MANAHAWKIN – Southern senior Jake Logue played sidekick to All-Shore first-teamer and current Penn State tight end Mike Gesicki as a junior last season and could easily have stepped up as a leading scorer on a solid team this season.

Instead, he has a new high-scoring teammate, a new system and expectations as high as they have ever been at Southern, and Logue wouldn’t have it any other way.

Logue and the Rams took the first step toward what they hope to be a banner season by winning the fourth annual Score at the Shore Tournament on their home floor on Tuesday, topping St. John Vianney in the championship game, 69-53.

Photo by Matt Manley
Photo by Matt Manley
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“We’re a much different team this year without that dominant guy in the post like Mike was last year, but it’s forced us to change our offense and become more dynamic and up-tempo,” Logue said. “Unlike last year, when we ran a lot of sets through the high post, we are running a lot more sets with five guys on the perimeter, which plays to a lot of our strengths.”

Logue and new teammate Peyton Wejnert – a junior transfer from Point Pleasant Boro – each scored 25 points, with Logue adding 12 rebounds and five assists and Wejnert grabbing 15 rebounds. Logue scored 17 points in the first half and finished shooting 10-for-13 from the field and 5-for-8 from three-point range, while Wejnert dropped 16 after the break.

“Jake is so even-keeled, he’s a model of consistency,” Southern coach Eric Fierro said. “People watch him sometimes and think he’s not intense or into the game, but that’s just his demeanor – never too high, never too low, always in the game.

“A lot of guys in his position would have been upset about a player like Peyton coming in and taking shots away from him in his senior year, but Jake has been on board from day one. He’s all about helping this team win and he knows, like we all know, that bringing in Peyton makes us a better team and that’s all that matters.”

Southern buried the Lancers with three separate significant runs, the first of which was an 11-0 run to start the game. After St. John Vianney closed to within 13-12 early in the second quarter, the Rams embarked on a 21-9 run to take a 34-21 halftime lead. Logue helped key both runs, scoring 10 points in the first quarter and seven more in the second.

“The fast start was definitely big and it’s something we stressed coming into the game, that we wanted to jump on them and stay on them,” Logue said. “They have knocked off a couple of teams in the tournament, so you really don’t want to let a team like that hang around and build that confidence.”

St. John Vianney crept to within 37-27 early in the third, but Southern ripped off 10 straight points to push the lead up to 20. Junior point guard Ethan DuBois hit a 3-pointer to cap the run, part of a 13-point, seven-assist performance.

While Logue and Wejnert are both off to scorching starts to the season, DuBois has stepped up in the absence of injured senior Zac Halliday, who suffered a season-ending shoulder injury during the football season.

“Ethan got a chance to start last year and showed he could play and be a big part of this team,” Logue said. “Zac is still a big part of the program and he’s been here to support us, but we’re confident with Ethan and our bench guys picking up the slack.”

Wejnert, meanwhile, was his usual menacing self on the offensive glass. He grabbed 10 offensive rebounds and got to the free-throw line 12 times, converting his last 11. After finishing third in the Shore Conference in scoring as a sophomore at Point Boro, Wejnert has not needed much time to fit in. Through five games, Wejnert is averaging 27.2 points and has topped 30 points twice already.

“I love Southern basketball right now,” Wejnert said. “It couldn’t be better and I think the team chemistry is the best it could ever be, and I think that’s why we’ve been so successful.”

St. John Vianney juniors Grant Goode and Zach Howarth combined for 43 points, with Goode tallying 26 points and 13 rebounds and Howarth adding 17 points.

“We tried some things to keep (Goode) from catching it down low and it obviously wasn’t working because he killed us in the third quarter,” Fierro said. “That’s what’s nice about building a big lead. You can afford to trade baskets.”

Southern has come close to capturing championships over the past four years, but ultimately has not finished better than second place in Class A South, has not reached beyond the Shore Conference Tournament quarterfinals or the NJSIAA sectional semifinals, and had not won a holiday tournament prior to Tuesday.

“Our expectations are higher than they’ve ever been here,” Fierro said. “We finished second in A South each of the last two years. We’ve been to a state (sectional) semifinal. We haven’t made it to Brookdale (Community College) in the Shore Conference Tournament, and we’re reminding the guys of all of that. Those are all things we feel like are well within reach for this team and our mission is to make this a special year by checking some of those off the list.

“Hopefully it’s all of them. We accomplished our first goal today and now we’re going to turn our attention to competing for an A South championship.”

Box Score

Southern 69, St. John Vianney 53

1

2

3

4

F

St. John Vianney (3-2)

12

9

15

17

53

Southern (4-1)

13

21

17

18

69

 

St. John Vianney (53): John-Michael Broderick 0 0-0 0, Zach Howarth 6 3-4 17, Ryan Simmons 0 0-0 0, Grant Goode 9 7-9 26, Matt DeBrizzi 0 0-0 0, Kevin Callari 2 0-2 5, Mike Facchino 1 0-0 2, Jake Guempel 1 0-0 3. Totals: 19 10-15 53

Three-pointers: Howarth 2, Goode, Callari, Guempel

Southern (69): Ethan DuBois 5 1-1 13, Jake Logue 10 0-0 25, Eric Ray 3 0-0 6, Peyton Wejnert 7 11-12 25, Dylan Clark 0 0-0 0, Julian Leone 0 0-0 0, Mike Adragna 0 0-0 0. Totals: 25 12-13 69

Three-pointers: DuBois 2, Logue 5

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