Boys Basketball – Skea’s Shot Sinks Mustangs in SCT
BRICK – Figuring out what makes a team tick is often a challenge that keeps coaches awake at night, but St. Rose boys basketball coach Dennis Devaney has a simple theory about the difference between his squad when it is playing well and when it is not.
“Sometimes this game is pretty simple,” Devaney said. “If you’re making shots, then the plan is working. If you’re not making shots, it’s not working.”
On his team’s final possession of Tuesday’s Shore Conference Tournament opening-round game between No. 18 seed St. Rose and No. 15 Brick Memorial, Purple Roses senior Matt Skea made the game plan work by making a play of his own.
Skea hit a contested, leaning shot from close range with 5.4 seconds left to break a tie and deliver St. Rose a 44-42 win over the Mustangs on the road.
After Brick Memorial junior Aaron Scheiderman hit two free throws to tie the game at 42 with 1:03 left, St. Rose called a timeout with 55 seconds left and another one after taking the clock down to 16 seconds.
“We were looking to get Dan Borner the ball at the free-throw line and he could either go to the rim, get a shot or kick it out,” Devaney said. “They took it away, which we prepare for in practice, so there are options once they take the first option away. Matt Skea made a great read and made the shot.”
Skea flashed to the low post, took a pass from junior Matt Frost, and hit a difficult shot with 6’4” Brick Memorial junior R.J. Hernandez crowding him.
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“They weren’t really hedging real well on some of the back screens, so I thought there would be a chance to find some space near the basket,” Skea said. “I got to an open spot and Matt Frost gave me a great pass. I wasn’t worried about contact or anything like that. I just tried to make the shot.”
St. Rose will travel to play No. 2 Christian Brothers Academy in Thursday’s round of 16. CBA is 14-0 against Shore Conference competition this season and won all 14 of those games by at least 11 points.
“We were supposed to play them during the season, but it got cancelled because of the snow,” Skea said. “It’s a game we look forward to playing every year because of who they are and the Catholic school rivalry, and it’s going to be even more intense playing them in a tournament game.”
Brick Memorial had a chance to tie or win the game with 5.4 seconds left, but St. Rose used its last two fouls to give before the bonus, which took the clock down to 0.5 seconds. The Mustangs attempted a lob to the back side of the rim, but senior Mike Basile’s tip would not fall.
Brick Memorial’s latest lead was 40-39, which it took after junior Joe Hans stole the ball and left it off for Scheiderman for a lay-up with just under a minute to go. St. Rose came back with a three by senior Bobby Hendrickson to regain the lead, 42-40.
St. Rose started the game on an 11-4 run before going cold over the next two-and-a-half quarters against Brick Memorial’s physical defense, which grew keen to the Purple Roses’ back-door cuts.
Trailing 30-27 heading into the fourth quarter St. Rose rediscovered its offense thanks, in large part, to junior Nolan Slattery. The junior finished with a game-high 18 points with four 3-pointers, and 16 of those points came in the first and fourth quarters. Slattery hit two threes to open the fourth and give St. Rose a 33-30 lead and later scored on a back door cut and feed from Skea.
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“I love playing in games like this,” Slattery said. “There’s more at stake, the intensity’s at another level and every shot is a big shot. It was a great atmosphere and actually, I remembered playing in a freshman tournament game a couple years ago. I had a good game back then, so I felt pretty comfortable shooting here.”
“Nolan is the best shooter on the team and to illustrate the point on the team looking good when shots are going in, Nolan made his shots in the first quarter and in the fourth quarter, which is when we did most of our scoring,” Devaney said. “That’s a pretty good example of how we are. As an offensive team we pretty much go how he goes.”
Scheiderman led Brick Memorial with 12 points and the Mustangs also got a lift from Hans (six points) and senior Pat Smith (five points), who combined for 11 points off the bench.
“I was ecstatic with our defense. We just needed to start executing on offense,” Devaney said. “Our goal each game is to hold the other team to 12 points per quarter, and we did that in three of the quarters and kept them under 48.”
Box Score
St. Rose 44, Brick Memorial 42
St. Rose (44): Bobby Hendrickson 1 0-0 3, Matt Skea 3 3-5 9, Dan Borner 3 0-0 7, Austin Talty 1 0-0 2, Nolan Slattery 7 0-0 18, Matt Frost 2 0-0 5, Jimmy Gowen 0 0-0 0. Totals: 17 3-5 44
Three-pointers: Hendrickson, Borner, Slattery 4, Frost
Brick Memorial (42): Sean O’Brien 3 2-2 8, Aaron Scheiderman 4 2-2 12, Scott White 2 1-1 5, R.J. Hernandez 1 0-0 2, Mike Basile 2 0-0 4, Joe Hans 3 0-0 6, Pat Smith 2 0-0 5, Mike Manso 0 0-0 0, Darnell Austin 0 0-0 0. Totals: 17 5-5 42
Three-pointers: Scheiderman 2, Smith
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