Boys Basketball – Week 2 Jersey Mike’s Team of the Week: CBA

It is not often the Christian Brothers Academy basketball team gets to play the underdog role, especially against other Shore Conference opponents.

Despite entering the season ranked No. 4 in the Shore Sports Network Top 10, the Colts have already played two teams ranked ahead of them. The first one did not go the way the Colts had hoped but on the second try, CBA came through in convincing fashion.

After failing to keep up with No. 2 Ranney on Feb. 6, CBA came back with a 3-0 week capped by a resounding 75-42 win over then-No. 3 Marlboro to take over the No. 3 spot in the rankings. The win also secured the Colts the second Jersey Mike's Team of the Week award of the season.

Playing on the road against a Mustangs team that had just lost a close game to Ranney the night before, CBA got contributions throughout its starting lineup and on both ends of the court: senior center Dane Moran scored a team-high 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds; senior guard Mike White went for 14 points, 10 rebounds and five assists; senior guard Colin Farrell had 12 points, five rebounds and six assists; junior guard Pat Lautato posted nine points, three assists and four steals; and sophomore Joe White gave CBA eight points and six rebounds.

Less apparent from the box score was the defensive effort turned in by CBA, although the scoring lines of Marlboro's star duo of Jack Seidler and Jon Spatola provide a pretty good indication. The White brothers - Mike and Joe - led the defensive effort in holding Seidler to seven points and Farrell and Lautato were key in keeping Spatola to six.

CBA's wins over Middletown South earlier in the week came with less fanfare than a CBA-vs.-Middletown South game usually does but in retrospect, those results carry even more weight than they initially appeared to. CBA did not have Farrell for either game due to a minor knee injury and the Colts still handled the Eagles in both games, with Mike White taking on more of a primary scoring role in averaging 17 points in the two wins.

CBA continued its tear by handling Freehold Township on Tuesday, 54-35, in a game in which no Freehold Township player scored more than five points. Since a 57-48 home loss to Ranney, CBA is allowing an average of 35.5 points per game and the 42 Marlboro scored is the highest total the Colts have allowed in this current four-game stretch.

The Colts are scheduled to complete a two-game set vs. Freehold Township and will tangle with Marlboro again on Saturday - both games at CBA.