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KWCC Day 1: Manasquan, Wall Secure Showdown; Freehold Twp. and Jackson Finish Strong

Matt Manley|December 27, 2025|Last Updated December 28, 2025

TOMS RIVER — A resurgent season for the Wall boys basketball team in 2024-25 ended at the hands of the eventual NJSIAA Group II champion, which might serve as consolation for most teams in similar circumstances.

This was not just any Group II champion, however. This was Manasquan.

The Warriors have been the standard among Shore Conference public schools for the past seven seasons, but that does not make it any easier for Wall to drop a game with the gravity of an NJSIAA sectional semifinal to the team that resides just four miles south on Route 35.

With three senior starters back from last year’s 21-win team, Wall wanted another shot at Manasquan this year and while the regular-season schedule did not provide that to them, the Kevin Williams Christmas Classic bracket now has.

“Last year, we lost to two very good teams in our two tournaments,” said Wall senior Brian McKenna, whose team also lost to eventual NJSIAA Group III champion Colts Neck in the Shore Conference Tournament round of 16. “Hopefully, we can get back to those games this year and win them. That’s one of our goals.”

Wall — the No. 4 seed in the KWCC Jim Ruhnke Bracket — put the clamps on fifth-seeded Red Bank Catholic Friday in a 44-34 quarterfinal win in the third boys game of the evening at RWJBarnabas Health Arena in Toms River, then watched as top-seeded Manasquan battled back to beat No. 8 Point Pleasant Beach, 43-42, in overtime to make the semifinal rivalry clash official for Sunday’s semifinal.

“It’s extremely exciting whenever we get a chance to play our rival,” McKenna said. “That’s the first thing we saw (when the bracket was released). Ever since we lost, I have been wanting to play them.”

“I think they are a really well-coached team,” O’Reilly said. “They have a lot of really skilled shooters and players in general. We might have an edge on the rebounding side and they have the shooters, so we’re just going to stick to our defensive style. We’re going to have to be five-out on defense and really lock in on their shooters.”

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Since Andrew Bilodeau took over the Manasquan program in 2008-09, Wall has not beaten Manasquan in 23 tries, which has made the local rivalry all the more frustrating for the Crimson Knights and what would seem to be an afterthought for dominant Warriors. Despite Manasquan’s dominance, its players still look forward to playing Wall for the competition as much as the near-guaranteed win it has been over the last two dozen meetings.

“It’s one of those big games where we knew we ended their season,” O’Reilly said. “They ended our seasons in both (boys) soccer and football, so it is definitely going to have the feel of a grudge match. It’s not just basketball with Manasquan and Wall.”

The closest Wall has come to beating Manasquan was in 2017-18, when in the second of two meetings between the teams, Manasquan escaped with a 49-48 win. Wall’s coach at the time was current Manasquan High School principal Matt Kukoda, whose wife is Lisa Kukoda — the head coach of the Manasquan girls program that has won eight Group II state championships on her watch.

Current Wall coach Bob Klatt was an assistant for Matt Kukoda for three seasons before taking over as head coach in 2018-19 and led Wall to back-to-back Central Jersey Group III championships in his first two seasons. Wall’s ascendance to sectional championship also coincided with Manasquan becoming a force and starting in 2018-19, the Warriors have won six straight sectional championships (no sectional titles were awarded in 2021, when Manasquan went 12-0).

“It’s Manasquan-Wall,” Klatt said. “You just have to say ‘Manasquan-Wall’ and you know it’s going to be a battle. We know it’s a thing where we’re not as respected, so we’re just going to go play, no matter who we play. We’re playing well right now and hopefully we get even better.”

Of all the games in which the two schools have played over the past 17 seasons, Sunday’s showdown at 6:30 p.m. in Toms River figures to be the most even match-up on paper that the two teams will have played during Bilodeau’s tenure. While Wall returns McKenna, senior point guard Liam Killea and senior guard Dan Hennessy from last year’s 21-win squad, O’Reilly is the only healthy starter back from last year’s 25-4 Manasquan team. All-Shore junior guard Rey Weinseimer is expected to miss the entire season due to a knee injury and 6-foot-7 forward Logan Cleveland has not yet played this season because of an ankle injury, although he did dress in uniform for the first time on Friday.

“Manasquan is one of those teams that everyone wants to beat,” O’Reilly said. “We have a target on our back at all times, no matter who we play. It might not be a state championship, but we know that it’s the other team’s Super Bowl and we just have to be intense and stay locked-in the whole time.”

 

 

Survive and Advance: Manasquan Avoids Rare Christmas Classic Upset

It has been 17 years since a No. 1 seed has lost in the semifinal round of the Kevin Williams Christmas Classic — previously known as the WOBM Christmas Classic for the first 40 years of the tournament prior to the name change this winter.

That streak nearly ended with defending tournament champion Manasquan going out in the semifinals of the Jim Ruhnke bracket to a talented, experienced No. 8 seed in Point Beach, but as they have done so many times in tight games, the Warriors prevailed. O’Reilly is the only player on Manasquan who has seen crunch-time minutes prior to this year and he was the fifth-leading scorer on last year’s team, but his presence and toughness went just as far for the Warriors on Friday as it has for Manasquan during the past two championship seasons with O’Reilly in the starting five.

The rest of Manasquan’s team stepped up along the way as well, which according to O’Reilly, is a testament to the man leading the huddle during timeouts and preparing them every day in practice.

“The x-factor is coach Bilodeau,” O’Reilly said. “It doesn’t really matter who we have on the court. We could have four jayvee guys on the court. We wouldn’t even need a fifth player, I think he could figure out a way to will us and coach us to win.”

O’Reilly finished Friday’s overtime win with 10 points, 15 rebounds and two blocked shots, while sophomore teammate Luke Winn led the way with 14 points and four assists.

“Rebounding is probably our biggest strength and it shows in a game like this,” O’Reilly said. “We have five guys from point guard to me at the five who can really rebound. It’s something that we rely on and even if we have a bad night offensively, we know we always have three guys crashing the boards on offense and five guys on defense. I think we can really sit on that as one of our strength and that can carry us to where we want to be at the end of the game.”

Manasquan fell behind when Point Beach junior George Breckenridge hit a three-pointer on the game’s first possession and did not overtake the Garnet Gulls for the lead until sophomore Noah Matuch hit a short push shot in the paint to give his team a 31-29 lead in the final two minutes of the third quarter. Point Beach grabbed the lead right back on a corner three-pointer by senior Jacob Edgecomb, sending the Garnet Gulls to the fourth quarter leading, 32-31.

Point Beach senior Elijah Ives and Manasquan senior Jack Lattimer traded three-pointers to open the fourth quarter and after junior Ryan Mahoney gave Point Beach a 37-34 lead with a drive to the basket, Winn knocked down his second game-tying three-pointer from the right wing, this time pulling the Warriors even, 37-37.

Breckenridge scored on a drive to the goal for a 39-37 Point Beach lead, which O’Reilly answered with a nifty up-and-under to tie the game with just under two minutes to play. O’Reilly came through with a blocked shot on the other end, but Manasquan turned the ball over on its final two possessions of regulation, setting up a potential game-winning opportunity for Point Beach.

Junior point guard Tyler Preston drove into the paint and missed his chance at a game-winning score, but Mahoney snatched the ball away from O’Reilly near the left block and was in position to score the winning layup in the final seconds. Mahoney went up against O’Reilly and sophomore Kennedy Larned and appeared to take a bump from O’Reilly as O’Reilly blocked the shot cleanly at the top of the play. Manasquan was not cited for a foul and the game moved into overtime.

The turning point in overtime came on the first possession, which belonged to Point Beach. On a three-point attempt by Edgecomb, junior teammate Danny Cavanaugh was whistled for an offensive foul for impeding Manasquan sophomore Sean Bilodeau as he attempted to block the shot, which Cavanaugh did by sticking his leg out and making contact with Bilodeau’s lower body while he was in the air. Immediately after the whistle for the offensive foul, O’Reilly checked Cavanaugh, sending him tumbling over Bilodeau, who ended up on the ground after being fouled by Cavanaugh.

Bilodeau rose to his feet first and as Bilodeau hovered over him, Cavanaugh popped up and lifted Bilodeau off the ground while attempting to throw him to the ground. Cavanaugh was then ejected from the game and Bilodeau hit the two ensuing free throws to open the scoring. On the ensuing possession, Lattimer found Matuch for a reverse layup and a 43-39 lead after just one Manasquan possession.

Breckenridge kept Point Beach’s hope alive with a three-pointer that pulled the Garnet Gulls within 43-42 with 1:35 left. Point Beach then forced a Manasquan turnover to get the ball back with more than a minute still on the clock and chose to drain all but 10 seconds before attacking for a potential game-winner. Mahoney drove the ball into the lane, but his off-balance layup missed the mark and Manasquan tracked the ball down as time expired.

Matuch and Lattimer each finished with six points to back up Winn and O’Reilly in the scoring department, with Matuch also contributing six rebounds and two steals.

Ives led Point Beach with 13 points and six rebounds, with Breckenridge chipping in 10 points and Mahoney adding eight points, three assists and three steals for the Garnet Gulls in their near-upset and first loss of the season.

 

 

Defense Wins the Day

McKenna took over Wall’s semifinal vs. Red Bank Catholic with a 10-point outburst in the second quarter on the way to finishing with a game-high 18 points, but it was Wall’s defense that carried the Crimson Knights into the Ruhnke Bracket semifinals.

With his team trailing, 15-13, in the second quarter, McKenna went on a personal 10-3 run that included a short jumper, a three from the wing, a floater off the glass and a three-point play off a slick pass from fellow senior Jake DeBrito. That 10-point flurry flipped the scoreboard and gave Wall a 23-18 lead and while Red Bank Catholic chopped its deficit to 23-22 before halftime, the Caseys never held the lead again.

McKenna emerged as Wall’s standout quarterback during the football season and led the Crimson Knights to a 9-3 record and an appearance in the Central Jersey Group II championship game. He ended his season by suffering bruised ribs in a Thanksgiving rivalry game vs. Manasquan, which only adds to the fervor of the semifinal matchup between the teams.

“He struggled the first 10 days or so coming off that Thanksgiving game vs. Manasquan,” Klatt said of McKenna. “The last scrimmage was his best, so that rest he had early on in the preseason helped. We worked with him a little bit to make sure he had a chance to recover, then we gave them the last two days off to give him and the guys a chance to catch their breath. Right now, he looks like he’s back in basketball shape.”

Wall opened the third quarter with a 12-4 run to take its largest lead of the game, 35-26. RBC responded with a three-pointer by senior James Hankowski and a drive by senior Jake Frankel, who was fouled on the finish and missed the ensuing free throw to leave the score, 35-31, in favor of Wall.

The fourth quarter started with that same score and after DeBrito connected on a short shot in the paint for a 37-31 Wall lead, Hankowski his his fifth three-pointer of the game to cut Wall’s lead to 37-34 with under six minutes to play.

That three by Hankowski would represent the only points Wall scored in the fourth quarter, with Wall clamping down to hold the Caseys scoreless over the final five-plus minutes. McKenna answered the Hankowski three with a drive to the basket and two more points on a goal-tend to push the lead to 41-34 and from there, the Crimson Knights shot 3-for-6 from the foul line in the fourth quarter to close it out.

“Our defense has been the strong point right now,” Klatt said. “Our offense will catch up. In the first half, we had open looks and layups we just didn’t hit enough of them.”

Killea added nine points and three assists for Wall and Hennessy threw in eight points to back up McKenna’s game-high scoring effort.

“We knew they (RBC) play really good defense, so we were going to have to play really good defense if we were going to win,” McKenna said. “We really focused on that end of the court and we scored when we needed to.

Wall improves to 3-0 behind its senior core, which includes two players in DeBrito and Joey Ambrozy who have elevated to starting roles this season. While DeBrito made his presence felt with a big assist, a basket and an active presence on defense, Ambrozy hit a key three-pointer in the third quarter and battled on the boards for Wall with six rebounds of his own. Juniors Navin Tu, Donovan Buist, Marius Rossi and St. Rose transfer Ryan Dudas have also been instrumental in extending the rotation during Wall’s perfect start to 2025-26.

“We need everybody to win,” Klatt said. “We’re not a one-man team. Between Joey Ambozy and Donovan Buist, they are sharing the five-spot and whoever is hot is playing. Both of them have been really good for us. Navin Tu was a swing player for us last year and he has taken that next step. Marius Rossi has been a really nice surprise for us. He has given us quality minutes off the bench. Ryan Dudas transferred in and he is getting there while we catch him up to speed.”

Hankowski, meanwhile, finished with 15 points to lead RBC, with senior Tyler Hager adding nine points, nine rebounds and two blocks in the loss. RBC will play Point Beach Saturday in the first round of consolation games in the Toms River North High School gym.

 

 

Junior Closers: Freehold Township Erases Double-Digit Deficit to Advance

In the highest-scoring boys game of the day in the RWJBarnabas Health Arena, third-seeded Freehold Township rallied from a double-digit halftime deficit to upend No. 6 Central, 58-52, behind a game-high 23 points from junior Jake Schultzel.

Another red-hot finish was a welcome sight for the Patriots. Strong first quarters did not do Freehold Township much good in its first two games of the season, which ended with a loss to Red Bank Catholic and a narrow, three-point win over Lawrence. Against Holmdel on Dec. 23, however, the Patriots finally found a successful second-half formula that powered them to a 63-50 win the No. 8 team in the Shore Sports Insider Top 10 after trailing, 27-26, at halftime.

On Friday against Central, Freehold Township faced an even greater hill to climb in the second half when the Golden Eagles built their lead up to 35-24 early in the third quarter. At that point, however, the Patriots hit their stride, embarking on an 11-0 run that tied the game, 35-35.

Freehold Township finally took its first lead on its second possession of the fourth quarter, with senior John O’Neill scoring off a pass from junior Sam Hawskby, who finished with six assists. Central junior Derek Roth answered with a basket in the post, followed by a three-pointer by sophomore Caden King to put the Golden Eagles ahead, 47-43.

From there, Freehold Township took control. Schultzel hit a three-pointer to cut the deficit to one and fellow junior Cole Gerigk knocked down another triple for a 49-47 Patriots lead. Gerigk then found Schultzel for a layup and a 51-48 lead and Schultzel scored on a putback to make it 53-48. Freehold Township turned that 10-1 run into a 15-3 run that put the Patriots up, 58-50, in the final minute.

O’Neill finished with 13 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals, while sophomore Aamari Alexander-Monroe pitched in six points, three assists and three steals. Junior Dakota Lasater scored eight of his nine points for Freehold Township in the first half, including a halfcourt shot to end the second quarter that cut the Central lead to 31-24 at the break.

Roth scored a game-high 25 points, 10 rebounds and five assists to lead Central, with senior Elijah Reeder chipping in 11 rebounds and four blocked shots to go with his four points.

Freehold Township last reached the championship round of the WOBM Christmas Classic in 2022, when the field was split in two for the first time and the two tournaments were designed to be more balanced. The last true championship appearance by Freehold Township at the big tournament in Toms River was in 2016, when the Patriots won it for the first and only time.

To get back to the championship game, the Patriots will have to get through a second-seeded Jackson team off to its best start in 13 seasons.

 

 

The True No. 1? Jackson Looks the Part of Favorite Heading Toward KWCC Semifinals

SSI Contributor Jackson Batchler contributed the following portion of the Christmas Classic Notebook

A week ago, Jackson Township impressively beat Manasquan for their fourth win of the season.

Flash forward a week, and the Jaguars remain undefeated. Entering the Kevin Williams Christmas Classic on Friday as the number two overall seed, Jackson Township won its first-round matchup against seven-seeded Brick Memorial, 52-40. Now 5-0 in its first official season since Jackson Memorial and Jackson Liberty combined to form one high school, this is the best start by any Jackson High School team since the 2012-2013 season, when Jackson Memorial won its first five games.

Coming off a 17-point outing against Manasquan, George Boley continued to generate offense for the Jaguars. The senior guard put up 15 points, scoring 13 of them in the first half, and also added seven rebounds and eight assists.

Boley’s quiet scoring second half was mainly because he wanted to get his teammates involved, and they were. Senior guard Jimmy Pappalardo had 10 of his 13 points in the second half. Another pair of senior guards added to the scoring. Paul Bradshaw had nine off the bench and Randy Holmes Jr. had eight to go with six rebounds. Boley was happy to see his teammates’ contributions.

“It felt great, honestly,” Boley said. “I understand that people are gonna play towards me a little differently because they think I’m gonna score the ball, but when my teammates are hitting shots I’m gonna keep looking towards them. At the end of the day, we’re a family. We all want to eat. We all want to score and play together. It’s fun when everyone’s getting a piece of the pie.”

The unselfishness from his star guard was something that encouraged his head coach

“I told George, be a facilitator,” Jackson coach Randy Holmes said.  “If you facilitate, it’s gonna open up for you.  Basketball is a rhythm game. So let Jimmy get in the rhythm, let Randy get in the rhythm, let these guys get in the rhythm and it will be easier for you down the stretch.”

Despite the double-digit win for Jackson Township, the game was tied at 11 apiece in the first quarter, and it was only a six-point game at the half. The third quarter seemingly determined the outcome as the Jaguars outscored the Mustangs, 18-10.

“I had to get into them a little bit,”  Holmes said. “We always say the first two minutes of the third quarter can decide the game. We controlled our effort, and we had to up that effort from the first two quarters.”

Sophomore forward Luka Begashvili led the Mustangs in scoring, as the St. Rose transfer had 15. Senior guard Sean Collins was also in double-figures as he scored 13. The Mustangs fell to 3-2 on the season.

Though the first year of the Jackson Memorial and Jackson Liberty merger has been a successful one thus far, the Jaguars recognize that there is a long road ahead.

“This is nice, but we’re not satisfied,” Boley said. “We haven’t really achieved anything yet. We want our first achievement to be winning this tournament.”

Jackson’s next matchup will be against Freehold Township Sunday night at 8 p.m., the second of two semifinals in the Runhke Bracket that is home to the top eight seeds. The winner will advance to the final, which will be played on Tuesday night in Toms River.

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