Favorites on the Brink: No. 1 County Line, No. 2 Sterns Trailer Survive Quarterfinal Scares

MANASQUAN — For most of Monday night, the Jersey Shore Basketball League’s top two remaining seeds were one opposing run, one loose ball or one late shot away from watching their championship expectations unravel.

Top-seeded County Line Auto Body first overcame a halftime deficit and an inspired effort from No. 8 OIB Ortho, closing with its best quarter of the night to earn an 86-76 victory. No. 2 Sterns Trailer then watched an 18-point advantage nearly disappear before surviving No. 7 RKE Athletic, 115-113, when Kyle Cardaci’s potential game-winning 3-pointer missing in the closing seconds.

Two favorites advanced to the semifinals. Neither looked invincible while doing it.

County Line entered the postseason undefeated at 7-0, while OIB had managed one regular-season victory. Any expectation of a routine first-round win changed, however, when County Line arrived without three starters.

Brendan Mariani was away on vacation, Leon Daniels was serving an automatic one-game suspension, and All-JSBL first-team forward Markus Kennedy was absent on his birthday. Both teams dressed six players, and County Line received 15 minutes from St. John Vianney High School rising senior Dan O’Neill Jr.

Instead of the high-scoring mismatch many expected, the opener became a game of missed shots, loose balls and postseason possessions that carried more weight with each passing minute.

County Line used its length and full-court pressure to take a 20-13 lead after one quarter, but OIB refused to fade. The eighth seed answered by winning the second period 24-13 and entered halftime ahead 37-33.

Neither team reached 33% shooting in the opening half. County Line went 13-for-40, including 2-for-15 from beyond the arc, while OIB shot 15-for-47. OIB separated itself through effort, collecting 15 offensive rebounds before halftime and repeatedly extending possessions against County Line’s thin rotation.

Jaycen Santucci, a Georgian Court product who averaged 6.0 points and 6.3 rebounds during the regular season, supplied 15 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Justin Soranno, his Georgian Court teammate, produced 20 points and 11 rebounds after averaging 22.0 points and 7.5 boards during the regular season and winning the league’s Most Improved Player Award.

Amar Lane gave OIB a third double-double. The Georgian Court forward, who averaged 11.5 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.2 blocks this season, used his length and athleticism to finish with 11 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks.

OIB ended the game with a 59-47 rebounding advantage and 24 offensive boards. The underdogs did nearly everything required to threaten the league’s only unbeaten team. They simply could not protect the ball long enough to finish the upset.

County Line forced 26 turnovers, 12 more than it committed, and gradually turned those extra opportunities into control.

Josh Treadwell, a former Coppin State guard who averaged 19.6 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.6 assists, began to find his shot in the third quarter. Jachai Simmons, a former New Mexico guard who averaged 21.0 points and 4.2 rebounds, attacked alongside him as County Line won the period 25-20 and moved ahead 58-57.

That one-point advantage offered little comfort. Through three quarters, the game had already featured 11 lead changes and eight ties.

Then County Line finally resembled the No. 1 seed.

It pressured the ball from baseline to baseline, attacked the rim instead of settling for jumpers and converted 12 of 14 free throws after halftime. County Line scored 28 fourth-quarter points and held OIB to 19, creating the separation it had searched for all night.

Treadwell completed a 34-point, 10-rebound performance by shooting 13-for-25 and making four 3-pointers. Simmons added 22 points and seven rebounds while playing all 40 minutes. Sacred Heart product Kyle McGee also went the distance, contributing 15 points, eight rebounds and three steals.

Charles Funches provided the defensive edge that helped change the game. The former Hampton forward played through foul trouble to finish with eight points, 10 rebounds and three assists. He also took three charges and remained on the floor despite picking up three early fouls.

Treadwell noted the importance of Funches avoiding further foul trouble and anchoring County Line’s defense.

“Charles is good at that. That’s what he does,” Treadwell said. “He’s our leader when it comes to defense, getting everyone involved, holding them accountable.”

While County Line’s pressure intensified, OIB’s primary ballhandlers struggled. Dante Weise, the former Millersville guard and JSBL Rookie of the Year, entered averaging 22.3 points, 9.8 rebounds and 6.5 assists. County Line point guard Ahmad Biggins, a South Suburban product and one of the league’s premier perimeter defenders this season, led an effort that held Weise to 12 points on 5-for-19 shooting and forced him into eight turnovers.

OIB shot 47.2% in the second half but could not overcome its lost possessions. County Line finished at only 37.3% from the field and 26.9% from 3-point range, yet generated 17 points at the foul line and consistently found the better opportunity when the game tightened.

“We know that there’s going to be times in the game where we’ll be down, and we kept believing that we could come back and win like we always do,” Treadwell said. “For the first two and a half quarters, we were in a slump.”

County Line escaped that slump to earn a semifinal meeting with defending champion ACI/Robin’s Nest. Kennedy, Daniels and Mariani are expected back for a matchup Treadwell anticipates will go “down to the wire.”

The second quarterfinal delivered the same tension through an entirely different style.

Where County Line and OIB battled through empty possessions, Sterns and RKE turned the nightcap into a pro-am shootout. Both teams leaned into isolation scoring, fast possessions and difficult shot-making, producing 228 combined points.

RKE grabbed a 22-20 lead after the first quarter, but Sterns answered with 34 points in the second. Parker Dortch controlled the paint, Jalen Gaffney created from the perimeter and Rasheen Merlin supplied another interior target as Sterns entered halftime ahead 54-48.

Dortch, a former Anderson University forward who averaged 17.6 points and 4.2 rebounds during the regular season, delivered a season-defining performance. He scored 43 points on 17-for-24 shooting, grabbed seven rebounds and drew six fouls.

“My teammates kept feeding me the ball,” Dortch said. “We keep basketball simple over here. That’s why we do so well.”

Sterns stretched its lead by winning the third quarter 30-26. The margin eventually reached 18, but every apparent finishing run produced another RKE response.

Cardaci supplied the largest one.

The former Saint Peter’s guard, who averaged 23.6 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists during the regular season, erupted for 43 points, 10 rebounds and four steals. He scored 22 in the fourth quarter as RKE produced 39 points over the final 10 minutes.

Bloomfield product Nick Davidson gave RKE another dominant scorer. After averaging 22.0 points and 10.0 rebounds during the regular season, he finished with 37 points and 10 boards. Davidson drew nine fouls and converted 11 of 13 attempts at the line.

Youngstown State’s Nico Galette added 13 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, while Dickinson product Dane Moran scored nine and grabbed seven boards. Saint Anselm’s Alex Massung contributed 10 points as well.

RKE collected 27 offensive rebounds, attempted 104 shots and generated 16 second-chance points. Sterns withstood that volume through superior efficiency, shooting 47.8% from the field compared with RKE’s 41.3%.

Gaffney, a former starter at Florida Atlantic who helped the Owls reach the 2023 Final Four under Dusty May, entered averaging 12.0 points during the regular season. He delivered 28 points, eight rebounds and five assists for Sterns.

Merlin, a former Winston-Salem State forward who averaged 23.8 points and 8.4 rebounds, added 21 points and 11 boards. Albertus Magnus product Mason Jones contributed 15 points and accepted the difficult assignment of defending Cardaci on the perimeter for stretches of the night, while Wagner’s Mike Aaman supplied five points, nine rebounds and four assists.

RKE’s fourth-quarter avalanche reduced Sterns’ lead to one possession. With approximately 10 seconds remaining, Cardaci rose from behind the arc with an opportunity to erase what remained of the deficit. His shot missed, and Sterns survived the final moments with a two-point victory.

County Line and Sterns entered Monday expected to advance. By the end of a night featuring 29 combined lead changes and ties, that was about the only part anyone could have predicted.

The semifinal field is now set for Wednesday night. No. 1 County Line Auto Body will face No. 4 ACI/Robin’s Nest at 7 p.m., while No. 2 Sterns Trailer will meet No. 3 Sea View Jeep in the nightcap.