Boys Basketball – Point Beach Makes Statement in Win Over Jackson

LONG BRANCH – Jackson Memorial was the first opponent of the Point Pleasant Beach boys basketball team that had size to match the Garnet Gulls, according to Point Beach senior guard Matt Farrell. Ironically enough, it was Farrell – the smallest player on the court at six feet – who made the biggest impact against the Jaguar giants.

Farrell scored 26 points to go with five assists and three steals to lead the Garnet Gulls – the No. 1 team in the Shore Sports Network Top 10 – to a 57-37 win over No. 9 Jackson Memorial Saturday at the Hoop Group Boardwalk Showcase at Long Branch High School.

Point Beach senior point guard Matt Farrell poured in a game-high 26 points to help the Garnet Gulls roll to a 20-point win over Jackson Memorial.

“They have a lot of size and they use it well, especially on the defensive end,” Farrell said of Jackson Memorial. “They make it hard to get the ball inside, so we had to spread them out and go five on the perimeter. The good thing about us is we’re versatile. Every one of our guys can shoot it, so we spread them out early and made them come guard us.”

Point Beach scored the first 15 points of the game and never looked back, led by five points and three assists by Farrell during the run. Farrell then scored nine of Point Beach’s 15 second-quarter points to help Point Beach stretch its lead to 30-14 by halftime. Farrell shot 10-for-17 from the field in the game.

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Six-foot-7 senior Dom Uhl scored nine points and grabbed 12 rebounds while limiting Jackson Memorial center and University of Delaware recruit Eric Carter to seven points, 11 rebounds and four turnovers.

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Senior Noah Yates, who recently made a verbal commitment to play football at Yale, added 10 points, three assists and three steals for Point Beach and 6-8 senior center Jeff Bryant scored all six of his points during the 15-0 first-quarter run.

“People forget about Jeff Bryant and that’s a common mistake by teams,” Farrell said. “He’s got size and length and his game’s improved a lot, especially around the basket. We’ve always got five guys on the court who can finish and if they’re going to leave one open, we’ll get him the ball.”

Jackson Memorial quickly answered the 15-0 Garnet Gulls run with a 10-0 run to pull within five. Point Beach again hit Jackson with a big run, closing the half on a 13-2 run. Farrell scored nine points during the run and found Yates for an open lay-up to cap it.

The Jaguars knocked the Point Beach lead down to seven at one point in the third quarter and trailed 46-37 late in the fourth quarter before Point Beach finished the game off with an 11-0 run.

Junior guard Gino Palummo led Jackson Memorial with 11 points, including seven in the third quarter, during which Jackson Memorial outscored Point Beach 17-12.

Point Beach played without head coach Nick Catania, who was battling a stomach flu, according to acting head coach Brian Moberg.

“We were sitting in the locker room and as soon as coach Mo came in and starting writing on the board, we knew coach (Catania) wasn’t coming,” Farrell said. “We know how much he wants to be here, so for him to stay at home, you know he must have been feeling it. Nobody puts together better scouting reports than he does, so even though he wasn’t here, he gave us a great game plan.”

Point Beach has now won six straight games to open the season and was impressive at the Shore Conference’s foremost regular-season showcase, which also included national power St. Anthony.

“We wanted to make a statement here against one of the better teams in the Shore,” Farrell said. “We wanted to show people around here that we’re not messing around this year. We want teams to know that if they think they are going to beat us, they better bring their best game, because we’re looking to bring it every single game.”

Box Score

Point Beach 57, Jackson Memorial 37

	1	2	3	4	F
Jackson Memorial (6-3)	5	9	17	6	37
Point Beach (6-0)	15	15	12	15	57

Jackson Memorial (37): Gino Palummo 5 0-0 11, C.J. Blue 3 1-1 9, Eric Carter 3 1-2 7, Marcus Ademilola 0 0-0 0, Jesse Hill 2 2-2 7, Jimmy Markham 1 0-0 3, Eddie Landi 0 0-0 0, Ricky Aviles 0 0-0 0. Totals: 14 4-5 37

Three-pointers: Palummo, Blue 2, Hill, Markham

Point Beach (57): Matt Farrell 10 4-4 26, Noah Yates 5 0-0 10, Jeff Bryant 3 0-0 6, Dom Uhl 4 1-2 9, Chris Schifano 2 0-0 5, Mike Fraunheim 0 1-2 1. Totals: 24 6-8 57

Three-pointers: Farrell 2, Schifano