Colt Collision: Former CBA teammates Brian Lynch and Geoff Billet face off as coaches in SCT final
In the 1990s, Geoff Billet and Brian Lynch joined forces to lead Christian Brothers Academy to a dominant run of four straight Shore Conference Tournament titles.
In 2025, only one of them is going home with the SCT trophy.
Billet is the veteran coach of CBA, while Lynch is the fourth-year head coach of St. Rose, the latest heavyweight Shore superpower playing the role CBA once occupied when Billet and Lynch were teammates.
The Colts haven’t won an SCT title in 15 years – the longest drought in the program’s illustrious history. Standing in the way is the defending SCT champion, coached by one of CBA’s brightest former stars.
The two non-public squads and old friends will meet on Friday at 8 p.m. at Monmouth University with everything on the line.
St. Rose head coach Brian Lynch and his Purple Roses will take on his alma mater CBA and former teammate Geoff Billet in the SCT final. (Photo: Tom Smith | tspimages.com)
“Listen, if I’m not playing them, then I’m rooting for them,” Lynch said about CBA. “Before the game, watching them play RFH (in the SCT semifinals), I’m kind of rooting for CBA. It’s my old team.
“And then they win, and then we win (the other semifinal), and I’m like, ‘I don’t like ‘em anymore,” he joked. “For the next 48 hours, I don’t like you anymore. It’s kind of weird, but I’m rooting for them a lot of times.”
A history of winning
Billet, a 1995 CBA graduate, was a year ahead of Lynch, and they did a ton of winning during their time together as All-State performers. CBA won four straight SCT titles from 1993-96, the second-longest streak in Shore Conference history behind the seven straight by Neptune from 1961-1967.
The Colts also won the NJSIAA Non-Public A title in 1995 during Billet’s senior season.
“Brian’s like a brother to me,” Billet said. “We played AAU together since we were 14. Obviously we played in high school together, so I couldn’t get away from him for any season. I was the point guard, so I always made him look good, too, so I always remind him of that.”
The two went on to play in the Big East, with Billet running the point at Rutgers and Lynch starring for Villanova. After his career with the Scarlet Knights, Billet went into coaching as a college assistant before returning to CBA at 30 years old to succeed his former coach, the legendary Ed Wicelinski. Billet is now in his 18th season with nearly 350 career victories.
Lynch, meanwhile, went on to play professionally in Belgium, where he met his wife, Kim Clijsters, the former No. 1 tennis player in the world. After Lynch retired from playing, they returned home with their three children to his native Belmar, where he became a coach right in town at St. Rose.
Geoff Billet and Brian Lynch were stars on championship CBA teams of the mid-1990s. ((Photo: Tom Smith | tspimages.com)
“Brian and I had been talking about some different things here and there, so when he came back and did that, it didn’t shock me,” Billet said. “I knew he was moving back permanently. It’s a good job for him where he can still be with his kids, see his kids play, and coach.”
Their winding paths have now converged with a conference title on the line.
“His brother played with my brother, my parents travelled with his parents for years, so it’s like going against a brother,” Billet said.
“We’re not going to underestimate them in any way,” Lynch said. “Obviously Geoff’s a good friend of mine and a really good coach who I have a ton of respect for, and he’ll have them ready. It’s going to be a great game.”
Writing a new chapter
The current CBA players weren’t even born when Lynch and Billet spearheaded the Colts’ run of dominance in the ‘90s, but they know all about the program’s tradition.
“It’s a part of history,” CBA senior forward Justin Fuerbacher said. “You look at the banner (in the CBA gym) and you see Coach Lynch’s name right up above Coach Billet’s, so just to know that they’ve done a lot for CBA and to know they’re still involved in the Shore Conference, it speaks to the type of guys they are.”
The two already have experience coaching against each other in high-stakes games. St. Rose routed CBA in last season’s SCT semifinals on its way to a lofty accomplishment even Billet and Lynch never achieved with the Colts – finishing No. 1 in the state.
“He’s done a phenomenal job there,” Billet said about Lynch. “We’re going to have our work cut out for us. They’re a tremendous team, he’s a tremendous basketball coach, so it’s going to be a difficult assignment.”
The Purple Roses enter with a 30-game winning streak against Shore Conference competition, powered by the Hodge brothers. Matt Hodge is now a freshman at Lynch’s alma mater, Villanova, while Jayden Hodge is one of the top juniors in New Jersey.
The siblings, who are the sons of Lynch’s good friend and former professional teammate Odell Hodge, came over from Belgium in 2022 and helped turn St. Rose into an instant Shore power. This season’s team is a mix of veterans like Jayden Hodge, senior guard Evan Romano and senior Bryan Ebeling, and younger talents like sophomore Avery Lynch, junior Tyler Cameron and freshman guard Izayah Cooper. Ebeling was the star of the semifinals with a season-high 20 points in a win over Manasquan.
They will face a hungry CBA team that has won 14 in a row and is eager to restore the program to glory in its first SCT final appearance in nine years. CBA features a lineup led by guards Kevin Pikiell, Charlie Marcoullier, and Gavin Marlin, with Fuerbacher, Connor Andree and David Buley in the frontcourt.
“They are a very well-balanced team, and they have really good senior leadership in Pikiell and Fuerbacher,” Lynch said. “This is a very, very good team. They’re deserving to be in the finals. I thought that they ran through the other side pretty easy, so we’re going to have to bring everything we got to get this one.”
Another subplot for Brian Lynch
Coaching against his old high school teammate isn’t the only storyline involving Lynch on Friday night.
His daughter, St. Rose junior guard Jada Lynch, is one of the best players in New Jersey. She helped the Purple Roses reach the girls SCT final against Red Bank Catholic, which will precede the CBA-St. Rose game at Monmouth University.
Lynch will have to juggle the emotions of his daughter shooting for a Shore Conference title while also worrying about his own game.
“It’s a pretty unique night for me,” Lynch said. “Having two St. Rose teams in, obviously with my daughter being on that team, playing my old high school team where obviously I spent a lot of great years, it should be a really special night. I hope it ends with the greatest scenario possible. We’ll see what happens.”
Once Jada’s championship game is over, it will be time for Billet and Lynch’s teams to tangle. Either it’s a win for the Colts, or a win for a Colts grad.
“It’s a good rivalry,” Billet said. “You’re sad if you lose, but not as sad as in some other instances if you lose to someone you don’t have a relationship with.”
*Matt Manley contributed to this report
Scott Stump is a reporter, newsletter writer and editor who first started covering Shore Conference football in 1999 and has covered basketball, baseball and seemingly every other Shore Conference sport at some point.
Contact him at [email protected]
