Beach Cruising: Point Beach Rolls to 1st Boys Basketball Sectional Final Since 2018

POINT PLEASANT BEACH — With a spot in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group I championship game, the Point Pleasant Beach boys needed just 16 decent minutes of basketball to earn its championship ticket thanks to the pristine basketball they played during the first 16.

In those final 16 minutes, Point Beach made just two shots from the field and went through a rough patch at the free-throw line as well, but it did not matter. It took only one good offensive half for the Garnet Gulls to advance because they gave 32 dominant minutes on defense.

Junior Ryan Mahoney led both the scoring and rebounding efforts with 16 points and eight boards and Point Beach — the No. 2 seed in the Central Group II section — closed out No. 6 Manville, 49-35, to secure their spot in the final for the first time since 2018, when the Garnet Gulls won their third sectional championship in a six-season period.

“March wins mean more,” Point Beach coach Ed Goodman said. “This is what your season is all about. Winning a division is great, but you’ve got to win in March.”

In the five NJSIAA Tournaments since the Garnet Gulls’ last appearance in the sectional final, Point Beach has won first-round game in four of them and been to the sectional semifinal in two of the previous three seasons before making a third trip in four years this winter.

After Manville scored on its first possession, Point Beach scored 17 unanswered points to establish a 17-2 lead and pumped it up to 28-8 before the midway point of the second quarter. Junior Tyler Preston and Mahoney jump-started their team, with Mahoney scored nine of his points in the first half and Preston netting eight of his 11 points in the game during the first half. Senior Elijah Ives also hit both of his three-point shots in the first half and went on to score 10 points in the game.

By the time halftime hit, Point Beach led Manville, 35-17, and was enjoying a 38-19 lead when the Mustangs made a move. Manville scored 13 unanswered points during a stretch that bled into the fourth quarter and cut Point Beach’s lead to 38-32.

“We’re prepared for that,” said senior Jacob Edgecomb, a four-year starter who hit a game-winner to beat the buzzer in last year’s quarterfinal win over Henry Hudson, in which Point Beach also gave up a big lead at home before ultimately pulling out the victory. “Teams go on runs and they are a good team. They have guys who have been there for four years and they were going to play hard in the second half. They played exceptionally well in the third quarter.”

Just as he helped Point Beach get started in the first half, Mahoney halted the Manville run with a three-point play on a drive to the rim, extending his team’s lead to 41-32 after the made free throw with 6:45 left.

“They had their run in the third quarter and once they got it down to ten, we thought, ‘Okay, let’s go on our run now,'” Mahoney said. “That (three-point play) just helped us settle in and get going on that run to close it out.”

That basket by Mahoney was Point Beach’s second and final field goal of the second half, but none more were required because Manville managed only three points the rest of the way and the Garnet Gulls made their last seven free throws to put the game away after missing four of their next five following the Mahoney three-point play.

“Credit to Manville,” Goodman said. “Defensive intensity is what we talk about every single day. How are we playing individual and good team defense? We take pride in not allowing a team to score 45 points, so to keep a team like this in a semifinal under 40 I think says a lot about the way the kids handle themselves in practice on a day-to-day basis. We take pride in our defense and we played some of the best teams in the Shore. We like playing a heavy schedule. We want that adversity and that challenge to prepare us for these moments. Defense led the way in the second half.”

Junior George Breckenridge helped out with seven points, Edgecomb chipped in three and junior Danny Cavanaugh rounded out the scoring with two, but made an impact on defense off the bench. Cavanaugh has missed time due to injury and was also ejected from Point Beach’s overtime loss to Manasquan in December, which caused him to miss two games, but he has been a defensive force during these playoffs.

“Danny is our guy,” Goodman said. “I know he might not be as well-received by the teams we play, but that kid is the nucleus of this team. Everything revolves around him. He does so many things. I look at his last game (vs. Jonathan Dayton): eight points, seven rebounds, five assists, three blocks, three steals. You get a kid like that on your team, it opens up so many things for your guards. He is a great passer and he is an awesome kid. He brings the best and the worst out of that opposing team.”

The core of Edgecomb — a four-year starter — Preston, Breckenridge, Cavanaugh and Ives could not get by New Providence at home in last year’s sectional semifinals, but Mahoney proved to be the missing piece. The transfer from the Peddie School has given Goodman and his team and extra guard with skill to deploy along with Edgecomb, Preston, Breckenridge and Ives.

“I knew this was the right spot when I was looking at schools,” Mahoney said. “I played AAU with Tyler and George and talked with them throughout the whole summer. I came on a tour here and I just knew this was the spot for me. I knew I could help them reach this goal that they have been looking for as far as going to a state sectional final. From day one, we all got along. Chemistry was high and it stayed that way throughout the season.”

“We have four ball-handlers on the floor at any given time,” Goodman said. “That’s going to help us on Saturday, when we play Thrive. Having Ryan allows us to attack the rim, it gives us five positions that you have to guard and I think that’s a pretty unique thing to have these days.”

Against No. 1 seed and defending Group I champion Thrive Charter on Saturday in Hamilton, the Garnet Gulls will need all the pieces working at maximum capacity. Thrive has routed three straight Shore Conference teams — Keansburg, Henry Hudson and Shore Regional — by an average of 51 points, including a 73-25 win over Shore in Wednesday’s other semifinal.

“It’s a top 20 team in the state, so it’s obviously going to be a dog fight,” Edgecomb said. “We’ve had this day circled on our calendar since the summer. We’re prepared for this and now it’s just time to let our work shine.”