1-2 11, Dombek 0 0-0 0, Miller 0 0-0 0, Nocera 10 5-7 27, Harris 2 0-0 6, Mayell 1 0-0 2, Rooney 0 0-0 0, McDonnell 0 0-0 0, Ziznewski 0 0-0 0, Wischerath 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20 6-9 50.

Neptune (66): Mooney 9 4-4 23, Ford 2 3-4 7, Richardson 8 4-5 22, Kerry Kirkwood 0 0-0 0, Dunn 0 0-0 0, Ennis 0 0-0 0, Johnson 0 0-0 0, Calderon 0 0-0 0, Keishawn Kirkwood 0 0-0 0, Nolan 0 0-0 0, Ellington 5 0-2 10, Kerr 0 0-0 0, Curate 1 2-2 4. Totals: 25 13-17 66.

Holmdel (12-12)  9 14 12 15 - 50

Neptune (13-7)   9 15  18 24 - 66

Three-pointers: (H) Nocera 2, Harris 2; (N) Richardson 2, Mooney. Fouled out: None.

 

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