The Shore Daily, 2/7/15
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It was all about Friday night thrillers, from basketball to wrestling, to kick off the weekend with a bang.
Point Boro mounted an incredible comeback to beat Point Boro in front of a roaring crowd in their annual wrestling showdown, while Manchester's Jordan Torney exploded for a career-high 37 points to send the Hawks to an exciting overtime victory over Central on the basketball court.
BASKETBALL
I'll start with basketball, where Manchester and Donovan Catholic picked up big victories and Christian Brothers Academy and Freehold Township each clinched a share of a division title.
Manchester spoiled the 1,000-point milestone for Central's Evan Lang thanks to Torney, rallying from a 15-point third-quarter deficit to overtake the Golden Eagles thanks to 10 points in overtime by Torney, who capped his night with a breakaway dunk.
Lang had a strong night with 20 points in the loss, including hitting the 1,000-point mark with a third-quarter foul shot. He became the first Golden Eagles' player to hit 1,000 since guard Ibn Moye in 2009. He now joins the list of 1,000-point scorers in the Shore on the boys side this season that includes Matawan senior guard Jason Dunne, CBA junior forward Pat Andree, Southern junior forward Peyton Wejnert, Wall senior guard Trent Mitchell, Shore Regional senior forward Kevin Bloodgood, Lacey senior center Chris Iapicco, Toms River South senior guard Tymere Berry, and Southern senior forward Jake Logue.
Another gym that was rocking on Friday night was Gepp Gym at Donovan Catholic, where the Griffins picked up their biggest win of the season by toppling their rival from right down Hooper Avenue, Toms River South, with a 63-62 nondivisional victory thanks to a bucket by James Fata with five seconds left in the game. Mike Boice and Riley Collins combined for 27 points for the Griffins and Fata had 11 to overcome a 28-point night by Indians star Tymere Berry. That is a good win when it comes time to argue for a higher seed in the Shore Conference Tournament.
CBA is on its way to repeating as overall Class A North champions as the Colts downed Middletown North by 26 points to clinch at least a share of the title behind 18 points from Jack Laffey. Freehold Township clinched at least a tie for the Class A North public title behind CBA by beating Middletown South by 32 thanks to 15 points apiece from Kyle Czajkowski and Tyree Wilson.
Neptune continues to gain momentum heading into the postseason as the Scarlet Fliers own the longest current winning streak in the Shore at eight games after blasting Ocean by 35 points to avenge an earlier loss to the Spartans for their eighth straight victory after a 3-7 start.
On the girls side, Middletown South clinched its fourth straight Class A North title with a 48-36 win over Freehold Township thanks to 16 points by Julia Valkos and 15 by Haley Dalonzo.
Also, Rumson-Fair Haven's win over Monmouth Regional tied Bulldogs' coach George Sourlis for the most wins of any basketball coach on the boys or girls side in Shore Conference history with retired CBA legend Ed Wicelinski with 625. Sourlis can pass Wicelinski on Saturday when the Bulldogs host Paterson Eastside at 3 p.m. in a nonconference game between two top 10 teams in the state. Rumson will also be honoring its championship football, field hockey and cross country teams from the fall at halftime.
WRESTLING
While Friday was generally just meaningless tune-up matches for the state tournament, don't tell that to Point Boro and Point Beach. Bob Badders said it was one of the best and loudest crowds at any dual meet that he has ever covered, which is saying something. There were times when you couldn't even hear the official's whistle for a pin because it was so loud.
Point Beach had Point Boro in a 29-3 hole before the home team came roaring back for a roof-shaking 34-32 nondivisional win over the Garnet Gulls thanks to a pin by star Dan Nobbs in the final bout at 126 to seal the victory.
The other huge win in the rally was freshman Gabe Pattizzi's pin at 195 that sent the crowd into delirium while Pattizzi shushed the visitors after the win. Sometimes town bragging rights can be bigger than any division or sectional title. Point Beach was also 17-0 before the Panthers handed them their first loss.
FOOTBALL
Congrats to Wall senior linebacker Rich Eknoian, an All-Class B North selection who signed with Merrimack College on Friday.
Also, St. John Vianney senior offensive lineman Kyle Gibson, a second-team All-Shore selection by SSN, has signed with St. Francis (Pa.), according to coach Mark Ciccotelli. On Saturday, Red Bank Catholic senior defensive lineman Dan Wilen announced that he has committed to Sacred Heart University.
More on Saturday:
- Duke recruit Luke Kennard just passed LeBron James on the Ohio all-time scoring list.
- The Prime Time Shootout is this weekend up at Roselle Catholic, featuring a host of the state's best teams. From the Shore, Lakewood, Neptune and Point Beach are all in the showcase.
- The latest NJSIAA power points for boys basketball are out, and Lakewood and Toms River North appear to be in line for No. 1 seeds in their brackets.
- Netflix is making everyone's favorite old-school Nintendo game, "The Legend of Zelda,'' into an actual show.
- The player who recovered the famous onside kick in the Saints' Super Bowl win in 2010 had his entire life change after that play.
On tap for today: As mentioned above, Rumson-Fair Haven girls basketball coach George Sourlis will try to pass retired CBA legend Ed Wicelinski for the most wins of any basketball coach in Shore Conference history when the Bulldogs host Paterson Eastside at 3 p.m.
In boys basketball, St. Rose heads to Point Beach at 1 p.m. for a game that will decide the Class B Central title, with the Garnet Gulls looking to repeat as champions and remain unbeaten in the division.
Red Bank Catholic heads to Wall at 3 p.m. in a game that the home team needs to win to keep pace with Red Bank for the Class B North title. Also, Neptune puts its eight-game winning streak on the line at 1 p.m. against Plainfield up at the Prime Time Shootout at Roselle Catholic.
I'll end with one of the top highlights of last night, which belonged to Central sophomore center Elijah Barnes, who threw down an alley-oop lob with one hand with ease.
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