The Ride Continues: Matawan Tops Manasquan to Reach SCT Semifinals
LONG BRANCH - When Matawan won on Thursday to book a return trip to the Shore Conference Tournament quarterfinals and set up a showdown with Manasquan on Sunday, the Huskies' players and coaches were being celebrated for a job well done as if the job was finished.
"A lot of people made us feel like, 'You had a nice run,''' said head coach Tom Stead. "I'm like, 'Had a nice run?' Everybody seems to be satisfied with us just being here. We're not."
The fourth-seeded Huskies kept the ride going on Sunday at Long Branch with a 46-36 win over the fifth-seeded Warriors to put themselves into the SCT semifinals for what is believed to be the first time since they last reached the championship game in 1964. Matawan (19-3) will face top-seeded Point Beach, which has not lost to a Shore Conference team since last year's SCT final against Lakewood, at 6 p.m. on Wednesday at Brick Memorial.
In a match-up of division champions, Matawan beat Manasquan at its own game by suffocating the Warriors (18-3) on defense, particularly on the perimeter, holding them scoreless over the final 4:37 of the game. The Huskies kept two of Manasquan's top three scorers under wraps, as senior guard Tommy Toole led the Warriors with 11 points, but junior guard Jack Fay was limited to only four points and sophomore forward Ryan Jensen had seven points while battling foul trouble throughout the game.
Meanwhile, the Matawan tandem of junior guards Jason Dunne and Joe Piscopo combined for 30 of the Huskies' 46 points with 15 points apiece, and senior forward Austen Planes added eight points.
The Huskies survived a four-point first quarter in which Manasquan's perimeter defense did not give Piscopo or Dunne any space to get good looks to rally back and take a 15-14 lead at the half. Piscopo rattled off Matawan's last nine points of the second quarter, including a steal and lay-up at the buzzer to give the Huskies the lead at the break.
"They came out and they wanted to push us around, and we finally had to wake up,'' Piscopo said.
Matawan grew the lead to 31-26 heading into the fourth quarter thanks to a combined 14 third-quarter points by Dunne and Planes. The Huskies were using their forwards to set high screens to give Piscopo and Dunne some room to operate, and Planes took advantage of some space in the middle to make plays off the dribble.
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"We wanted to backscreen with our forwards,'' Stead said. "We tried to spread them out with the handoffs and then come up with Nicky (Tomkins) with the ball screen. If we can get into the lane with Piscopo, nine out of 10 times he's making a pretty good decision."
"Coming in we knew that if Fay or Toole tries to pressure me or Jay bringing the ball up, the screen has to come early so we can open things up,'' Piscopo said.
Toole buried 3-pointers on two straight Manasquan possessions to tie the game at 36 with 4:37 left in the game, but Tomkins, a senior headed to Dartmouth to play football, responded with a basket and a foul off an offensive rebound to give Matawan the lead for good with 2:43 remaining on his only points of the game.
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The Huskies, who did a great job all afternoon of challenging perimeter jumpers and controlling the defensive glass, then came up with a defensive stop. Piscopo followed by dropping in a lay-up off a dish from Dunne for a four-point lead. Matawan then shot 6-for-8 from the foul line in the final 40 seconds to wrap up the victory by coming through in an area that has been trouble at times for them this season.
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"That's been our Achilles' heel all year long, but it seems like we shoot free throws better on the road, so I'm glad we're going to Brick Memorial,'' Stead joked.
The Huskies, who won Class B North for their first division title since 1965 this season, now revert to underdog status when facing a Point Beach team that is the favorite to win it all. However, the Garnet Gulls showed they are mortal on Sunday by being pushed to double overtime by ninth-seeded Jackson Memorial.
"We'd rather be the underdogs because that gives you the extra heart to play harder,'' Dunne said.
"I think (Point Beach) got a wake-up call,'' Stead said. "We're playing with house money now, but we're not satisfied with just being here. We're playing them once. We're not playing them the best out of seven, so we'll see what happens."
Box scores
Matawan 46, Manasquan 36
Manasquan (36): Toole 4 0-0 11, Fay 2 0-0 4, Tausek 1 0-0 2, Jensen 3 1-1 7, Sheehan 2 3-3 7, Gilly 0 0-0 0, McNenaman 0 0-0 0, Flanagan 0 0-0 0, O'Shaughnessy 2 1-2 5. Totals: 14 5-6 36.
Matawan (46): Dunne 4 6-9 15, Piscopo 5 2-4 15, Tawiah 0 2-4 2, Planes 4 0-0 8, Tomkins 1 0-1 2, D. Gyjrigi 1 0-0 2, Smith 0 0-0 0, Hennessey 0 0-0 0, Vella 0 2-2 2, Ore-Onitolo 0 0-0 0, Esposito 0 0-0 0. Totals: 15 10-18 46.
Manasquan (18-3) 11 3 12 10 - 36
Matawan (19-3) 4 11 16 15 - 46
Three-pointers: (Mat) Piscopo 2, Dunne; (Man) Toole 2. Fouled out: (Man) Jensen.
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