Holmdel Boys Basketball Named Week 4 OIB Ortho Team of the Week | Shore Sports Insider
Week 4 OIB Ortho Team of the Week: Holmdel Boys Basketball
Shore Sports Insider is proud to partner with OIB Ortho this winter to present our weekly OIB Ortho Boys Basketball Team of the Week Award, recognizing standout Shore Conference programs for their accomplishments on the court.
We are also thrilled to welcome Joe Leone’s Italian Specialties as a co-sponsor, providing a generous $250 gift card each week to celebrate the winning team.
The Week 4 recipient of the 2026 OIB Ortho Boys Team of the Week is Holmdel, following a week in which the Hornets went 2-0, knocking off two opponents ranked in the Atlantic Physical Therapy Boys Basketball Top 10.
Jack Vallillo and Anthony Serini are too young to know in great detail the complete recent history of their Holmdel boys basketball team’s record against the two dominant NJSIAA Group II teams from the Shore Conference over the last decade: Manasquan and Rumson-Fair Haven.
They have, however, been around long enough to feel the sting of losing to both teams, not only earlier this month but also to Rumson-Fair Haven to end their 2024-25 season as varsity players.
In just one week, Vallillo, Serini and their Holmdel teammates ended a decade-and-a-half of frustration against a pair of opponents that Holmdel, historically, has challenged, but not conquered.
Over a span of four days last week, Holmdel beat both Rumson-Fair Haven and Manasquan — two teams ranked in the current Shore Sports Insider Top 10 and a pair of programs that has combined to win 10 NJSIAA sectional titles and four Shore Conference championships.
“I give our kids a lot of credit,” 20-year Holmdel coach Sean Devaney said. “We have some new guys who don’t know the history as much. They know obviously that Rumson is very good and Manasquan is one of the best programs in the state, let alone the Shore. So they know that, but they don’t know how many times we have lost to them, so it was huge for this team to have huge wins against two really good teams.”
“It’s all about practice for us,” Serini said. “Last week, we played CBA and we had a lousy practice before and it really translated. This week, we have been really locked-in at practice, flying around and it’s really helped us get the job done.”
Anthony Serini with a baseline jumper for a 30-29 Holmdel lead, which the Hornets now hold with 4:35 left. pic.twitter.com/SwD632VYM2
— Matt Manley (@Matt_Manley) January 30, 2026
Holmdel’s 58-52 win over Rumson on Jan. 27 marked the first time the Hornets beat Rumson since sweeping them in two games during Holmdel’s 23-5 season in 2019-2020. From the 2021 season through Rumson’s 59-53 win over the Hornets on Jan. 8, Holmdel had dropped eight straight games to Rumson, including three in the NJSIAA Tournament. In both the 2021-22 and the 2024-25 seasons, Rumson defeated Holmdel three times: twice in divisional play and to end the season in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group II semifinals.
The Hornets rolled back that hardship vs. Rumson last Tuesday, when Vallillo erupted for a career-high 29 points and Serini backed him up with a 15-point effort. On the defensive end, Holmdel did not have an answer for Rumson-Fair Haven senior Luke Cruz during his 30-point outing, but the Hornets did not allow any other Bulldogs scorer to hit double-figures.
While Holmdel’s winless drought vs. Rumson lasted five full seasons, that was only a third of how long the losing streak vs. Manasquan lasted. Since beating Manasquan in February of 2011, Holmdel had gone nearly 15 full years and 18 head-to-head match-ups without beating the Warriors. The height of that struggle came in the 2018-19 and 2019-20, during which Manasquan went 7-0 vs. Holmdel, eliminating the Hornets from the NJSIAA Tournament in each season and beating them four times during that 23-5 campaign in 2019-20.
The heartbreak of 2020 predates this year’s team by a fair amount of time, but the 18th straight loss to Manasquan was fresh in their collective mind when the two rivals clashed on Friday in Holmdel. Manasquan surged past Holmdel for a 41-36 win in Manasquan back on Jan. 13.
The second time around, it was Holmdel that owned the fourth quarter. The Hornets set themselves up for a strong finish with a 10-2 run to close the third quarter and give themselves a 26-24 heading into the final eight minutes. Then, in the fourth, Holmdel unleashed another 12-3 run that pushed its lead to 40-32 in the final minute before Manasquan capped the scoring.
“This was only my second time playing Manasquan, so it felt like just another game for me,” Serini said. “But I know the history playing Squan. We haven’t beaten them recently, since 2011, is what I heard. So it’s really big, especially for our coaches.”
Vallillo scored the first seven points of the 10-2 run that gave Holmdel the lead heading to the fourth, with senior Luke Schiess scored the final three, including the go-ahead layup to make it 26-24. Vallillo wound up with a game-high 13 points.
Serini then took control in the fourth with seven points in the quarter and five during the 12-3 run to finish the game with 11 points. Senior Jack Cannon scored four points during the run to cap a solid all-around performance for the Dartmouth-bound, First-Team All-Shore quarterback: six points, five rebounds and four assists. Cannon missed most of Holmdel’s basketball season with a foot injury but his insertion into the lineup has added to the team’s size and physical play, which played a key role in beating a physical Manasquan team.
“Them pushing us around and getting on us on screens just gets us motivated,” Vallillo said. “We want to do it back to them. It makes us tougher and makes us want to win the game even more.”
“I’m a football player, so I really embrace the contact and love games like these,” Serini said. “I like the idea of stepping up in games like this.”
Holmdel, Manasquan and Rumson all split with one another during Shore Conference Class A North divisional play and if Holmdel can beat Red Bank on Thursday combined with a win by Christian Brothers Academy over Manasquan, the Hornets will share the A North public division championship with Manasquan. CBA has already clinched the outright division title and in a scenario in which Holmdel and Manasquan share the public title, the Colts would finish divisional play 10-0.
On the heels of its two landmark wins last week, Holmdel returned to the SSI Top 10 this week in the No. 10 spot and is on an upward trend heading into the tournament stage of the season, beginning with next week’s Shore Conference Tournament. Once the NJSIAA Tournament rolls around, the Hornets are likely to run into a familiar foe again, with Manasquan and Rumson both projected to be high seeds in the Central Group II bracket, along with likely No. 1 seed Wall.
“We have always known we can do this,” Vallillo said. “It’s just rising to the test and proving that we are actually good.”
On Monday, Shore Sports Insider visited practice to present Holmdel head coach Sean Devaney and the team with a commemorative game ball and a $250 Joe Leone’s Italian Specialties Gift Card, courtesy of our partners at Joe Leone’s, for a well-earned team meal.
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