SeaBreeze Ford Shore Conference Boys Basketball NJSIAA Sectional Final Scoreboard

Shore Conference Boys Basketball Scoreboard

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NJSIAA Sectional Finals

Monday, March 10

South Jersey Non-Public B

At Jackson Liberty High School

(1) St. Rose 86, (3) Rutgers Prep 55

Senior Evan Romano caught fire in the third quarter for 17 of his game-high 27 points and the Purple Roses (23-7) routed the Argonauts (20-10) to win their third straight sectional title and set up a showdown with Roselle Catholic Friday at Rutgers for the Non-Public B championship.

Romano shot 5-for-8 from three-point range and also grabbed nine rebounds while handing out three assists in his standout, championship performance.

Junior Jayden Hodge poured in 22 points while adding nine rebounds, three assists, three steals and three blocked shots. Hodge also drew the defensive assignment against Rutgers Prep leading scorer and sophomore Jacob Canton, who finished with nine points with Hodge stuck to him for the better part of four quarters.

Sophomore Avery Lynch also chipped in 13 points and eight rebounds for St. Rose, which scored the first 23 points of the third quarter after leading, 39-29, at the break. Rutgers Prep did not scored in the third quarter until the 1:07 mark.

Sophomore Rocco Loomis led Rutgers Prep with 19 points and freshman Julian Ceberio scored 13 points off the bench, including 11 in the first half on 3-for-3 shooting from behind the arc. Ceberio picked up minutes in the wake of another injury to Rutgers Prep, which started the game with 6-foot-8 sophomore Andrew Kretkowski out due to injury for the second straight game. In the first quarter, freshman William Brunson — Kretkowski’s replacement in the starting lineup — landed awkwardly, limped off the floor and did not return.

St. Rose’s matchup with Roselle Catholic Friday will be the first meeting between the two programs since the Lions beat the Purple Roses in the 2023 Non-Public B championship game.

 

Saturday, March 8

Central Jersey Group II

(1) Manasquan 48, (2) Rumson-Fair Haven 36

Sophomore Rey Weinseimer scored a game-high 19 points and senior Griffin Linstra capped his fourth sectional championship as a starter with 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists as the Warriors (23-4) topped the Bulldogs (20-7) for their sixth consecutive NJSIAA sectional title.

Linstra started as a freshman on Manasquan’s 2021-22 Central Jersey Group III championship team and went on to play a key role in Central Jersey Group II titles in each of the past two seasons. Saturday marked the third time in the four seasons that Manasquan won its sectional championship at home.

Manasquan also won sectional titles in 2019 and 2020, but did not get a chance to win one in 2021 because there was no NJSIAA Tournament due to the COVID pandemic. The following year, Linstra arrived in the program and the Warriors picked up where they left off.

Manasquan held Rumson scoreless for a stretch of nearly nine minutes between the first minute of the second quarter and the 6:30 mark of the third. The Bulldogs scored just two points in the second quarter and managed only eight in the entire first half, with Manasquan taking a 23-8 into the break.

Weinseimer also got his scoring rhythm going in the second quarter, during which he hit a pair of three-pointers and scored eight of his 10 first-half points. Rumson chopped its deficit to 25-18 in the third and broke down the floor in transition looking to pull even closer, but Linstra intercepted a pass at midcourt and found Weinseimer for a three that squeezed some of the air out of Rumson and gave Manasquan back a double-digit lead, 28-18.

Rumson fought back to within 38-31, but from there, the Warriors went 10-for-12 from the free-throw line to close out the victory.

Linstra also drew the assignment guarding Rumson leading scorer, junior Luke Cruz, and held him to eight points. Cruz bounced back from a scoreless first half to score eight after the break and also grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked three shots. Senior David Carr led Rumson with 10 points, five assists and three steals.

Manasquan senior Brandon Kunz drew the assignment against Carr and on top of keeping him in check and grabbing three steals, Kunz chipped in seven points thanks to a pair of three-pointers — one in each half.

With the win, Manasquan earns its long-awaited rematch with Camden after the Panthers ended Manasquan’s 2023-24 season by beating the Warriors, 46-45, when the referees incorrectly overturned a putback by Linstra that initially counted. Multiple videos of the shot by Linstra showed he got the shot off before the final buzzer, which would have given Manasquan the huge upset had it counted — which it initially did before a referee conference resulted in one of the officials asserting that the shot came after the clock expired. Manasquan and Camden will clash Wednesday at Monroe in the Group II semifinal, with tipoff set for 7 p.m.

 

Friday, March 7

Central Jersey Group III

(4) Colts Neck 52, (6) Ewing 43

Colts Neck turned in another suffocating defensive performance and senior Nolan Duddy provided a game-high 12 points off the bench on four three-points as the Cougars (18-9) topped the Blue Devils (22-8) to win their first sectional title in nine years.

Senior Lukas Sloane added 11 points, seven rebounds and four assists, with eight of his points coming in the first quarter to help Colts Neck jump out to a 14-10 lead. Senior Dan Buoncore scored 10 of his seven points in the first half and junior Dillon Younger pitched in six points, 11 rebounds and three assists for Colts Neck while handling Ewing’s defensive pressure.

Colts Neck’s defense was the star of the game, particularly in the first half. The Cougars limited the Blue Devils to 31 percent shooting (8-for-26) from the field, 0-for-9 from the three-point line and eight turnovers. Ewing also helped Colts Neck out by shooting 0-for-8 from the free-throw line in the first half on the way to shooting 5-for-21 for the game.

Colts Neck advances to face South Jersey champion Ocean City in the Group III semifinal Tuesday at Deptford High School.