Boys Basketball – Sophomores Spark RBC to SCT Win over TR East
RED BANK - Red Bank Catholic sophomore Charlie Gordinier has been his team's leading scorer throughout the season and after scuffling through the last week of the regular season, the 6-foot-6 swingman did his part in the Caseys' Shore Conference Tournament opener Tuesday against Toms River East.
He was not, however, the highest scoring sophomore on his team.
That distinction belonged to 6-6 power forward Kevin Bauman, who came off the bench and combined with Gordinier to post 53 points and 19 rebounds as Red Bank Catholic - the No. 12 seed in the field - pulled away to beat the No. 21 Raiders, 75-56.
Bauman finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds and dominated the interior on the offensive end in the second half, when he scored 18 of his points - 13 coming in the fourth quarter, when the Caseys outscored the Raiders, 25-13.
Gordinier, meanwhile, poured in 20 points to go with eight rebounds, four assists, three blocks and three steals. The performance marked a bounceback from last week, during which Gordinier - who leads the Caseys with 14.1 points per game - scored only 12 points in two games.
Toms River East hung right with RBC for the first three quarters and actually took a 39-37 lead midway through the fourth on five straight points by senior Nick Shortino. A steal and three-point play by Shortino tied the game at 37 and another layup by the Raiders senior guard off a turnover gave Toms River East its first lead since the early part of the first quarter.
Red Bank Catholic countered with a 16-4 run to end the quarter and outscored the Raiders, 38-17, over the final 12 minutes to close out the win.
Sophomore Sam Meeks also came off the bench and scored 10 of his 11 points in the second half. That gave RBC 34 points off the bench between Bauman and Meeks and 54 points from a trio of sophomores.
Senior John Kelly also contributed eight points, six rebounds and four blocks, while classmate Matt Ansell contributed six points, five rebounds and seven assists.
Sophomore Mike Goodall led Toms River East with 17 points and three steals, while Shortino poured in 13. Senior Nick Silvia also pitched in 12 points and seven rebounds in the loss.
Red Bank Catholic will travel west on Newman Springs Road to play No. 5 Christian Brothers Academy in Thursday's round of 16. It will mark the second time in six days that the teams have met and if Red Bank Catholic wins its first-round NJSIAA Tournament game against St. John Vianney, the two rivals will meat again in the South Jersey Non-Public A quarterfinals, making it three meetings in a span of three weeks.