CBA Boys Basketball Named Week 7 OIB Ortho Team of the Week | Shore Sports Insider
Week 7 OIB Ortho Team of the Week: Christian Brothers Academy Basketball
Shore Sports Insider is proud to partner with OIB Ortho this winter to present our weekly OIB Ortho Boys Basketball Team of the Week Award, recognizing standout Shore Conference programs for their accomplishments on the court.
We are also thrilled to welcome Joe Leone’s Italian Specialties as a co-sponsor, providing a generous $250 gift card each week to celebrate the winning team.
The Week 7 recipient of the 2026 OIB Ortho Boys Team of the Week is Christian Brothers Academy, the Shore Conference Tournament champion for the first time in 16 years after beating Red Bank Catholic, 58-37, in the final at Monmouth University’s OceanFirst Bank Arena on Friday, Feb. 20.
Only Neptune’s 22 Shore Conference Tournament titles are more than the 16 that CBA had to its credit prior to this season, but its last title came during the 2009-10 season. From the 1983-84 season through that 2010 title, CBA collected 16 championships in 27 years and never went more than four seasons between championships during that stretch.
The road to the program’s 17th conference title began last May with the hiring of former CBA and Villanova star Brian Lynch, who returned from a professional career playing and coaching in Europe to coach the St. Rose boys basketball team to back-to-back SCT championships in 2024 and 25, plus an overall NJSIAA Non-Public B championship in 2024, which came with a No. 1 ranking in New Jersey to end the year. Lynch took over a team that lost to his St. Rose squad in the 2025 SCT championship game and returned four players — seniors Connor Andree, Charlie Messano, Charlie Marcoullier and junior David Buley — who played for CBA in that game.
Once Lynch made the move from St. Rose, three of his players from 2024-25 joined him by transferring to CBA, starting with his nephew, junior Avery Lynch. Soon after, sophomores Izayah Cooper and Oymere Rene followed Lynch to CBA after playing key roles off the bench as freshmen at St. Rose and slotted into the Colts starting lineup.
With seven players who saw the floor in the 2025 SCT championship game on the roster — four from CBA and three from St. Rose — CBA set out to end a 16-year Shore Conference Tournament championship drought while also looking to establish their footing among the state’s best teams. Early-season wins over Hudson Catholic, Roselle Catholic, St. Mary’s of Rutherford and Linden catapulted CBA into the top-five of the statewide rankings, then the Colts ran the table in 11 regular-season games vs. the Shore Conference. That included a 10-0 record in Class A North divisional play, plus an overtime win over Red Bank Catholic in the annual Founder’s Cup game on Jan. 17.
Last week, the Colts played their way into a rematch with RBC in the championship game, but first had to fight off Marlboro in the Shore Conference Tournament semifinal. Coming off back-to-back slow starts in wins over Point Pleasant Boro and Holmdel, CBA started the game by scoring the first six points, only for Marlboro to counter with a 12-2 run and a 12-8 lead late in the first quarter. From there, CBA flexed its collective muscle and ran away with a 72-42 win over the Mustangs.
For the second straight game, the Colts’ leading scorer came off the bench, with Buley posting 18 points and five rebounds to lead the way while Andree put up 14 points and 10 rebounds to lead the starters. In the 78-46 win over Holmdel in the quarterfinals on Feb. 14, Marcoullier came off the bench to hit five three-pointers for a game-high 17 points.
CBA’s well-rounded performance in each of the first three rounds landed them in the championship game, where the program looked to end a four-game losing streak in the final at Monmouth. Unlike in each of the first three rounds, CBA got off to a hot start and sustained it through the end of the first quarter. Andree and Cooper scored the team’s first 11 points, CBA scored the first 13 of the game and built up a 17-3 lead on RBC through one quarter. From that point on, the Caseys — who had CBA on the ropes in January with a 13-point lead late in the third quarter — never got closer than 12 points.
Cooper led CBA with 15 points and seven assists while Andree went for 14 points and six rebounds. Avery Lynch added nine points and five rebounds and Messano contributed eight points and three steals in the championship victory.
After ending a 16-year SCT drought, CBA will look to win its first NJSIAA South Jersey Non-Public A championship in 11 years as the No. 2 seed in the section. The Colts have not won an overall group championship since 1995, when Brian Lynch was a junior at CBA.
On Monday, Shore Sports Insider visited practice to present CBA head coach Brian Lynch and the team with a commemorative game ball and a $250 Joe Leone’s Italian Specialties Gift Card, courtesy of our partners at Joe Leone’s, for a well-earned team meal.
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