Shore Sports Insider 2024-25 Boys Basketball All-Shore Team: First Team

Shore Sports Insider 2024-25 Boys Basketball All-Shore Team

 

First Team

 

Jayden Hodge, Jr., 6-6, Guard, St. Rose

2024-25 Stats: 19.6 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 2.5 steals, 0.8 blocks

Signature Game: Ask Rutgers Prep and the Argonauts would probably tell you it can’t get much better than going for 30 points and 11 rebounds in the first meeting and averaging 26 points, 10 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 3.5 steals in two games vs. a state-ranked team. Hodge’s most impactful performance, however, was probably his 25-point effort in St. Rose’s 73-51 win over a 24-4 Central team in the Shore Conference Tournament quarterfinals. Hodge scored eight points in a tide-turning third quarter, held Central standout Jaycen Santucci to three points in the second half after his 18-point first half, and added nine rebounds, five steals and three blocks to push his team into the SCT semifinals.

Final: No. 4 St. Rose 73, No. 5 Central 51. Jayden Hodge doesn’t usually go for extra sauce, but he does here in the last 2 minutes. pic.twitter.com/qjWBRPxBja

— Matt Manley (@Matt_Manley) February 15, 2025

For the second straight season, St. Rose won the Shore Conference Tournament and reached the NJSIAA Non-Public B Final led by a Hodge. Just as his older brother, Matt, took on the leadership role as a senior for a 29-2 team that won both Shore and state titles, Jayden assumed the same role as a junior in 2024-25. With the younger Hodge leading the way, St. Rose battled another loaded schedule while collecting 23 wins, beat the other three teams ranked in the top four of the Shore Sports Insider rankings to win the SCT and won a third straight South Jersey Non-Public B championship. For the second straight year, Hodge posted 19 points and 10 rebounds in the SCT championship game. He then averaged 19.5 points, 9.25 rebounds and 3.25 assists during the NJSIAA Tournament, which ended with St. Rose dropping a heartbreaker to Roselle Catholic in the state final.

Read more about Hodge’s season in his 2024-25 Shore Sports Insider Player of the Year profile.

 

Griffin Linstra, Sr., 6-5, Guard, Manasquan

2024-25 Stats: 15.2 points, 9.1 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 1.3 steals, 80.2 FT%

Signature Game: Statistically speaking, there are several great options to pinpoint as Linstra’s standout game. He scored a career-high 36 points and surpassed the 1,000-point mark for his career in the same game, posted an elusive triple-double in a win over Howell, and went for 21 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists in a Group II championship win. But stats never tell the full story of Linstra’s impact, nor do they properly tell the story of his signature game. The Manasquan senior posted a modest eight points, seven rebounds and two assists in the Warriors’ win over Camden in the Group II semifinals, but he controlled the pace of the game on offense, captained the defensive effort, and hit a game-winning shot that will go down in N.J. high school basketball lore.

From the time Linstra set foot on a varsity floor, he has only known winning at Manasquan. As a freshman on a team with four starting underclassmen, the Warriors lost a WOBM Christmas Classic quarterfinal to St. John Vianney and basically stopped losing tournament games until they reached a championship game. In Linstra’s four years, Manasquan went 101-21 and won four NJSIAA sectional championships, adding to Manasquan’s six straight championships dating back to 2019-20 (no sectional champions were crowned in 2020-21). The Warriors also won the 2023 Shore Conference Tournament and overall Group II championships, then added a second Group II championship in three years by beating Rumson-Fair Haven, Camden and Madison in consecutive rounds this season.

At the individual level, Linstra finished his career with 1,364 points and 1,016 rebounds and capped his high school career with a stellar all-around season. While he recorded only one triple-double this season, he fell one assist shy once, two assists shy three times and two points short in another game. His 5.2 assists per game was second in the Shore Conference to Freehold Boro’s Brian Tassey, and Linstra was also the only Shore Conference player to average at least 15 points, nine rebounds and five assists.

 

Jaycen Santucci, Sr., 6-5, Guard, Central

2024-25 Stats: 19.1 points, 7.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 2.8 steals, 0.9 blocks, 77 FT%

Signature Game: Two of Santucci’s best games this season came against the same team, which also happens to be the team that won its third NJSIAA South Jersey Group IV title in four years. Santucci opened up his All-Shore season with 24 points, eight rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocked shots in a win over Lenape and was even better in Central’s season-ending loss to the Indians on the road. The senior scored 34 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, picked up four steals and nearly carried Central to its first sectional final before the Golden Eagles ultimately fell, 65-60, to Lenape.

As Santucci got older during his high school career, not only did he get better – his team did as well. As a sophomore, Central reached the Shore Conference Tournament quarterfinals for the second time in school history and the Golden Eagles got back to the Shore’s final eight in each of the last two seasons. A year ago, Central set a school record for wins and reached the sectional semifinal round of the NJSIAA Tournament for the second time in school history. This year, the Golden Eagles rewrote the record books with a new school-record 24 wins, another trip to the South Group IV semifinals and the highest Shore Conference ranking to end the season (No. 4) in program history.

Santucci was Central’s most productive player over the past three years and he turned in his second first-team All-Shore season as a senior. He was one of 10 Shore Conference players to average 19 points or more and one of only two to average at least 19 points, seven rebounds and three assists, joining Aidan Lunn of Manchester. Santucci closes out his Central career as the program’s second all-time leading scorer behind Jermaine Clay, with Santucci posting 1,675 career points. Santucci is set to continue his basketball career next year at nearby Georgian Court University.

 

Rey Weinseimer, So., 6-2, Guard, Manasquan

2024-25 Stats: 16.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.6 steals, 63 3-pointers, 84 FT%

Signature Game: Manasquan thrived by sharing the ball on offense and getting open shots for its two best scorers – Weinseimer and Linstra – but in one of its best wins over the regular season, the offense was to feed Weinseimer. The sophomore standout scored 25 of Manasquan’s 34 points in a 34-31 win over Christian Brothers Academy and its athletic, physical defense. Weinseimer shot 9-for-14 from the field in the game and scored 18 of Manasquan’s 24 points in the second half.

After bursting onto the scene as a freshman a year ago, Weinseimer took his game to the next level by improving in all facets – particularly as a rebounder and defender on a Manasquan team that stresses both for anyone who sees the floor. While rounding out his game was key in his development and his team’s success, Weinseimer’s progression as a scorer is what has made him one of the most exciting players in the Shore Conference. He overtook his teammate, Linstra, as the top scorer on Manasquan, giving the Warriors a duo of players who complemented one another and offered contrast that put pressure on opposing defenses.

Weinseimer was one of 25 players in the Shore Conference to average 16 points per game, and he did it against a schedule that included three games vs. St. Rose, four more against teams that finished ranked in the state (Gill St. Bernard’s, Camden, Rutgers Prep and Lenape) and seven more vs. teams ranked in the top 10 of the Shore Sports Insider rankings (No. 3 CBA, No. 4 Central, No. 5 Colts Neck, No. 6 Red Bank, No. 8 Freehold Boro, two vs. No. 7 Rumson-Fair Haven). In those 14 games, Weinseimer exceeded his season-long average, putting up 17.4 per game. With Linstra and nine other seniors graduating last year, Weinseimer will be looked to for leadership to go with his production during his 2025-26 junior season.

 

Evan Romano, Sr., 6-3, Guard, St. Rose

2024-25 Stats: 13.0 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.7 steals, 49 3-pointers, 78.4 FT%

Signature Game: Rutgers Prep could not have liked facing the versions of St. Rose’s two best players who showed up whenever the Argonauts were in the gym. After SSI Player of the Year Jayden Hodge dumped 30 points on Rutgers Prep in a December win in Belmar, it was Romano’s turn to torture them in the NJSIAA South Jersey Non-Public B final. After scoring 20 points in the December win vs. Rutgers Prep, Romano went off for 27 points – including 17 during an electric, 23-0 St. Rose run during the third quarter to blow the game open. He also grabbed nine rebounds and handed out three assists as St. Rose seized its third straight sectional championship with an 86-55 rout.

Romano’s 27 points vs. Rutgers Prep might have been more had he played more minutes in the fourth quarter, but St. Rose had a big lead and got its bench in the game – a common occurrence for the Shore’s No. 1 team. With a few more fourth-quarter minutes, he might have cruised past his career-high of 30 points, which he set earlier in the year in a win over Brick Memorial – one of only 15 games St. Rose played vs. Shore Conference opponents in 2024-25 while going wire-to-wire as the Shore’s No. 1 team. Romano’s season-long scoring average was also in line with his 13.2 points per game vs. state-ranked teams (plus the Patrick School), and that average climbed to 15.1 points in eight postseason tournament games.

Romano reached the 1,000-point scoring mark for his career after shifting roles throughout his four high school seasons. He was part of a balanced, four-man attack of underclassmen as a freshman at Holmdel, then embraced a sixth man role as a sophomore transfer at St. Rose. In each of the past two years, Romano was a consistent producer for a Shore Conference Tournament championship team, finishing this year as St. Rose’s second-leading scorer.

 

Zayier Dean, Sr., 5-10, Guard, Red Bank

2024-25 Stats: 15.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.9 steals, 80.8 FT%

Signature Game: Dean spent the second half of his high school career playing for the Bucs in Little Silver, but based on his performance at Red Bank Catholic in each of the past two seasons, maybe he should have played his home games on the other side of Broad Street in downtown Red Bank. Dean has three career 30-point games, and two of them have come in RBC’s gym over the past two years. In this year’s edition, he poured in 31 points – including 19 in a decisive fourth quarter – and dished out seven assists to lead the Bucs over the rival Caseys for a second time as Red Bank ran the table in Class B North divisional play.

Zayier Dean with the clutch 3 to tie the game 49-49 with a minute left. CBA ball, 21 secs left. pic.twitter.com/6pFWR7bu2z

— Matt Manley (@Matt_Manley) January 25, 2025

Since his sophomore season at Ocean Township, Dean posted one game of 30 points or more in each season, with the second outburst at RBC serving as that game this season. That performance against the Caseys also set off a strong finish to the season for Dean, who averaged 12.9 points and 3.4 assists with zero 20-point games in Red Bank’s first 14 games. In the Bucs’ last 13 games, Dean put up averages of 17.5 points and 4.8 assists with seven games of 20 points or more.

Dean was a transformative player for the Red Bank program. He transferred from Ocean before the 2023-24 season and the impact was immediate. Red Bank went from an 8-15 season in 2022-23 to back-to-back 20-win seasons with outright division championships in each year. Prior to this season, Red Bank had gone five seasons without beating Ridge Road rival Rumson-Fair Haven and was 1-11 vs. the Bulldogs since the 2015-16 season. This year, Dean led a regular-season sweep of Rumson as part of winning the Class A Coastal division title. Dean graduates with 1,578 points and 354 assists between two schools.

Zayier Dean scores 10 in the 3rd and gives Red Bank a 35-32 lead going to the 4th with this 3-point play. He has 12 total. pic.twitter.com/y4EV0QdQeq

— Matt Manley (@Matt_Manley) January 12, 2025

 

*Continue to Second and Third Team Selections*