Made for the Moment: Point Beach Takes Its Shot at Group I Powerhouse

NJSIAA Central Jersey Group I Championship

Saturday, March 7, 2026

At Trive Charter School, Hamilton, 5 p.m.

 

No. 2 Point Pleasant Beach at No. 1 Thrive Charter

 

Teams at a Glance

Point Beach (21-7)

Head Coach: Ed Goodman
Last Sectional Championship: 2018
Last Sectional Final Appearance: 2018

Road to the Final

First Round: Point Beach built up an 11-point lead by halftime and buried No. 15 Perth Amboy Tech with a 26-4 third quarter before finishing up with a 64-23 win in round one. Senior Jacob Edgecomb hit four three-pointers on the way to a game-high 18 points, classmate Elijah Ives chipped in 16 points and three assists and junior Tyler Preston netted 13 points for the Garnet Gulls.

Quarterfinals: Balance has been Point Beach’s offensive strength throughout the season and the Garnet Gulls showcased it during a 70-57 win over No. 10 Jonathan Dayton. Edgecomb and Preston scored 16 points apiece, Ives scored 12 and junior George Breckenridge made it four Garnet Gulls in double-figures with 10. Juniors Ryan Mahoney and Danny Cavanaugh, meanwhile, had all-around games, with Mahoney posting nine points, five assists and two blocked shots while Cavanaugh contributed eight points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals.

Semifinals: Preston, Mahoney and Ives sparked a fast start that helped Point Beach author a 49-35 win over No. 6 Manville to earn a spot in its first sectional final since 2018. The Garnet Gulls raced out to a 28-8 lead by the middle of the second quarter and were up by 38-19 early in the third. Manville, rallied to cut its deficit to six with a 13-0 run before Mahoney delivered a crucial three-point play that swung the momentum and allowed Point Beach to close it out despite making just two shots from the field in the second half.

 

Projected Lineup

Tyler Preston, Jr., 5-8, Guard

George Breckenridge, Jr., 5-10, Guard

Ryan Mahoney, Jr., 6-0, Guard

Jacob Edgecomb, Sr., 6-0, Guard

Elijah Ives, Sr., 6-0, Forward

Off the Bench

Danny Cavanaugh, Jr., 6-4, Forward

 

Thrive Charter (20-5)

Head Coach: Khalid Lewis
Last Sectional Championship: 2025
Last Sectional Final Appearance: 2025

Road to the Final

First Round: Tyler Hammond drilled eight three-pointers and scored 26 points as seven Thrive players scored at least seven points in a 96-25 rout of No. 16 Keansburg to open up its Group I title defense. Marjon Skillman added 13 points, seven rebounds and three steals, Teriyon Page netted 12 points to go with three steals and Sean Turner delivered nine points, five assists and three steals.

Quarterfinals: Hammond hit five more three-pointers and led four Titans scorers in double-figures with 19 points as Thrive blitzed No. 8 Henry Hudson, 23-6, in the first quarter to jumpstart an 80-44 win over the Admirals. Skillman put up 15 points, eight rebounds and three steals, Javion Cesar-Jones added 14 points and Jamar Young pitched in 10 points, three assists and three steals in the win.

Semifinals: Thrive overwhelmed No. 4 Shore with a 32-4 first quarter and coasted to a 72-25 semifinal victory for its third straight lopsided win over a Shore Conference opponent. Hammond again led the Titans with 18 points, Skillman backed him up with 14 points and eight rebounds, and Turner turned in another all-around effort with 11 points, six assists and three steals. Thrive’s defense also held Shore leading scorer Andrew Barham scoreless in the win.

 

Projected Lineup

Tyler Hammond, Sr., 6-0, Guard

Javion Cesar-Jones, Sr., 6-3, Guard

Sean Turner, Jr., 6-0, Guard

Teriyon Page, Sr., 6-1, Guard

Marjon Skillman, Sr., 6-4, Forward

Off the Bench

Jamar Young, Jr., 6-1, Guard

The top two seeds in the Central Jersey Group I section meet Saturday night in the championship game having rolled through their respective roads to the final. Point Beach had to put each of the three games away in the second half, but still went on to win each of its games by double-figure margins, with the 13-point win over Dayton the smallest margin of victory by the Garnet Gulls of the three victories.

Thrive, meanwhile, has buried all three of its opponents in the first quarter and owns an average margin of victory of nearly 52 points, which includes a margin of 71 in round one. The Titans will try to dominate a fourth straight Shore Conference opponent to finish off a second straight convincing run to the Central Jersey Group I title on the way to what they hope is a second straight group title in just its second year of existence.

Thrive is essentially a reanimation of the Trenton Catholic program. Trenton Catholic Academy closed its doors after the 2023-24 school year and Thrive Charter was then established in the same building for the 2024-25 season. The Titans are even coached by Khalid Lewis, who led Trenton Catholic to the NJSIAA Tournament of Champions title in 2010.

While Thrive appears to be a runaway train in this section, there are reasons for hope from the Point Beach perspective. The Garnet Gulls are more balanced, more athletic and more battle-tested than any of Thrive’s tournament opponents to date and if the hosts want to key on any one Point Beach player, the Gulls have five more that can do damage on the offensive end.

The addition of Ryan Mahoney from the Peddie School ahead of this season has rounded out Point Beach’s roster nicely, giving the Garnet Gulls an additional ball-handler on the floor to help out Tyler Preston and off-guards Jacob Edgecomb and George Breckenridge. Against the swarming Thrive defense, composed ball-handlers are gold.

Point Beach has opted to bring versatile 6-foot-4 junior Danny Cavanaugh off the bench since he returned from a brief absence with an ankle injury, but he might be Point Beach’s most important piece on Saturday. Thrive big man Marjon Skillman is a mismatch against most teams, let along Group I teams, and Cavanaugh is the only Point Beach player taller than 6-1 to deal with Skillman’s height and power.

Elijah Ives is the other x-factor for Point Beach. He is the Garnet Gulls’ blue-collar, hard-hat player at an even six-foot and in addition to mixing it up on defense with both guards and forwards, Ives can catch fire from three-point range, as well as make the right pass on offense.

More than leaning on Cavanaugh, Ives or the backcourt play, Point Beach will have to lean on a team concept to defend Thrive because Thrive plays a team game. Hammond – averaging 20.7 points per game during the tournament – will have to be a focus for coach Ed Goodman’s defense, but Javion Cesar-Jones, Teriyon Page and juniors Sean Turner and Jamar Young have all proven they can take over as scorers for stretches of time.

The Verdict

The biggest difference between Point Beach and the other Shore teams that got trucked by Thrive is the Garnet Gulls have been preparing for this particular game all year long with the schedule they have played. Point Beach played Red Bank Catholic – a team not in its division – three times, faced off against Manasquan in December, took on a talented Jackson squad in February and beat a pair of Group I teams in Woobury and New Providence that played in sectional finals last year – New Providence at Point Beach’s expense.

The Manasquan, Jackson and Red Bank Catholic games, in particular, should have Point Beach properly calibrated to challenge Thrive on Saturday. The Garnet Gulls had Manasquan on the ropes before losing a 43-42, overtime heartbreaker to the 2025 Group II champion and Manasquan later went on to beat Thrive, 53-41, in January.

Two of the three losses vs. RBC, meanwhile, were with Cavanaugh unavailable to play. In the third, Point Beach was beating the Caseys at halftime before running away with a 60-44 win. Point Beach was in a tight game with Jackson throughout and dealing with Jaguars guard George Boley will have the Garnet Gulls ready to deal with Thrive’s backcourt army.

The common thread in those games for Point Beach – as well as many of its other wins and losses throughout the season – is there was a stretch of game in which the Gulls either let up, went cold, lost their rhythm or some combination of everything. To beat Thrive, Point Beach will have to be locked-in and on its game for the full 32 minutes. If the Garnet Gulls six can do that, they have a legitimate chance to pull off the upset, especially against a Thrive team that has been in cruise control in every tournament game dating back to last year. On most days, Thrive wins this game, but there is a world in which Point Beach wins this game. Will it be this world? We will find out soon.

The Pick: Thrive, 57-50