Shore Sports Insider 2025-26 Boys Basketball All-Shore Team: First Team

Shore Sports Insider 2025-26 Boys Basketball All-Shore Team

 

First Team

 

Luke Cruz, Sr., 6-9, Forward, Rumson-Fair Haven

2025-26 Stats: 21.6 points, 13.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 3.3 blocks, 27 3-pointers, 77.2 FT%

Signature Game: Cruz was unstoppable during the NJSIAA Group II playoffs and his performance in the first round was not on the most statistically eye-popping of his six tournament games; it was also the most critical. The 6-foot-9 sharpshooter went for 34 points and 19 rebounds against Point Boro, which included a game-tying three-point play with 13 seconds left in regulation. Rumson went on to win, 75-74, in overtime, which jumpstarted a run to the Group II final in which Cruz averaged 24.2 points, 13.5 rebounds and 2.8 blocked shots.

Luke Cruz ties it with a wild 3-point play with 13.6 seconds left. pic.twitter.com/b0KFNMC97i

— Matt Manley (@Matt_Manley) February 27, 2026

Cruz’s brilliant state tournament run highlighted Rumson’s first sectional championship since 2022 and first ever trip to Rutgers for the state finals. It featured six double-doubles by Cruz, who logged a double-double in 16 of the 19 games in which he played. That included the game he left early in the third quarter with an eye injury, at which point he had 15 points and eight rebounds. Cruz finished third in the Shore Conference in scoring average, second in rebounding average and second in shot-blocking average.

Read more about Cruz’s standout season in his Shore Sports Insider Boys Basketball Player of the Year profile.

 

Conor Andree, Sr., 6-5, Forward, Christian Brothers Academy

2025-26 Stats: 10.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.2 steals

Signature Game: Few players in the Shore Conference were more consistent and more dependable than Andree was. In 21 of the 27 games he played, Andree scored between eight and 14 points. Only once did Andree scored more than 14 and in that game, he scored well over 14. Manasquan got off to a hot start in a game at CBA and pushed the Shore’s No. 1 team to the brink, but Andree’s 24 points, nine rebounds and three assists carried the Colts to a 57-51 win.

Two buckets by Connor Andree and a transition finish by Oymere Rene gets CBA off to a 6-0 start. pic.twitter.com/8UHSMHmOaJ

— Matt Manley (@Matt_Manley) February 18, 2026

Back to that consistency. Andree brought the intensity throughout CBA’s push to its first Shore Conference Tournament championship in 16 years and once the calendar flipped to February, Andree was a rock for his team. From Feb. 1 through the end of the year, Andree averaged 13.1 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists, which included 12 points, 7.5 rebounds, three assists and two steals during CBA’s dominant, four-game march to the SCT championship. With 24-4 season, a Shore Conference Tournament title, a top 10 finish in the final state rankings and CBA’s only in-state losses coming to the top three teams in the state (Bergen Catholic, Gill St. Bernard’s and St. Peter’s Prep), it was a resurgent season for CBA, with Andree serving as the team’s senior leader on and off the court.

 

Izayah Cooper, So., 6-0, Guard, Christian Brothers Academy

2025-26 Stats: 12.9 points, 2.9 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 1.75 steals, 47 3-pointers, 76.7 FT%

Signature Game: Cooper was CBA’s top scorer and his two best scoring games came against the two best in-state teams on the Colts’ schedule. He scored 21 points to go win six assists at Bergen Catholic and poured in 20 points against St. Peter’s Prep. Those, however, were two losses and Cooper has been all about winning in his first two high school seasons – one at St. Rose and another at CBA. That trait was on display in the Shore Conference Tournament final, when Cooper burned Red Bank Catholic for 15 points and seven assists while controlling the game with his ball-handling and grasp of the offense. The 58-37 Colts win gave Cooper and fellow St. Rose transfers Avery Lynch and Oymere Rene their second straight SCT championship together.

End of 1: CBA 17, RBC 3. Izayah Cooper with 7 points in 3-3 shooting. pic.twitter.com/UDkTCOtKas

— Matt Manley (@Matt_Manley) February 21, 2026

CBA did not play many, if any, soft opponents, but there were some heavy-hitting opponents on the Colts’ schedule and those were the teams that most often brought out the best in Cooper. The sophomore averaged 15.1 points in eight games against state-ranked opponents, which did not included 19 points and seven assists in a win over South Jersey Group II champion Middle Township and 31 points in two games vs. Red Bank Catholic. Scoring was just part of Cooper’s impact, with the CBA point guard finishing fourth in the Shore Conference with 4.9 assists per game, as well as a team-best 1.75 steals per game. Cooper was the 2025 Shore Sports Insider Boys Basketball Freshman of the Year and with a First-Year All-Shore selection as a sophomore, he is well on his way to one of the more decorated four-year careers in recent Shore Conference history.

 

George Boley, Sr., 6-3, Guard, Jackson

2025-26 Stats: 17.4 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.2 steals, 33 3-pointers, 78.9 FT%

Signature Game: Prior to this season, it had been seven years since a high school boys basketball team in Jackson won a Shore Conference division title and 12 years since Jackson Memorial did it. With a chance to end that championship dry spell, Boley and his teammates stepped up in a winner-take-all home game vs. Central Regional on Feb. 6. Despite battling leg cramps in the fourth quarter, the man they call Geo scored 29 points and the Jaguars closed out a 57-53 win over Central that clinched Jackson Township a Class A South championship in its first year as a school. Jackson’s last division champion in boys basketball prior to this season was Jackson Liberty’s Class B South championship in 2018-19.

Halftime: Jackson 35, Central 33. George Boley has 19 points and gave Jackson the lead with this drive, followed by a forced turnover on the inbound. pic.twitter.com/aTVOdqCfcQ

— Matt Manley (@Matt_Manley) February 7, 2026

Since Boley transferred to Jackson Memorial last season, he has been, arguably, the most dynamic guard in the Shore. His impact on the offensive side is easy to spot, weather live and in person, on video or on the stat sheet. He is one of four players in the Shore Conference to average at least 17 points and three assists and was also a major difference-maker on the defensive end. Boley also had big-game moments, not only against Central for the division title, but also at East Brunswick in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV quarterfinals. In that road win, Boley pumped in 25 points while handing out three assists to power the Jaguars to the sectional semifinals. With Boley leading the way, Jackson returned to the year-end Shore Top 10 for the first time since 2023, when Jackson Memorial won 20 games for a second straight year.

 

Brian McKenna, Sr., 6-2, Guard, Wall

2025-26 Stats: 15.9 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 2.0 steals, 40 3-pointers

Signature Game: Wall came up short of winning a postseason tournament championship, but the Crimson Knights had one of their best ever overall seasons by finishing 21-3, including 10-0 in a Class A Central division that was also home to Howell, Middletown South and Freehold Township. After winning the MVP at the Kevin Williams Christmas Classic in December, McKenna kick-started Wall’s march to the division title with a red-hot shooting game vs. second-place Howell, pouring in 31 points on 7-for-10 three-point shooting with 12 rebounds and three assists in a Crimson Knights rout.

McKenna’s start to the season powered Wall to a 17-0 start, which carried the Crimson Knights all the way until cutoff day for the Shore Conference Tournament. By the end of Wall’s 16th game, the Crimson Knights had clinched the Class A Central division title with their third win in three games vs. Freehold Township. With his 21-point performance in that game, McKenna was averaging 17.9 points through Wall’s first 16 games. That was McKenna’s last 20-point game of the year, but he continued to draw lead guards on defense and delivered a sterling all-around effort with 14 points, 12 rebounds and four assists in a Central Jersey Group II quarterfinal win over Holmdel – Wall’s 21st and final win of the season.

 

Ryan Gannon, Fr., 6-0, Guard, Middletown South

2025-26 Stats: 17.0 points, 5.1 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 2.2 steals, 53 3-pointers, 78.9 FT%

Signature Game: A 24-point performance in the state tournament that includes a game-tying three-pointer in the final 10 seconds of overtime, the game-winning free throws in double-overtime and 16 points in eight minutes of overtime would figure to be the heavy favorite for the performance of the year, particularly for a freshman. That was just an opening act for Gannon who, one round later, went for 30 points, including the game-tying three-pointer with six seconds left to send the Central Group III semifinals at Lawrence to overtime, then hit the game-winning three with five seconds left in overtime to seal a 64-62 Eagles win.

Rumson cut Midd South’s lead to 30-22 but Ryan Gannon banks in the 3 at the buzzer to send the Eagles to the half with a 33-22 lead. pic.twitter.com/G0fWCTJqCR

— Matt Manley (@Matt_Manley) January 10, 2026

Gannon’s two brilliant performances in state tournament overtime wins by his team capped a season worthy of All-Shore recognition, which makes him the first freshman to make an All-Shore First Team of any kind since Ranney’s Bryan Antoine in 2016. All Antoine did was become the Shore Conference’s all-time leading scorer while leading Ranney to the first and only NJSIAA Tournament of Champions title by a Shore Conference team. Bryan Antoine should not be the bar for any freshman, but the ceiling for Gannon and his high school career is just about limitless after he was one of only three players at the Shore this season to average at least 17 points, five rebounds and four assists per game – all while leading Middletown South to its first sectional final appearance in 18 years.

Read more about Gannon’s memorable freshman season in his 2026 Shore Sports Insider Boys Basketball Freshman of the Year profile.

 

 

*Continue to Second and Third Team Selections*