Boys Basketball Shore Conference Tournament First-Round Preview, Picks

Boys Basketball Shore Conference Tournament Opening Round

Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025

No. 20 Jackson Memorial (9-12, 5-5) vs. No. 13 Ranney (10-8, 5-5), 3:45 p.m.

Two of the streakier teams in this year’s tournament meet in Tinton Falls, where Ranney will try to hold serve at home and continue their recent surge. The Panthers started the season 7-2, but an injury to 6-foot-4 sophomore Brody Mauro – the only player on their team that can pass for a front-court player – sent them into a five-game skid before they righted the ship over the last two weeks.

Jackson Memorial, meanwhile, began the season 2-8 and turned its season around once College Achieve transfer George Boley became eligible on Jan. 13 vs. St. Rose. The Jaguars lost that first game with Boley, but are 7-5 with him in the lineup, with two of the losses coming to St. Rose and another coming against Manasquan. Jackson Memorial had a chance to leave no doubt about its standing as a Shore Conference Tournament team to close last week, but were bombarded by Howell in a 72-51 road loss that the Jaguars will have to put behind them.

After giving up 11 three-pointers in the loss to Howell, Jackson will face a Ranney team that is as aggressive as any team in the tournament when it comes to launching threes. Without a true big man, the Panthers live and die by the three-ball and they typically play five players who can shoot. They also boast some valuable Shore Conference Tournament experience, with starters MeSean Williams and Shaan Nayar both two years removed from reaching the SCT final. Keeping those shooters contained will be a 32-minute chore for Jackson Memorial, while the Jaguars will try to keep up with Boley and Jimmy Pappalardo on the perimeter and Mi’Aire Anderson inside.

The Pick: Ranney, 61-56

No. 18 Howell (11-10, 3-7) at No. 15 Point Pleasant Beach (15-6, 8-2), 4 p.m.

Howell enters the SCT feeling very good about itself after draining those 11 three-pointers in a 21-point rout of Jackson Memorial to clinch a spot in the tournament. That kind of shooting performance would likely be enough to beat any other team playing in this SCT opening round, so if the Rebels can summon a similar shooting performance, that should be plan A.

Of course, those shooting nights don’t always materialize, especially in an unfamiliar gym. Point Beach earned the home court thanks to a 12-2 record over its last 14 games, with both of those losses coming to Class B Central division champion Wall. None of those 12 wins, however, were against teams that made the Shore Conference Tournament and only three of Point Beach’s wins this year – twice vs. Neptune and once vs. Pinelands – were against teams with a winning record.

The SCT is a chance for this young Garnet Gulls squad to prove itself. Junior Jacob Edgecomb has delivered on expectations as Point Beach’s leading returning scorer from last year and the sophomore group of Ty Preston, Danny Cavanaugh and George Breckenridge have all taken steps forward. Scot Crowley has been the senior leader of the group and junior Elijah Ives has been the breakout player of the bunch.

Howell offers similar balance with its lineup, led by junior point guard Cayden Parker. Senior Peter Barkauskas is coming off a 24-point performance vs. Jackson Memorial and fellow seniors Zach Padilla and Joe Vella are two-way contributors for the Rebels. Sophomore Noah Musto could be the x-factor, with Mustang coming off 16 points and 14 rebounds in the win over Jackson and bringing legitimate size at 6-foot-4 to counter Crowley and Cavanaugh.

Howell has not won three games in a row all year and will have to summon a third straight win. Point Beach has not beaten an SCT qualifier in four tries. Something’s got to give.

The Pick: Howell, 57-54

No. 17 Barnegat (15-6, 7-1) at No. 16 Marlboro (9-11, 4-6), 4:30 p.m.

Not only is this a rematch from earlier in the regular season, but the Bengals and Mustangs also played in the first round of last year’s SCT in a game won by Marlboro despite a superb performance by 2024 Barnegat graduate Jamari Smith. Both rosters are much different than they were a year ago and there are even some noteworthy differences since Marlboro handled Barnegat, 71-43, on Jan. 4.

Marlboro won its last two games prior to the cutoff to qualify for the SCT despite dealing with a pair of key injuries. Junior Christian Elmasri has not played since Jan. 9 and sophomore Dylan McEwan basically has not played in the month of February, although he got into Marlboro’s win over Manalapan to end last week. Senior Cole Newman has stepped up for Marlboro over the last month, averaging 12.5 points per game during the last 10 games after averaging 5.2 in the first 10. He has been the third cog along with sophomore Nolan Gong and Dan Crasto – both starters a year ago.

Barnegat was mired in its worst stretch of the season when the Bengals traveled to Marlboro in early January and have since found their groove. They have won 10 out of 11 heading into the tournament, but like Point Beach, the Bengals have not beaten a team that has qualified for the Shore Conference Tournament and the only teams with a winning record they have beaten are Neptune and Pinelands.

The Bengals will lean on the senior leadership of Mason Krey, Cole Toddings and Todd Muhammad and will need 6-foot-5 senior Kyle Greenleaf to be a factor. Expect a game more like last year’s SCT game than this year’s regular-season rout.

The Pick: Marlboro, 49-44

No. 19 Henry Hudson (16-6, 7-3) at No. 14 Southern (15-5, 7-3), 5:30 p.m.

Henry Hudson was the last team to qualify for the Shore Conference Tournament and its win at Pinelands on cutoff Saturday was worth enough to boost the Admirals to the No. 19 seed. Like Barnegat and Point Beach, Henry Hudson is playing well heading into the tournament but has not beaten a team in the SCT, although health has been a more prominent issue for the Admirals.

Senior Jack Fitzpatrick – the 2023-24 Shore Conference scoring leader – missed the first month of the season due to the transfer rule after he started the school year at College Achieve, then dealt with a bout of the flu and pneumonia once he became eligible. Since returning to the lineup for good in a Jan. 27 loss at Middletown North, Fitzpatrick has been building his endurance back up and has scored 79 points in his last three games. With Fitzpatrick looking like himself, the roles of junior Michael Fitzpatrick (younger brother), sophomore JoJo Newell and senior Kevin Pharo become more defined.

Southern has been a steady team throughout the season thanks to its duo of sophomore Noah Perna and junior Jake Sliwinski, who carry the offensive production. Senior Cooper Dempsey has been a reliable third option who shoots three-pointers and finds open teammates. The rest of the team does the dirty work and as the No. 14 seed in the tournament, there could be dirty work just over the horizon if the Rams can earn a rematch with No. 3 Red Bank. First, they will have to get by Henry Hudson, which will require making Fitzpatrick take a lot of shots to score his points, keeping Newell and Pharo off the offensive glass and getting typical games from Perna (19.6 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 2.1 steals) and Sliwinski (16.4 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.7 steals).

The Pick: Southern, 64-54