JSBL: Late additions help RKE Athletic maintain 1st place pace with Sea View Jeep

MANASQUAN — With only four regulars available to play Thursday night, RKE Athletic had to summon a collection of fill-ins for its game vs. Larson Ford while attempting to maintain its position at the top of the Jersey Shore Basketball League regular season standings.

In other words, it was just another Thursday night in the JSBL.

Weathering a storm of absences is part of the summer for most JSBL teams and RKE Athletic handled it like a first-place team might be expected to, defeated Larson Ford, 102-76, with several of the ringers making an impact.

Two lineup mainstays led the way, with Shack Scott (Wagner) going for 20 points, 10 rebounds and three assists while Tyler Armstrong (East Central) put up 21 points, nine rebounds and two assists. RKE Athletic regular Nick Davidson (Bloomfield) also turned in a big effort on the glass with a game-high 16 rebounds to go with 11 points.

With RKE’s year-long cast-members providing the foundation, the cavalry delivered the finishing touches on Thursday’s rout. Tyshon Pickett (Bradley) and Denzel Banks (NJCU) each poured in 18 points after arriving just after the opening tip and throwing on a jersey. Pickett also snagged six rebounds and dished out six assists, while Banks contributed nine rebounds and four assists.

Armstrong (8-for-14), Scott (10-for-17), Pickett (8-for-12) and Banks (9-for-15) combined to shoot 35-for-58 from the field to give the quartet a 60-percent shooting performance. RKE shot 51.7 percent for the game, including 63 percent on two-point attempts.

Monmouth Regional alumnus Ray Gardner and Elijah Ford (Wagner) were the other two players who made the trip to Manasquan High School to cover for RKE’s absences. Gardner got the start and finished with three points and Ford chipped in four. Neptune alum Dan Singleton also pitched in 7 points, five rebounds and three assists for RKE.

Pickett is a native of Passaic and a 2014 graduate of Bradley University, where he averaged better than 11 points per game in each of his two seasons there after arriving on campus as a junior-college transfer. As a senior in 2013-14, Pickett averaged 12.1 points and 7.6 rebounds. The 6-foot-6 forward played professionally overseas and most recently played for the Albany Patroons of The Basketball League (TBL).

Banks played his high school basketball at East Orange Campus and went on to score over 1,200 points during his four-year career at New Jersey City University. Banks averaged better than 10 points per game in each of his four seasons, capped by a career-best 15.3 points and 6.6 rebounds per game as a senior in 2021-22.

Zion Bethea (Pepperdine) led Larson Ford with 22 points, eight rebounds and three assists. Zayier Dean — a 2025 Red Bank Regional graduate and a member of the Shore Sports Insider First Team All-Shore team this past season — poured in 19 points while continuing his strong play during the summer.

Game 2: Sea View Jeep 116, Ortho-NJ 99

Sea View Jeep kept pace with RKE Athletic for first place in the JSBL through Week 3 thanks to a dominant second half that followed a red-hot start by Ortho-NJ.

Bridgeport alumnus Jesse Jones led the way with 44 points and Justin Robinson led a trio of Monmouth University alumni in double-figure scoring while also posting the first triple-double of the season at the JSBL.

Robinson finished with 24 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists, while fellow Hawk Chris Brady also delivered a 20-point double-double with 21 points and 15 rebounds. Collin Stewart also got in on the Monmouth party with 11 points.

Red Bank Catholic graduates Colin Cavanaugh and C.J. Ruoff each added six points for Sea View, which outscored Ortho-NJ, 66-37, in the second half after falling behind, 41-27, through one quarter.

Monmouth was also well-represented by Ortho-NJ, with George Papas pumping in a game-high 45 points. Denzel Mensah (Penn State-Wilkes Barre) authored a unique final stat line that included 14 rebounds, 13 assists and just one point.

Aaron Goldstein (Staten Island) scored 20 points, Tommy Conniff (Lehigh) went for 12 points and 20 rebounds, and recent Central graduate Jaycen Santucci provided 14 points and five rebounds.

The most high-profile name in the gym on Thursday night was Ortho-NJ guard Andrew Hurley — the son of UConn coach Dan Hurley. Hurley — who was a walk-on at UConn during their two national championship runs — scored four points off the bench in Thursday’s JSBL loss.