Boys Basketball – Balanced Caseys Hand Red Bank 1st Loss

*Photo gallery by B51 Photography*

RED BANK – Unlike its opponent Saturday afternoon at the Eck Center, the Red Bank Catholic boys basketball team did not enter the game unbeaten. Far from it, in fact: the Caseys were coming off a loss to Toms River North in the WOBM Christmas Classic championship game and the last time they played on their home floor, Wall beat them by a healthy margin.

The Caseys once again, however, demonstrated a trait Saturday against unbeaten Red Bank – No. 3 in the Shore Sports Network Top 10 – that should serve them well throughout a relentless Shore Conference Class B North schedule. For the second time this year, RBC showed it can respond after a loss.

All five RBC starters reached double-figure scoring and the Caseys handed the crosstown rival Bucs their first loss of the season, 71-66, in front of a capacity crowd in the Eck Center Gymnasium.

“We’ve taken our two losses to heart and both times, we came back ready to watch film and fix what was wrong,” senior forward Kevin Fazio said. “When we’ve gotten off to good starts, we’ve been tough to beat, so we focused on taking the game to them today. They’ve been on a roll lately so we wanted to make them play from behind and have to chase us.”

Fazio led Red Bank Catholic with 17 points and senior Liam Byrne added 16 while connecting on four of the Caseys’ nine 3-pointers. Junior Eddie Hahn knocked down two threes, threw down two dunks and finished with 14 points as well.

Junior Evan Madigan pitched in 11 points and senior Joe Montano chipped in 10, rounding out the 68 points scored by the RBC starters.

Red Bank Catholic also thrived on the free-throw line, where the Caseys hit 16-of-17 attempts, including 13-for-14 in the fourth quarter to help seal the win.

A lack of depth has caught up to the Caseys during early stretches of the season, but three days off following a stretch of three games in four days helped them recover to face a Red Bank team that features one of the deepest rotations in the Shore Conference. On its way to the WOBM Classic final, Red Bank Catholic also faced a run of especially deep teams in Donovan Catholic, Freehold Township and Toms River North.

“I think we’re just starting to get our legs under us and our conditioning is getting closer to where it needs to be,” Red Bank Catholic coach Jim Catalano said. “We’re not a deep team, so we need our guys to be in peak physical condition and even though they are all good athletes, they are just starting to get that right.”

Despite its short rotation at the moment – the Caseys played seven players and got only three bench points Saturday – Red Bank Catholic has leaned on a balanced offense among its five starters, four of whom were starters last season. The lone newcomer to the starting lineup – Fazio – has arguably been its most consistent performer.

“I’ve just tried to give the team whatever we need while still trying to play to my strengths,” Fazio said. “We have guys who can shoot it, so I just want to be a guy who defends, rebounds and tries to keep possessions alive.”

While he has not played the role of graduated All-Shore center and current Notre Dame offensive lineman Quenton Nelson, he has brought his own version of a frontcourt presence to a team full of returning backcourt talent and deadly shooters.

“He’s not replacing Quenton because we’re not playing him in the high post and having him pass out of it,” Catalano said. “Instead, we’ve tried to get him the ball facing the basket with space to attack the rim, because that’s what he is good at.”

“We don’t have a guy like Quenton this year, so our offense is more perimeter-oriented,” Fazio said. “I’m just trying to help out by doing what I do best and while it’s been a little bit of an adjustment, we’ve been handling it pretty well and I think it’s really just starting to come together.”

Box Score

Red Bank Catholic 71, Red Bank 66

Red Bank (66): Jack Navitsky 0 0-0 0, Anthony Mitchell 4 1-2 11, Justin Gilson 3 1-1 7, Sadiq Palmer 6 6-6 18, Tyler Christie 2 1-2 6, Eddie Hendrex 5 2-2 12, Jimmy Ferrogine 0 2-2 2, Matt Reardon 0 0-0 0, Connor Kelly 4 0-1 10, Jake Marcin 0 0-0 0. Totals: 24 13-16 66

Three-pointers: Mitchell 2, Christie, Kelly 2

Red Bank Catholic (71): Joe Montano 3 2-3 10, Evan Madigan 3 4-4 11, Kevin Fazio 7 3-3 17, Eddie Hahn 5 2-2 14, Liam Byrne 4 4-4 16, Tom Montano 0 0-0 0, Mike Travers 1 1-1 3. Totals: 23 16-17

Three-pointers: Montano 2, Madigan, Hahn 2, Byrne 4

Fouled Out: T. Montano