Boys Basketball – VOTE: Week 6 Orthopaedic Institute of Central Jersey Player of the Week

Welcome to Week 6 of the Orthopaedic Institute of Central Jersey Player of the Week voting. As usual, the ballot consists of six divisional players of the week and two wild cards with a quick recap of the week that each of the candidates had, as well as some honorable mentions.

Review the accomplishments of the eight candidates from this past week and vote at the bottom of the post for the best one. Vote every hour until the voting closes on Wednesday at 10 p.m.

Class A North Player of the Week

Stephen Braunstein, CBA

CBA had a statement week that ended with an 11-point win at Freehold Township and a 22-point win over Red Bank Catholic within a span of 24 hours. Braunstein hit he 20-point mark in all three of his team’s wins last week, beginning with a 22-point outing in a win over Howell. The senior guard followed that up with 23 points in the win at Freehold Township and 20 more in the rout of RBC. Braunstein is now within 56 points of scoring 1,000 for his career and he and senior teammate Josh Cohen would become the first pair from the same graduating glass at CBA to both score 1,000 in their respective careers.

Class A North Honorable Mention: Dylan Kaufman, Marlboro; Greg Billups, Freehold Twp.; Marc Dennis, Long Branch; Quincy Davis, Freehold Boro; Ryan Neely, Freehold Boro; Alex Ratner, Marlboro

Class A Central Player of the Week

Jaylen Smith, Raritan

Smith led Raritan in scoring in each of its three games this week, including his best performance of the week in the Rockets’ biggest win. After opening the week with 12 points in a win over Henry Hudson, Smith put up 19 points and 10 rebounds in Raritan’s 51-44 win over Red Bank Catholic on Tuesday. Raritan stubbed its toe with a 35-34 loss to Shore to close the week and Smith led the way for the Rockets in that one with 16 points and 14 boards.

Class A Central Honorable Mention: Jack Giamanco, Holmdel; Ian O’Connor, Rumson-Fair Haven; Kieran Flanagan, Manasquan; Alex Galvan, Manasquan; Brad McCabe, Manasquan; A.J. Po, Monmouth; Kyle Koob, Shore

Class A South Player of the Week

Jakari Spence, Toms River North

Spence and his Mariners just get better and better every week. Toms River North turned in another 3-0 week to run its winning streak to 13 and in the process, Spence averaged 28.3 points during the week. He opened the week with 26 points and 10 assists in a Toms River North win over Brick Memorial, followed that up with a career-high 37 points in a win over Southern and closed the week with 22 points and four assists against Donovan Catholic.

Class A South Honorable Mention: Justin Soranno, Central; Najae Hallenbeck, Toms River North; Kyle Rhoden, Central; Shane Williams, Brick; Nick Kinzler, Jackson Memorial; Matt Mahala, Jackson Memorial; Mike Goodall, Toms River East; Matt Bernstein, Brick Memorial; Ryan Goodall, Toms River East; Micah Wallace, Jackson Memorial

Class B North Player of the Week

Jack Miller, Ocean

Miller is already a 1,000-point scorer as a junior and is averaging 19.6 per game, so 36 points in two games is nothing out of the ordinary for the Spartans guard. It was the opponents Ocean beat this week and the timing of Miller’s points that made all the difference. His 20 points helped the Spartans knock off Matawan to open the week and on Friday, Miller pulled up for a 23-foot three-pointer at the buzzer to beat first-place Wall, 56-55, and cap a 16-point performance.

Class B North Honorable Mention: Andrew Abujawdeh, Colts Neck; Rob Higgins, Middletown North; Dwaine Jones, Neptune; Sam Meeks, Ocean; Kevin Greene, St. John Vianney; Sean Young, Neptune

Class B Central Player of the Week

Bryan Antoine, Ranney

Prior to Ranney’s 62-60 loss to Gill St. Bernard on Jan. 27, Antoine had never scored fewer than 10 points in any game during his four-year high school career. Not only did he score nine against Gill but he also scored eight the next night against Keansburg in limited minutes. After two quiet games, Antoine broke out with a 25-point performance on 10-for-15 shooting in Ranney’s biggest win of the year and perhaps ever – a 61-49 win over the No. 1 team in the state, Roselle Catholic. Antoine also picked off six steals in that game to help lead the defensive effort. The Villanova-bound guard capped the week with 30 points against Henry Hudson and is now 20 points away from becoming the Shore Conference’s all-time leading scorer.

Class B Central Honorable Mention: Phillip Wheeler, Ranney; Scottie Lewis, Ranney; Jay-Shon Freeman, Asbury Park; Pete Gorman, Mater Dei; D.J. Thomson, Keyport; Eryck Brown, Asbury Park

Class B South Player of the Week

Jaxon Baker, Barnegat

Barnegat entered last week long shots to make the Shore Conference Tournament but increased its chances dramatically with three wins. Baker was the standout in two of them, scoring 15 points in a buzzer-beating win over Lacey to open the week on Monday and topping that career-high on Thursday against Manchester. The sophomore poured in 18 points as the Bengals rallied to beat the Hawks on yet another buzzer-beater to get to 8-11 overall.

Class B South Honorable Mention: Daniel Sofield, Jackson Liberty; Savon Meyers, Manchester; Josh Hayes, Manchester; Jordan Cohen, Lacey; Sam Young, Point Boro; Andrew Schulz, Pinelands

Wild Cards

Quincy Davis, Freehold Boro

The Colonials senior stepped up during an impressive week for his team, which included an upset win over Middletown South and a third win over Manalapan. Davis scored 16 points to put the Colonials in position to shock Middletown South on Tuesday, then led a balanced effort with 12 points in a win over the Braves. Davis – a standout receiver on the football team as well – also scored 14 points on Saturday in a 49-43 loss to Toms River East.

Dylan Kaufman, Marlboro

Kaufman appears in this space yet again after a record-setting week last week. The senior posted a career-high 32 points to go with 13 rebounds in a 72-67, shootout win over Long Branch to open the week and on Thursday, Kaufman scored 15 points in a big 59-47 win for his Mustangs. With those 15 points, Kaufman became Marlboro’s all-time leading scorer, passing 2005 graduate Rodney Soloman. After scoring 15 more points in a win over Neptune on Saturday to cap Marlboro’s 3-0 week, Kaufman has 1,140 points for his career.