Boys Basketball – NJSIAA Central Group 2 Championship Preview: Rumson at Manasquan

NJSIAA Central Jersey Group II Championship

Friday, March 1, 2024

No. 3 Rumson-Fair Haven (20-6) at No. 1 Manasquan (22-6)

Tipoff: 6:30 p.m.

Rumson-Fair Haven at a Glance

Head Coach: Chris Champeau

Last Sectional Championship: 2022

Road to the Final: Defeated No. 14 Metuchen, 74-45; No. 6 Bound Brook, 76-43; No. 3 Holmdel, 60-37.

Probable Starters

Nick Rigby, Sr., 6-2, Guard (12.0 points)

Luke Cruz, So., 6-8, Forward (11.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.2 steals, 1.2 blocks)

Andrew Goodes, Sr., 6-6, Forward (10.4 points)

David Carr, Jr., 6-2, Guard (8.7 points)

Riley Gill, Jr., 6-2, Guard

Off the Bench

Leo Passalaqua, Sr., 5-10, Guard

Theo Carlston, Sr., 6-4, Forward

Sean Trinder, Sr., 6-1, Guard

Evan Keane, Sr., 6-2, Forward

Manasquan at a Glance

Head Coach: Andrew Bilodeau

Last Sectional Championship: 2023

Road to the Final: Defeated No. 16 South River, 89-35; No. 8 Bordentown, 62-39; No. 4 Delaware Valley, 45-43.

Probable Starters

Griffin Linstra, Jr., 6-4, Guard/Forward (17.5 points, 11.0 rebounds, 2.9 assists)

Jason Larned, Sr., 6-3, Guard (8.4 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.7 assists)

Alex Konov, Sr., 6-7, Forward (10.9 points, 51 3-pointers)

Rey Weinseimer, Fr., 6-0, Guard (8.1 points, 2.8 assists, 1.3 steals)

Luke Roy, Sr., 6-0, Guard (5.1 points, 1.7 assists, 1.2 steals)

Off the Bench

Jack O’Reilly, So., 6-5, Forward

Ryan Mulvaney, Sr., 6-4, Forward

Brandon Kunz, Jr., 6-1, Guard

The Rivalry

The 2024 Central Jersey Group II championship game features the two most decorated programs in the section over the last decade. Since 2015 all but one of the eight Central Jersey Group II championships has been won by either Manasquan (four) or Rumson-Fair Haven (three) and that will number will be eight of the last nine after Friday night.

Despite that parallel success and some intense NJSIAA Tournament battles over the years between the Warriors and Bulldogs, Friday will mark the first time the two rivals meet in a sectional championship game. The teams have met twice in the sectional semifinal round and split those two games, with Manasquan winning in 2016 and Rumson paying the Warriors back in 2018 on the way to winning its second of two consecutive championships.

The third NJSIAA Tournament meeting between the Bulldogs and Warriors was the most recent one: a Manasquan rout of Rumson in the 2020 sectional quarterfinals during a 31-1 season.

Since that 2020 win for Manasquan, the two teams have played one another just once, which was in the Shore Conference Tournament quarterfinals – another 20-plus-point Manasquan win.

The most recent results have not favored Rumson in its rivalry with Manasquan, but the rosters this year are much closer in talent than they have been over the previous five seasons, during which Manasquan was in the midst of its best five-year run in program history.

This year’s Warriors team has had to overcome the transfer of 2023 Shore Sports Network Player of the Year Darius Adams, the loss of All-Shore point guard Ryan Frauenheim to a torn ACL over the summer and in-season injuries to three starters. Despite that adversity, Manasquan has, more or less, done what it does every year: win at least 20 games, reach the Shore Conference Tournament championship game and make it to a sectional final. Each of the past four seasons in which there has been an NJSIAA Tournament (there was none in the COVID-shortened 2021 season), Manasquan has won a sectional title, with three coming in Central Group II and the other in Central Group III.

The one year the NJSIAA moved the Warriors into Group III, Rumson capitalized by winning the 2022 Central Group II championship. That year, Manasquan and Rumson never crossed paths, but likely would have matched up fairly evenly, despite Manasquan boasting a considerably younger roster.

Rumson coach Chris Champeau took over the program one year after Andrew Bilodeau took the head coaching position at Manasquan and since their arrival at their respective schools, winning has followed. In Champeau’s tenure, Rumson has won a Shore Conference Tournament championship and finished as the runner-up in another, won three NJSIAA Central Jersey Group II sectional championships and finished runner-up in one other season.

Under Bilodeau, Manasquan has been a model of consistency. The Warriors have reached the Shore Conference quarterfinals in 15 of his 16 seasons, including each of the last 13. They have played in the SCT championship game in each of the last six seasons, including the modified Shore Conference Playoff of 2021, and won championships in 2020, 2021 and 2023. In the NJSIAA Tournament, Bilodeau has led Manasquan to six sectional championships, including an active streak of four titles in a row from 2019 to 2023 (again, the 2021 season did not have a state tournament, when Manasquan finished 12-0 and won the unofficial Shore Conference championship).

The Match-Up

The last two times Manasquan and Rumson met, the Warriors had the substantially better roster each time. Manasquan won the Shore Conference Tournament in each of those seasons, while Rumson was reliant on young, up-and-coming talent in both of those years.

This time, the Bulldogs will be much more competitive, at least on paper. They have the kind of size in the front court that gives them a chance to beat most teams and against Manasquan, it will be an advantage. Six-foot-6 senior Andrew Goodes is coming off a 16-rebound performance in Wednesday’s win at Holmdel and combined with 6-8 sophomore teammate Luke Cruz to produce 24 points and 24 boards in that road win.

Manasquan won’t quite have the height that Rumson has, but the Warriors can counter that size in ways most teams can’t. Senior Alex Konov is not an interior player in the way that Goodes is or the shot-blocker that Cruz is, but he is 6-7 and can force defenses out to guard him beyond the three-point line thanks to his shooting prowess. The Warriors won’t necessarily need a double-double from Konov, but they will need him to mix it up on the defensive glass and force either Goodes or Cruz to come out to guard him on the three-point line. In Wednesday’s win over Holmdel, Goodes camped out in the paint and dared his man to shoot – a strategy that worked in Rumson’s favor. With Manasquan’s versatile, guard-heavy lineup, that will be a risky strategy for Rumson if it means Konov gets open looks.

As for the rest of Manasquan’s lineup, the Warriors are a streaky offensive team, but their players can beat opponents in several ways. Junior Griffin Linstra will be a difficult player for Rumson to match-up with, although Bulldogs junior Riley Gill has played the role of defensive stopper all year and will relish the challenge. Senior Jason Larned, senior Luke Roy and freshman Rey Weinseimer are all adept ball-handers who can hit shots, so Rumson will have to be on its toes, which usually means mixing up its looks.

The Bulldogs are no easy matchup either. Like Konov, Cruz can step out and catch fire from beyond the arc while also boasting game-changing size. Senior Nick Rigby and junior David Carr are slashing guards who are physical on both ends of the court and can shoot the ball.

In recent years, Rumson’s physicality would not throw off Manasquan, but it could be a greater factor this year because of the Bulldogs’ frontcourt height and a much more even matchup in pure basketball ability -- an area in which Manasquan has outclassed Rumson in the last two meetings, as it has done against many teams.

Prediction

Bilodeau has often mentioned that his team “doesn’t talk about making shots.” Manasquan can continue to not talk about making shots, but the Warriors will have to make a fair amount them on Friday in order to get Rumson out of its defensive gameplan. Champeau is adept a finding a weakness offensively and exposing it. Manasquan’s shot-making has been hot-and-cold and on Wednesday, the Warriors struggled to score in a 45-43 win over Delaware Valley.

On the flip side, Manasquan is equally capable of shutting down an offense. The Warriors are going to make it difficult for Rigby and Carr to operate, but they will have to find a way to keep Goodes off the glass while also keeping tabs on Cruz.

Despite its offensive struggles in its most recent game, Manasquan has had some strong scoring performances in recent weeks, including in wins over Toms River North, Holmdel and each of the first two NJSIAA Tournament games. Throw in a home crowd that should be out in full force after some rather mild turnouts in the first three rounds and the conditions figure to be to Manasquan's liking.

Rumson has the ingredients to knock off the Warriors and we should expect to see a game like the ones Toms River North and CBA played against Manasquan: close, physical and down-to-the-wire. In this case, it also figures to be low-scoring. In a close game, with each possession meaning so much and the atmosphere working in Manasquan’s favor, it is hard to pick against the Warriors.

The Pick: Manasquan, 44-41