WOBM Christmas Classic Opening Round

Form pretty much held up in the opening round of the 30^th annual WOBM Christmas Classic, presented by Barnabas Health at the Pine Belt Arena this weekend. 

The girls took the court Sunday with top seeds Red Bank Catholic, Manasquan, Wall, Freehold Township and Monsignor Donovan winning easily.

6^th seed Jackson Memorial got 21 points from Shena Vega in a 42-37 win over Toms River North while Amanda Kennedy’s 19 points led #10 Toms River East past 7^th seeded Shore 50-41 and Mackenzie Pepper scored 16 as #9 Toms River South ousted defending champion Point Boro 53-48 in the days most competitive games.

The girl’s quarterfinals will take place on Friday, December 27^th with RBC to meet Toms River South, Manasquan to face Toms River East, Wall will play Jackson Memorial and Mon Don will collide with Freehold Township.

The tournament began on Saturday with the 16 boys teams playing their opening round games and while most of the higher ranked teams advanced there was a notable upset as 2^nd seeded Wall was bounced by #15 Toms River East.  Getting points from nine different players the Raiders improved to 2-0 under first-year coach Jim Dempsey and moved into Thursday’s quarterfinals against Manchester, who knocked-off defending champion Toms River North to give head coach Ryan Ramsay his 100^th victory with the Hawks.

The day began with 11^th seeded Monsignor Donovan celebrating its return to the WOBM Classic by topping Brick Memorial with the help of a dozen 3-pointers and a team-high 15 points from Eamonn Kearney, the son of the Griffins head coach. Donovan will meet Toms River South in the opening quarterfinal Thursday at 2:30. In the evening it will be Red Bank Catholic meeting Freehold Township before top-seed Jackson Memorial takes on Point Boro.

This is the final Hometown View of 2013.  Between the holidays, the WOBM Christmas Classic and a couple of days off to unwind I won’t be back on until January 6^th.  I would like the time to wish all of you the happiest of holidays, including a Merry Christmas and the very best in the New Year.

I appreciate you spending a couple of minutes with me each weekday morning and allowing me to vent from time to time.  Peace and joy to all of you and we’ll talk next year.