Boys Basketball – Week 7 Orthopaedic Institute of Central Jersey Player of the Week: Greg Billups, Freehold Twp.

Week 7 Orthopaedic Institute of Central Jersey Player of the Week

Greg Billups, Freehold Twp.

Freehold Township closed its regular season with three more wins and earned the No. 4 seed in the Shore Conference Tournament. As usual, the Patriots rode a total team effort to the strong week with Billups playing his usual part.

The scored a team-high nine points in a win over Marlboro, 12 in a win over Middletown South and put up 20 in a win over Colts Neck to cap the stretch. The win over Marlboro was the ultimate team win, with the Patriots beating a fellow top-10 team at the Shore, 51-46, without a single player scoring in double-figures.

Billups has turned in a strong senior campaign, leading Freehold Township at 14 points per game. The 6-foot-5 swingman missed the better part of the past two seasons due to ankle sprains - with last year's setting the Patriots back early on the way to a 9-13 record. A year earlier, he was enjoying a breakout sophomore campaign before suffering the first of the two ankle injuries in early January.

With a healthy Billups and an experienced roster, Freehold Township is 18-3 and will roll into the Shore Conference Tournament semifinals Sunday in Toms River against Holmdel. A win over the Hornets would put Freehold Township in the SCT semifinals for the first time since winning the tournament in 2006-07.

Billups cruised to this week's win with 42 percent of the vote. Wall sophomore Pat Lacey finished second with 17.6 percent, St. John Vianney senior James Rapley collected 12.6 and Manasquan junior Kieran Flanagan pulled in 11.

2019 Player of the Week Winners

Week 1: Quincy Wathington, Matawan

Week 2: Tahaj Parland, Mater Dei Prep

Week 3: Niles Haliburton, Matawan

Week 4: Luke Wiatrowski, Pinelands

Week 5: Andrew Schulz, Pinelands

Week 6: Quincy Davis, Freehold Boro