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Buc Busters: Freehold Boro Ends Red Bank’s Season Again

Matt Manley|March 2, 2025|Last Updated March 2, 2025

LITTLE SILVER — The script was eerily similar, but the cast in the first two acts of the Freehold Boro boys basketball team’s NJSIAA playoff rematch with Red Bank Saturday afternoon was hard to recognize compared to last year.

When it was time to close out another landmark win over a Red Bank team seeded No. 1 in the Central Jersey Group III section, the stars on the marquee for the Colonials played their parts to perfection.

Senior Aidan Hamlin-Woolfolk provided a steady 15 points and seven rebounds to lead the way and fellow senior lineup staples Qua’Mir Everett and Brian Tassey came to life in the second half to help Freehold Boro author another convincing road win over the top-seeded Bucs, 60-50, in the Central Jersey Group III quarterfinals.

Saturday’s win was the second in as many years at Red Bank for Freehold Boro, which won its first NJSIAA sectional title in 51 years by beating the Bucs in the 2024 CJ III final, 67-58. This time, the teams clashed two rounds earlier, but given their recent history, Saturday’s game had a sectional-final feel to it.

“We were prepared for this,” Everett said. “We have been waiting for this for, I would say, weeks. We already knew the outcome was going to be us coming here, so us being prepared, us motivating each other by telling each other we’re going to win this game, that really pushed all of us to give the effort we did today.”

A 65-57 Red Bank win over Freehold Boro in this past December’s Albert E. Martin Buc Holiday Classic championship game added to the rivalry, with Red Bank celebrating a measure of revenge for its state playoff loss from the previous season. Freehold’s players pointed out following a first-round playoff win over Middletown North that Red Bank still had to beat the defending champs when it mattered most.

Just like in last year’s sectional final, Freehold Boro shot the lights out in the first quarter, but unlike last year, it was not the usual suspects for the Colonials. Hamlin-Woolfolk started strong by hitting his first three-pointer and went on to score eight points in the first half, but both Tassey and Everett were scoreless in the first 16 minutes.

Instead, Freehold Boro’s supporting cast — none of whom were in last year’s sectional-championship rotation — carried the offense through the first half, particularly in the first quarter. Junior Mike Cush, who scored a career-high 20 points in Red Bank’s gym in a December win over Ranney at the Buc Classic, hit a pair of three-pointers in the first quarter and scored all eight of his points in the first half. Junior Max Girandola scored on a drive to the basket and hit a three-pointer to close out a 17-4 first quarter for the Colonials. Junior starter Joey Haney scored seven of his nine points in the first half and was active on the backboards with seven rebounds.

“I say the word ‘trust’ probably about a thousand times a day,” Freehold Boro coach Ben DiBiase said. “The three of them (Hamlin-Woolfolk, Tassey and Everett) have got to trust the other two guys that are on the floor in order for us to get to where we need to be. Now that it’s time, the trust is starting to come around.”

With under three minutes to go in the first quarter, Freehold Boro led Red Bank 3-2 on a three-pointer by Cush when the floodgates opened. Hamlin-Woolfolk hit a top-of-the-key three that ignited a 14-2 run to close the quarter that included 5-for-5 shooting overall and 4-for-4 shooting from beyond the three-point arc. When Hamlin-Woolfolk hit a three-pointer earlier in the second quarter to make it 22-8, Freehold Boro was 6-for-8 from beyond the three-point line with five makes in a row. Haney then followed with a transition layup to give the Colonials their largest lead of the game, 24-8.

“The message at the end of the first quarter was there is no way in hell you are going to shoot the ball that well all game, so please get the ball inside, because that was lights-out,” said DiBiase, whose team did not hit a three-pointer in the second half and only attempted three after halftime. “For whatever reason, we shoot the ball really well here, so I was glad it happened early. It allowed us to do some things offensively where we didn’t have to rush, and that kind of opened things up for us.”

After falling behind by 16, Red Bank chipped away at Freehold Boro’s lead and pulled within 26-17 on a steal and layup by sophomore Justin Valentino. The Colonials, however, still went into the half on a high note when Haney grabbed the long rebound on a missed three by Hamlin-Woolfolk and fired it in off the glass at the buzzer for a 28-17 Freehold Boro lead at the half.

“It was a big game, so those guys knew they were going to have to step up,” Hamlin-Woolfolk said. “We have been working in practice and telling them, ‘If you are feeling comfortable with the shot and you think you’re going to make it, shoot it.’ It’s all about getting in rhythm. If you’re not in rhythm, don’t take it. If you’re feeling it, shoot it.

“Going into last year, coach told me I had to earn the right to shoot and I did. With these guys, they know they can shoot and as long as they have confidence, I got no problem passing them the ball and going in to rebound. You can get one, you can get two, you can get three — as long as you’re shooting the ball with confidence, there is no need to stop shooting the ball.”

Just as they did in last year’s sectional final, Red Bank absorbed Freehold Boro’s early hot shooting and got back in the game. Valentino scored the first basket of the third quarter, then found senior Zayier Dean for the first of two straight baskets by the senior point guard, cutting Freehold Boro’s lead to 28-23.

The Colonials responded with baskets from their two stars who did not score in the first half. Tassey, who dished out five of his seven assists in the first half, hit a jumper to stop the 6-0 Red Bank burst and Everett followed with a drive to the rim off a feed from Tassey to push the lead back to 32-23.

Red Bank was undeterred and scored eight unanswered to pull within 32-31, with senior Trey Moore scoring off a find from Valentino and again on a putback during the run. Once again, though, Freehold Boro had an answer from a player who did not score in the first half. Junior Damier Lester — a bench contributor on last year’s sectional championship team — converted a putback as he was fouled and knocked down the ensuing free throw for a three-point play that put the Colonials back up, 35-31.

The Bucs stayed on the attack and for the first time, tied the game with a drive to the basket by Dean as he was fouled (Dean missed the free throw) and another drive by senior Ryan Fisher to knot the game, 35-35, in the final minute of the third.

Everett delivered his first of several big plays of the game when he drove the lane and converted a floater to give Freehold Boro a 37-35 lead on the final possession of the third quarter. The senior, who sat for most of the first half with two fouls, then scored the first two baskets of the fourth quarter for the Colonials on a putback and a jumper, which stretched Freehold Boro’s lead to 41-36.

“By sitting on the bench for most of the first half, that motivated me as a senior and a captain,” Everett said. “I want to send out a big thank you to all my teammates who stepped up today: Max, Cush, Joe. Every single one of them made a big impact and without them, I don’t think we would have come out with this dub.”

Another three-point play by Lester nudged the Freehold lead to 44-38, and Everett then fired up his squad with a fast-break dunk off a steal by Tassey to make the score 46-38. Dean answered with a drive to the basket, but Everett then found Haney for a layup to keep Red Bank at a distance, 48-40.

Hamlin-Woolfolk had not scored in the second half up until that point, but he then took over the role of closer. He scored in the post for a 50-41 Freehold Boro lead, knocked down a pair of free throws after Dean hit a three-pointer to cut the Red Bank deficit to 52-48, then delivered the dagger: a three-point play on a floater in the lane that gave Freehold Boro a 57-50 lead with 50 seconds left.

“We have had games where we played like this, but I think this was the one where we played good defense for 32 minutes,” Hamlin-Woolfolk said.

When the smoke cleared, Freehold Boro produced a balanced offensive attack behind Woolfolk’s game-high 15 points. Haney came through with his nine crucial points, Everett finished with eight points and nine rebounds while sticking with Dean on defense most of the game, Lester scored eight off the bench along with five rebounds, Cush tallied all eight of his points in the first half to go with five rebounds as well, and Girandola settled for those five first-quarter points.

Tassey is Freehold Boro’s leading scorer on the season and he finished with seven points, but also played his usual all-around game. The senior grabbed nine rebounds, handed out seven assists and blocked two shots.

Dean’s three-pointer that pulled Red Bank within 52-48 with 2:24 left in the game was the lone three-point make for Red Bank in the game. The Bucs missed their first 16 attempts and finished 1-for-21 from beyond the arc, which mitigated an otherwise inspired performance. Dean finished his decorated career with a game-high 23 points, including 17 in the second half. He finishes his high school career — which started with two years at Ocean and ended with two at Red Bank in which he helped transform the program — with 1,578 points. His splits between Ocean (781) as an underclassman and Red Bank (797) as a veteran were nearly identical.

“Zayier Dean is one of the best players I guarded this whole entire year — definitely top three in the Shore, for sure,” Everett said. “That kid right there actually makes me better as a basketball player. He really showed me a lot about smaller guards and faster guards, and I want to thank him for that.”

Senior Ryan Fisher managed six points and eight rebounds in his high-school finale while playing through a knee injury he sustained in Red Bank’s first-round win over Matawan on Wednesday.

“The biggest difference (since December) is that Ryan Fisher was hurt,” DiBiase said. “He was a shell of himself. I give that kid all the credit in the world. That was not a minor injury he was playing through today, and I can’t believe he was actually out there. It was a shame to see such a great player like that as unproductive as he was, but it was a gutsy effort.

“He couldn’t put it on the floor, which was the biggest thing we noticed. Once I saw him shooting his first free throw, I was like, ‘Oh, no.’ When you can’t make a free throw because you’re in that much pain, you’re going to have a tough time.”

Red Bank also turned the ball over just five times in the game and was the aggressor on the glass through three quarters, but its struggles from behind the three-point line, the early hot shooting by the Colonials’ supporting cast and Freehold Boro’s fourth-quarter offensive rebounding — particularly by Everett, Tassey and Lester — canceled out the Bucs’ positives in the game.

The loss ends Red Bank’s second straight 20-win season, which the Bucs accomplished for the first time since winning 20 in both the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons. They also won back-to-back Shore Conference division championships, including this year’s Class A Coastal race with a perfect 10-0 divisional record. Red Bank made it back to the Shore Conference Tournament quarterfinals and was the No. 1 seed in the Central Jersey Group III section for a second straight year.

Following up that two-year résumé will be a tall order for coach George Sourlis and his program, which graduates four starters (Dean, Fisher, senior Ronald Richardson and Anthony Moore) and another integral senior off the bench in Trey Moore. Valentino and classmate Will Galligan are set to return as juniors but most of the rotation next year figures to look much different.

On the other side, Freehold Boro continues its pursuit of a second straight sectional championship, which will continue at No. 4 seed Colts Neck on Tuesday after the Cougars beat No. 5 Hopewell Valley on a shot by Dillon Younger a the buzzer. The Colonials made it all the way to the Group III championship game last year before running into a Ramapo juggernaut that routed them 94-47. As special as last season was for Freehold Boro, its returning players still feel the sting of that final loss and want a chance at redemption.

“We’ve got a chip on our shoulder from last year,” Everett said. “We lost in the final, and this year our mindset is to go all the way, and if we keep doing what we’re doing, I don’t know if there is anybody that can stop us. First, we gotta play Colts Neck Tuesday, so that’s what we gotta focus on.”

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