The Shore Daily, 1/17/15
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After wowing so many people as a quarterback during football season, Toms River South senior guard Tymere Berry turned in a jaw-dropping performance on the basketball court on Friday night to help the Indians go to Brick Memorial's gym and take a big Class A South win.
Berry erupted for a career-high 42 points along with 16 rebounds and 6 assists on 14-for-22 shooting, including 5-for-7 from 3-point range, in a 68-65 win. It was the best single-game performance by a Toms River South player since back when I was in high school and former Monmouth University star Corey Albano, who had a long career professionally overseas, scored 50 against what is now Donovan Catholic in 1993. When you're getting mentioned with Albano, one of the top players in the last 25 years in the Shore, you're doing something right.
You can watch all of Berry's fireworks below.
Matt Manley was in the house for the story and video highlights, and he had some high praise for Berry.
The key stat for me was the 3-point shooting, which included five straight makes. If Berry is going to be knocking down shots from deep, he is almost unguardable. He's so quick that there are few, if any, guards in the Shore Conference who can stay in front of him off the dribble. You basically have to concede that shot to him, and if he's making it, the options are few other than running a double team at him, but he is unselfish and will find open teammates.
"He’s quick, he can stretch the defense with his shot, he sees the court, he gets everybody involved, he makes unbelievable passes when he does drive – he just does everything, and I don’t know how you stop that when it’s all working,'' Toms River South coach Curt DeFillippo told Matt.
Berry is only 5-foot-11, but because of his leaping ability and toughness, he plays like he's 6-4. He has been one of the Shore's top scorers all season, but with his jumpshot working on Friday night, he took it to another level. I would guess the Indians are going to see nothing but zone defenses for a while. They are going to be the "no one wants to play this team in the first round" squad of the Shore Conference and state tournaments because of Berry's ability to just take over games.
It was a night filled with huge scoring explosions in Class A South. I can't remember a division ever having three guys go for 30-plus in one night, but that's what happened. Southern senior Jake Logue poured in 31 points to go with 10 rebounds in a win over Jackson Memorial and is now 16 points short of 1,000, which he could get today against Millville at noon. Lacey center Chris Iapicco continued his monster season with 34 points in a loss to Toms River East, which was powered by 23 points from another player who has had some big scoring nights, junior 3-pointer bomber Ryan West.
In Class B South, Central brought Barnegat's four-game winning streak to a screeching halt with a 68-37 win, and Manchester barely survived a trap game against Jackson Liberty with a 53-52 win on a pair of foul shots by Jordan Torney in the final seconds. The Hawks will now face defending champion Lakewood on Tuesday in a showdown for sole possession of first place in the division.
One other score of note was Long Branch beating Freehold Boro 52-51 in a nondivisional game behind a combined 28 points from sophomores Fred Reeves and Cascius Briggs, marking Long Branch's first win of the season.
The one division that has had little suspense this season has been Class B Central, where defending champion Point Beach, other than a hard-fought win over St. Rose, has dominated everyone else. Beach and St. Rose have been head-and-shoulders above everyone else in this division, so there's not much to highlight until they play each other again on Jan. 27 at Point Beach.
More on Saturday:
- The rising cost of youth sports, and the expectations that come along with it.
- The annual St. Anthony-Patrick School showdown is tonight at 5:45 at the Jersey City Armory as part of the Dan Finn Classic.
- A Bentley team that features CBA grad J.P. Koury has won 9 of 11 heading into Saturday's game vs. Adelphi.
- Teaneck had a big win last night over the Don Bosco Prep team that beat CBA in the season opener.
- Perennial power Atlantic City, which is in South Jersey Group IV with the likes of Southern and Toms River North, took down South Jersey's No. 1 team, Holy Spirit, last night.
- The historic gym at Roman Catholic High School in Philly is on its way out due to renovations, but has a pretty crazy history. It's been around for 125 (!) years, opening one year before James Naismith invented basketball.
- The rise and fall of Kevin Love's successful high school basketball coach in Oregon due to insensitive racial remarks and more.
- The grind of being a high school football head coach has shortened successful careers.
Colts Neck grad Brandon Federici has been lighting it up for Franklin & Marshall basketball, averaging a team-high 20.8 points per game. He is #5 in the video below.
Just a sick skiing video by French legend Candide Thovex. Already over 2 million views in two days.
On tap for today:
Bob Badders will have coverage of this morning's Brick-Brick Memorial wrestling showdown that has big Class A South title implications.
Other matches to watch today are No. 3 Jackson Memorial hosting a tri-match with perennial power South Plainfield as well as Paramus, No. 10 Middletown North heading to a tri-meet at No. 5 Christian Brothers Academy in Class A North, and Southern in part of a quad match at Ocean that includes perennial state contender Hunterdon Central. Toms River South hosts Delsea, Passaic Valley and Toms River North, fresh off the Indians' upset win over Southern.
On the basketball side, Point Beach heads to No. 8 Colts Neck at 11:30 a.m. for a good nondivisional game, Southern goes to Millville at noon with senior Jake Logue 16 points shy of 1,000 for his career, and the Devaney brothers, Sean and Dennis, lead their teams against one another when Holmdel goes to St. Rose at 2:30 p.m.
I'll end with a pair of high school basketball highlights. A crazy, one-handed buzzer-beater from a game in New Mexico, and a driving game-winner and celebration from a game in Cincinnati last night.
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