Now or never: Senior-laden Central boys basketball aims for its best season in school history

BAYVILLE – While every talented team senses the urgency to fulfill its potential, it particularly feels like a “now or never” season for Central Regional boys basketball this winter.

After arguably the best season in program history last year, the Golden Eagles have a senior-laden team laser-focused on going out by achieving a goal no other Central team has ever reached – winning the program’s first NJSIAA sectional title. Historically, teams like this senior class come along at Central once about every 20 or 30 years, so they are intent on making it count.

“This year, to be honest, we want a state championship,” senior guard Jaycen Santucci said. “We’ve got six seniors who can get it done, it’s our last year, and we’re going to give it all every game.”

The Golden Eagles continue to play with that mentality, rattling off their eighth straight win on Saturday to improve to 12-1. Central ran away Monroe in the second half for a 53-34 nonconference victory at the Jimmy V Showcase on their home floor.

“It’s definitely a motivation for us – getting this title and getting it all the way done,” senior guard Jayson King said after the win. “Last year we went to the (NJSIAA sectional) semifinal round and played a really good Eastern team, but we feel like this is our year. We have a senior-heavy team, and we feel like we can get it done.”

Dealing with expectations

Head coach Mike Clemente Jr. is steeped in the history of Central basketball. His father, Mike Clemente Sr., was the head coach at Central for 31 seasons, coaching Golden Eagles greats like John Tice and Jermaine Clay in the 1990s. The younger Clemente bleeds garnet and gold, so he knows how rare the opportunity is for the Golden Eagles to snatch their first NJSIAA sectional title.

Not only would it be history for Central, it would be extremely rare for any team from the Shore Conference to win the South Jersey Group 4 bracket.

“I don’t think ‘pressure’ is the word there,” Clemente said. “I just want kids to reach their full potential and enjoy every minute of it because before you know it, the basketball stops bouncing for them. And I hope it’s something that they can really look back on and be really proud of.”

“There’s no pressure,” Santucci said. “We all know what it’s been like to lose (in the postseason) the past few years and we all know that feeling. We don’t want it to happen again this year.”

Central graduated an All-Shore talent in Miles Chevalier, but returned Santucci, a Shore Conference Player of the Year candidate, to anchor a senior-laden group. King is a veteran point guard, senior Royalty Riley is a football standout and all-around athlete, senior Aidan Graham is an experienced guard and Lacey transfer Derek Roth is yet another member of a deep backcourt.

Junior Elijah Reeder is a 6-foot-6 forward who completes their primary rotation, so depth is somewhat of an issue.

Santucci leads the team at 18 points per game, with King behind him at 10.9 per game and Riley at 9.8. Santucci also leads the team in rebounds (6.5) and assists (3.6) per game.

“We try to approach it one day at a time with everything,” Clemente said. “It’s a special group, for sure, but the most special thing about this group isn’t their talent on the basketball court. It’s how much that they really enjoy being around each other, how much they push each other every day to be at their best, and how much they accept when other people are getting credit for things. It doesn’t matter one way or another, they feel good for their teammates at all times – that’s the most special thing about this group.”

Playing with the best

Coming off a 22-win season that included a division title, Clemente wanted to make sure his team got enough regular-season challenges to prepare them to get it done in late February and early March.

The Golden Eagles learned something about themselves when they took perennial Shore Conference power Manasquan to the brink in a loss in the final of the Jim Ruhnke bracket of the WOBM Christmas Classic. The Warriors beat Central on a layup at the buzzer to escape with a 30-28 win after Central had gone on a 19-6 run to tie the game.

“We wanted to challenge ourselves this year and play in those games,” Clemente said. “We expect to play in those as the season goes along, so it was a good learning experience. It was Dec. 30, and hopefully by Jan. 30 and February they’re playing a lot better than we were at that point.”

“We know we can play with everybody,” Santucci said. “In that game we started off slow, not playing our game, but we took it to them in the second half. We’ve just got to find that consistency where we play at our pace every single game.”

The Golden Eagles also opened the season with a game against Lenape, a contender in the South Jersey Group 4 bracket that Central is focused on winning. Central picked up a 60-48 win to send an early message that it will be a top contender for the sectional title.

“That was a huge game for us, power-points-wise and just starting off season off well,” King said.

Central currently sits in the No. 1 spot in power points in South Jersey Group 4, which means it would have homecourt advantage throughout the sectional playoffs. Lenape is right behind them, followed by a surging Cherry Hill East (13-1) squad and the Eastern team that beat them in last year’s semifinals. Traditional power Atlantic City also lurks in the top five.

“It’s all about not taking any games off,” Santucci said. “Like the RBR game, crazy-packed game, and then we might play a lower-level team. One of our biggest problems, coach says we can’t play down to anyone and take any possessions off in any of our games.”

The Golden Eagles also handed Red Bank its only loss in a 57-49 win at the Boardwalk Showcase, stamping itself as a top contender to break the iron grip that No. 1 St. Rose and No. 2 Manasquan have had on the Shore Conference Tournament title.

They got an up-close look on Saturday at what they will be up against because St. Rose also took part in the Jimmy V Showcase event. The Purple Roses won a 50-48 thriller over Montgomery in a matchup of top 15 teams in the state as junior Jayden Hodge, one of the state’s top players, dropped in a game-high 19 points.

Star power

Central has never reached the Shore Conference Tournament championship game or won a sectional title, and if it’s going to make a run at those milestones, it will need Santucci to be at his best.

The Georgian Court recruit showed off the full arsenal in the win over Monroe on Saturday, knocking down pull-ups, hitting a 3-pointer and wowing the home crowd with three dunks, including an alley-oop over a defender. At 6-foot-4, he plays much bigger because of his leaping ability.

Santucci finished with 24 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals to earn team MVP honors in the win over Monroe.

“I don’t think he has a ceiling to be honest, and you can’t say that about a lot of guys,” Clemente said. “Not only is he a tremendous basketball player, he cares about his teammates. He’ll do anything it takes to win a basketball game. He’s as competitive as can be. He’s going to go to a great place next year, and I’m looking forward to seeing him reaching a higher level of play.”

Jaycen Santucci with the two-handed throw down as CR takes control over Monroe in the 9th annual Jimmy V Showcase.@Matt_Manley @JSSInsider @lqdsportsSHORE @Bob_Badders @ClementeHoops pic.twitter.com/xVvSXYjJCa

— CREAGLESATHLETICS (@CR_athletics) January 18, 2025

The Golden Eagles play an exciting style where a pressing defense and hounding guards lead to turnovers that end with Santucci, one of the Shore’s most prolific dunkers, throwing down to get the Central crowd roaring.

“They are an exciting group because of the way they defend, and how we get into teams and force turnovers and go up and down,” Clemente said. “There’s been a lot of highlight reels. If you’re a fan wanting to see some good basketball, come watch us play.”

“We love to play fast,” Santucci said. “All of our games that we’ve won is when we play at our pace, get out and run and play hard defense.”

 

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The challenge now is keeping Central focused on what is right in front of them instead of daydreaming about the South Jersey Group 4 playoffs that are still more than a month away. Any slip-ups and some other team is making their name off them.

“We’ve won a lot of basketball games over the last three-year stretch so we’re getting a little more used to it, but every night we’ve got to be on our ‘A’ game because if we’re not, anybody could beat us,” Clemente said. “We’re starting to understand it, but we’ve still got a little ways to go with it.”

“Our coach says that every game, every team is going to give us their best shot,” King said. “They’re going to come at us 100% because an upset like that is big for them.”

There are only 10 regular-season games left for a group of seniors who have cherished every moment. They are trying to achieve something special at a program that has struggled to seize the spotlight in the Shore Conference for much of its history.

“It’s our last dance, but we’re not thinking about that,” King said. “We’re just coming out and playing with everything we got.”