The Shore Daily, 2/6/15
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There was an encouraging twist in the Mater Dei Prep saga and the brackets for the NJSIAA wrestling team tournament were released on Thursday, while division races are coming down to the wire in boys basketball .
The parish's leadership announced yesterday that it is giving Mater Dei students and supporters a two-month window to raise $1 million to keep the school open. While that is a daunting figure, double that raised by Wildwood Catholic down in Cape May County to stay open in 2010, it's still a chance to #SavetheSeraphs, which is more than Mater Dei appeared to have on Tuesday when it was first announced that the school would shut its doors after 50 years at the end of this school year. The encouraging thing is that Wildwood Catholic only has 194 students, compared to 340 for Mater Dei, so Mater Dei has a bigger base to rally with to raise the money. (You can donate online to Save the Seraphs, which has already raised more than $15,000 in two days).
WRESTLING
The brackets for next week's NJSIAA Tournament were released on Thursday, with Brick getting the top seed in Central Jersey Group IV after winning a sectional title last season, Christian Brothers Academy nabbing the top spot in Non-Public South A, and Shore Conference Tournament champion Brick Memorial getting the No. 1 seed in South Jersey Group V.
Central Jersey Group IV looks like a collision course between two Class A South rivals, Jackson Memorial and Brick, who are the top two seeds. The Jaguars lost to the Green Dragons for the first time in recent memory on criteria in the regular season, so that would be an eagerly-anticipated rematch for a title.
Perennial power South Plainfield is the top seed in Central Jersey Group III, where the Shore's best hope is third-seeded Long Branch, which always wrestles a tough schedule and looks to make a run to the championship match. In Central Jersey Group II, it looks to be two old rivals who seem to meet in the tournament every year going at it, as Delaware Valley is the No. 1 seed and Raritan is No. 2. Point Beach nabbed the No. 2 seed in Central Jersey Group I, where Cinnaminson is the top seed.
CBA's biggest hurdle in Non-Public South A looks to be fellow state-ranked team St. Augustine Prep, the No. 2 seed, as both are ranked in the teens in the major state polls. South Jersey Group V is shaping up to be a good rumble with Brick Memorial as the No. 1 seed and Howell as No. 2. Those two were the top seeds in the SCT but never met because Jackson Memorial handed Howell its first loss of the season in the semifinals. Also in the mix is third-seeded Southern, which Howell beat during a regular-season dual.
Battle-tested Class A South team Toms River South is the No. 2 seed in South Jersey Group IV, where state-ranked Clearview, the No. 1 seed and defending Group III champion, is the favorite. Third-seeded Wall is a sleeper team in South Jersey Group III, as the Crimson Knights have gotten healthy and are wrestling well heading into the postseason. They have a good shot to win a bracket that features Delsea, a team that has lost to several Shore squads, as the No. 1 seed.
The tournament starts on Feb. 9 with the sectional quarterfinals, followed by the semifinals on Feb. 11 and the sectional finals on Feb. 13. All of the sectional winners then meet at the Group finals on Feb. 15 out in Trenton at the Sun National Bank Center. The Shore is out to bring home a Group title after being shut out last season.
BASKETBALL
A big win by unranked Shore over No. 6 Manasquan behind Kevin Bloodgood's 3-point barrage could mean a potential tri-championship in Class A Central. Shore, Manasquan and Rumson-Fair Haven are now all tied for first, and the only divisional losses for any of them are to each other, and they've all played each other twice now. The tri-championship is always a nice headache for the SCT seeding committee, but that's a great win for Shore's seeding resume and a nice cherry on top for Senior Night for a senior-laden team.
In other action, Marlboro helped its push for an SCT berth with a 17-point win over Howell to get to .500 thanks to a combined 28 points by Matt Ringel and Kenny LaRocca, while No. 3 Toms River North picked up a crucial 65-63 overtime win against Brick Memorial to avoid a second loss to the Mustangs thanks to 16 points by sophomore guard Mike Nyisztor. On paper, that looks like the final big hurdle for the Mariners in their push for the Class A South title, but it's not officially over yet.
Toms River South also survived a scare against Jackson Memorial with a one-point win thanks to a combined 41 points by seniors Tymere Berry and Khaleel Greene. Jackson Memorial is a deceiving 5-11 as it has a host of single-digit losses this season under new coach Kevin McQuade. Ten or 15 total points the other way, and we could be talking about the Jaguars as a surprise team in the Shore this season despite losing two starters to transfer, Point Beach's Jesse Hill and Howell's Gino Palummo.
Class B North continues to be a dogfight as Colts Neck kept its division title hopes alive and put Red Bank Catholic's on life support by sweeping the season series with a one-point win thanks to 14 points by senior guard Chris O'Reilly. Wall stayed tied for first with Red Bank thanks to a key victory over Matawan.
There's no real intrigue in the Class B Central and Class B South races at this point other than Point Beach's rematch at home against St. Rose tomorrow that will decide the B Central title. The Garnet Gulls have won 39 straight in the division, while Lakewood has won 34 straight in B South after rolling over Jackson Liberty last night.
Asbury Park boosted its SCT hopes with an overtime win over Henry Hudson thanks to 18 points by sophomore Josmair Taylor, while Mater Dei Prep pulled out a one-point win over Ranney to get to 9-8 with just over a week to go before the SCT cut-off on Feb. 14. Barnegat also got to .500 with a win over Point Boro behind 17 points by Nick Camarato, and Central beat Pinelands in a game between teams hovering around the cutoff mark as senior Evan Lang scored 19 points to put himself 15 shy of 1,000 for his career.
On the girls side, the big win of the night belonged to Freehold Township, which edged Holmdel 51-49 in a nondivisional game behind a combined 30 points from Tori Wagner and Samantha Famulare.
More on Friday:
- A boys basketball team in Alabama won a game 2-0 this past weekend.
- A barber gave his son an old man's haircut, the "Benjamin Button special,'' after he misbehaved.
- Detroit Pistons legend and ex-Detroit mayor Dave Bing is trying to help a troubled football recruit who lost his scholarship to Michigan State.
- A wrestler who escaped an abusive father and changed his name has become a standout at the University of Buffalo through his perseverance.
- The son and daughter of the late Bobby Phills of the Charlotte Hornets, who died in a car crash in 2000, are now basketball stars honoring their father.
- A 5-star Florida recruit did the whole ESPNU committing on camera thing but hasn't faxed his National Letter of Intent yet because his dad won't sign it.
- Good story on Hornets forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, a former Patrick School star, rebuilding his jumpshot and overcoming his stuttering problem.
- Money for scholarship stipends could become a recruiting tool for the top college football programs.
- So jealous. A father and son from Philly are taking the ultimate NBA road trip.
- The boys basketball coach up at Fort Lee in North Jersey has gone headfirst into the basketball analytics movement.
- A family whose son committed suicide at 25 years old is suing Pop Warner for what it claims is failing to warn him about head trauma.
- The Titans released Michael Oher of "The Blindside" fame.
- Good story on the world's most successful sports gambler, who has won hundreds of millions (allegedly).
- The field hockey team at the University Iowa has filed a civil rights complaint of gender bias after their female coach got fired.
- Comcast customer service probably hates you.
On tap for tonight: In boys basketball, Freehold Township can clinch at least a tie for the Class A North public title with a win on the road at Middletown South, and CBA can clinch at least a tie for the overall Class A North title by beating Middletown North on the road.
Neptune looks to make it eight straight wins and avenge an earlier loss when it heads to Ocean, and No. 5 Red Bank looks to stay in a tie for first with Wall in Class B North when it hosts Long Branch. Central senior guard Evan Lang heads into tonight's Class B South game at Manchester needing 15 points to reach 1,000 for his career.
I will end with Topps making a baseball card of 50 Cent's epically bad first pitch for the Mets last season. Nicely done.
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