OIB Ortho Boys Basketball Team of the Week: Rumson-Fair Haven

2025 OIB Ortho/Shore Sports Insider Boys Basketball Team of the Week Series

Prior to the 2024-25 season, the Rumson-Fair Haven boys basketball team dominated rival Red Bank Regional to the point that Red Bank’s own head coach acknowledged that it was not really a rivalry because one team won almost all the games.

From the 2015-16 season through the end of 2023-24, Rumson-Fair Haven went 11-1 vs. Red Bank and the Bulldogs did not lose to the Bucs for five straight seasons — from 2019-20 through 2023-24.

That all changed this year, when Red Bank beat Rumson twice during the regular season and when the regular season concluded with Red Bank winning a Shore Conference division title for a second straight year at Rumson’s expense and doing so this time by beating the Bulldogs twice, it appeared the Ridge Road rivalry had finally swung in the other direction.

Rumson, however, had one more chance to avoid a season sweep at the hands of Red Bank. The Bulldogs were the No. 6 seed in the Shore Conference Tournament and by beating No. 11 Middletown North in the round of 16 on Thursday, Feb. 13, they earned another shot at the Bucs in the SCT quarterfinals the following Saturday at Middletown South High School.

Rumson made the most of its chance, knocking off a 20-win Red Bank team, 51-44, to reach the Shore Conference Tournament semifinals for the first time since 2018 and earn the latest Shore Sports Insider OIB Boys Basketball Team of the Week.

Three-point shooting was an issue for Rumson in its two losses to Red Bank, which held the Bulldogs to 9-for-55 shooting from beyond the three-point line in the two regular-season meetings combined. The trend continued through the first half on Saturday, when Rumson started the game 0-for-8 from beyond the arc.

The overall volume of three-point shots was not as detrimental to Rumson’s overall offense and in the second half, the Bulldogs finally started connecting. They shot 5-for-8 from three-point range in the second half, including a pair of three-pointers by senior David Carr early in the fourth quarter and a clutch corner three from junior Luke Lydon that gave Rumson a 45-40 lead with just under three minutes left.

Rumson’s SCT run ended Wednesday with a 46-34 loss to Christian Brothers Academy, but the Bulldogs got the last shot in against their rival and boosted their confidence heading into the NJSIAA Group II Tournament, during which Rumson will try to payback another team that has tormented the Bulldogs the last two times they met. Manasquan beat Rumson in last year’s Central Group II championship game and beat the Bulldogs again in December in a game that went to overtime in Rumson.

Rumson is the No. 2 seed in the Central Jersey Group II section, while Manasquan holds the top seed. Should the two rivals meet again, it would be in the sectional final on March 8 in Manasquan.