Rain-Maker: Schedule Change Works for Spence, Sterns Trailer in JSBL Semifinal Win

MANASQUAN — Jakari Spence wished his Jersey Shore Basketball League team well last week and took off for a trip to Utah to visit his girlfriend before the end of the summer, leaving Sterns Trailer to navigate the JSBL semifinals without the league’s leading scorer.

Then, the rains came. So much, in fact, that the semifinals — played indoors at Manasquan High School —  needed to be rescheduled from last Thursday to Monday night.

With its full cast, led by Spence, Sterns Trailer held serve as the No. 1 seed in the league playoffs by topping RKE Athletic, 106-95, behind Spence’s game-high 34 points.

With players commuting from all over the state for the originally-scheduled semifinals Thursday, the league made the call to postpone the semifinals once Governor Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency ahead of severe thunderstorms and flood warnings in the forecast late last week. Although Spence and his teammates were confident in advancing regardless of the circumstances, it was a fortuitous development for an organization seeking its fourth consecutive league championship.

“I was just texting with (Ron) Pastore and he was texting with me every day, just talking about (the game),” said Spence, referencing a conversation with his team’s unofficial general manager. “I didn’t know that the weather was that bad and he called me. I think he was more excited than me. I thought my boys were going to win, even if I didn’t show up, but I’m glad that I got to be here and be part of this win.”

Spence posted seven rebounds and five assists to go with his game-high scoring total, which came on 12-for-25 shooting from the field and 9-for-9 from the free-throw line. The Toms River North graduate was also the only player in the game to play all 40 minutes.

Four other Sterns Trailer players reached double-figure scoring in the victory, with Parker Dortch going for 24 points, 11 rebounds and three assists. Rasheen Merlin added 13 points and five rebounds, Kevin Mateo contributed 12 points, four assists and three steals and Derrick Woods chipped in 10 points, 10 rebounds and three assists for Sterns. A pair of Shore Conference alumni — Ranney’s Bryan Antoine (seven points) and Red Bank Regional’s Eddie Hendrix (six points) — rounded out the scoring for Sterns Trailer.

After Sterns Trailer asserted itself during the first quarter, RKE Athletic surged back to start the second, turning a 32-20 deficit through one quarter into a 33-32 lead over the No. 1 seed with a 13-0 run in just over two minutes of game clock. RKE pushed its lead to 38-34, at which point Spence led a 16-2 run that swung the game back in Sterns Trailers favor. The defending champions took a 56-47 lead into halftime and although RKE stayed within shouting distance of Sterns, Spence and Co. did not let RKE catch up the rest of the way.

Mater Dei Prep alum Kyle Cardaci led RKE Athletic’s second-quarter surge and finished with a team-high 28 points. Nico Galette went for 21 points and 12 rebounds, while A.J. Sumbry posted 18 points, 14 rebounds, 2 blocked shots and two steals for RKE. Manasquan graduate Jack Collins also threw in 11 points and six rebounds in the loss.

Sumbry (9-for-14) and Tyler Armstrong (3-for-5; seven points) were the only RKE players to shoot better than 50 percent from the field, with the team finishing 34-for-91 (37.4 percent) from the field. Sterns Trailer countered with an even 50-percent shooting game (42-for-84).

Thursday marked another 30-point game for Spence, who led the JSBL with 38.8 points per game while playing on the first-place team in the JSBL during the regular season. Spence progressed from a First-Team All-Shore Player at Toms River North to a walk-on at Monmouth University, to a regular contributor with the Hawks, to a transfer starting guard at Jacksonville.

“It’s a me vs. me thing,” Spence said. “When I was younger, maybe I wanted to catch those guys who were in the rankings and stuff. When you get to college, rankings don’t mean nothing. Rankings can’t save you when you get between these lines.”

On Monday, Spence shared the court with three other former All-Shore players in the second of the two semifinal games. Sterns Trailer teammate Bryan Antoine graduated from Ranney in 2019 as the Shore Conference’s all-time leading scorer, a McDonald’s All-American and a three-time Shore Conference Player of the Year. On the other side, Cardaci graduated in 2018 from Mater Dei as a Shore Conference Tournament champion in 2017 before going on to play at Bryant, St. Peter’s and Coppin State, while Collins was a senior on Manasquan’s 2021 12-0 team before going on to play at Monmouth.

“When I’ve had the chance to go up against everyone, every name in front of me, I have won,” Spence said. “That’s what it’s about. You can talk a lot, but at the end of the day, if you don’t win, you can’t talk. I did a lot of backing up my talk this year.”

All three of his Shore Conference contemporaries won at least one Shore Conference Tournament championship. Spence came up one win short as a senior in 2020, when Toms River North lost to Collins and Manasquan in a one-sided final.

“I felt like I didn’t have a lot to show for what I did in the Shore Conference, but I always want people to know it didn’t stop me,” Spence said. “You guys see me every year. Every year, I work on my game and I come out here to make sure my stuff is working – that I’m doing the right stuff when I’m working out and not just doing anything. Kudos to those guys, but I don’t come out here worrying out them or anybody else. I’m just coming out here to see if I’m getting something out of what I’m doing.”

Spence is now one win from completing a dominant summer at the Shore as both a scoring champion and a JSBL champion.

“That’s the goal,” Spence said. “I’ve got to close it out so I can stamp it. It’s not enough to just get there. If you don’t have nothing to show for it, it’s not done.”