Sterns Trailer and Intern Helpers advance in opening night of JSBL Playoffs
MANASQUAN — The JSBL playoffs kicked off on Monday night with games featuring the league’s top two seeds in Sterns Trailer and Intern Helpers. Both teams were able to emerge with victories as Sterns Trailer defeated the 8-seed WCT Warriors in a dominant 121-78 performance while Intern Helpers earned a hard fought 113-106 victory over 7-seed Ortho-NJ.
In game one, it was the dynamic duo of point guard Kevin Mateo and forward Parker Dortch who combined to score 80 points for Sterns Trailer as they outscored the entire WCT Warriors team. Mateo and Dortch both dropped 40 points in the dominating effort. Mateo finished an impressive 16-for-24 from the field including 6-for-8 from three point range while Dortch finished a remarkably efficient 17-for-23 from the field and grabbed 16 rebounds in his first game back after missing two games with a minor injury.
“I love playing with Kev. It’s funny because if you watch the film from when I first started playing in the JSBL we didn’t know how to play off each other. Kev likes the picks. I like to pop off the picks. He likes to throw the roll pass so it took awhile to learn how to play together, but once we developed that IQ together it started clicking on all cylinders.” said Dortch.
Dortch, who started his college career at Kaskaskia where he helped lead the team to the NJCAA national championship tournament before playing at both Loyola Marymount and Anderson University, experienced his first professional season with the Jersey Shore Breaks this past spring.
“It was my first time playing in an organization like that outside of college. It was a lot of fun. Like most seasons it had its ups and downs, but we locked in towards the end of the year so I am excited for next year,” said Dortch
On the possibility of playing against several of his Jersey Shore Breaks teammates in the championship should both teams win one more game Dortch smiled and said “I want to play against Intern for sure. They’re some of my guys from the TBL. Chris Smith, Emmitt [Hall], Ray [Salnave], Chuck [Funchess], so I’m excited to play against them and see what that’s like.”
Sterns Trailer’s Parker Dortch attempts a free throw (Bob Badders | rpbphotography.com)
The game was competitive throughout the first quarter with the WCT Warriors leading by three with seconds to go in the quarter. However, Mateo was able to drive to the rim and score a layup to cut the lead to one. Then, WCT guard Andre Wells threw an errant inbounds pass that Sterns Trailer guard Bryan Antoine was able to scoop up and lay in as time expired in the first quarter.
After that crucial mistake WCT was never able to recover as they would lose the following 2 quarters by a whopping 29 points as Sterns Trailer was able to dominate down low as they found their groove offensively.
WCT finishes the season with a 2-7 record. 1st team All-JSBL selection Andre Wells had another solid effort despite the loss scoring 23 points on 9-for-22 from the field. Wells also tallied 6 assists and 5 rebounds in the game.
Sterns Trailer will play their next game Thursday in the Semifinals as they will take on the lowest remaining seed after Tuesday’s games due to the Jersey Shore Basketball League adopting the NFL’s re-seeding format.
Intern Helpers pulls away from Ortho-NJ
In game 2, Intern Helpers were able to battle a slow start to defeat Ortho-NJ.
It was a tale of two halves for the Intern Helpers. Throughout the first half they struggled to find any rhythm offensively and found themselves tied at 41 against a significantly undersized Ortho-NJ team whose tallest listed player in the lineup was Jaycen Santucci who stands at 6’4. In the second half, the Intern Helpers offense exploded scoring 72 points in a dominant half of basketball.
Intern Helpers offense really started to come alive when they started to work the ball into the paint. In the first half, they were forcing up threes and were only shooting 10 percent from behind the arc with 4 points in the paint. They were able to score 42 points in the paint in the second half which allowed for them to get better looks from behind the arc as the game progressed.
Intern Helpers were led inside by Christian Lyons who had 27 points and 6 rebounds. Lyons was helped out by former New York Knicks guard and Israeli professional Chris Smith who had a complete game registering 22 points 9 rebounds and 6 assists.
Lyons was happy to get the win, but was focused on what Intern Helpers needs to do in order to win the next two games.
“We definitely need to bring more energy when it comes to starting the game. I feel like we were too lackadaisical when we came in, but other than that we just need to be collective and pass the ball and get everyone a touch that way everyone feels good, said Lyons.
After experiencing a rough first season at the Jersey Shore in 2024 as a member of a Larson Ford team that finished towards the bottom of the standings and exited the playoffs in the first round, this season with Intern Helpers has been a complete reversal for Lyons as the team finished in 2nd place in the regular season with a 6-2 record before advancing with their first round playoff win.
“Last year was a little different. I was coming in playing with two professionals so it was harder to get my touches in. Not disrespecting their game in any way, but coming in here and being one of the featured players and having a balanced team that shares the ball feels good,” said Lyons.
Intern Helpers’ Christian Lyons throws down a thunderous dunk earlier in the season (Bob Badders | rpbphotography.com)
Ortho-NJ was led by Aaron Goldstein who scored 32 points and Jaycen Santucci who scored 24 points. Goldstein (College of Staten Island) and Santucci (Georgian Court) did far more than hold their own as Division 2 players going head-to-head with a team full of ten professionals of which six were accomplished former Division 1 players. Santucci was exceptional as he finished 12-for-17 from the field and registered 8 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 3 steals as he flashed high-level athleticism that is extremely likely to translate at the college level.
Ortho-NJ’s Jaycen Santucci leads a fast break earlier this season (Bob Badders | rpbphotography.com)
Monmouth University’s Kavion McClain was held to just 6 points in the game following his record setting 71-point performance last Wednesday night due to the stellar team defense played by Intern Helpers who were not willing to allow McClain to break any records on their watch.
Ortho-NJ finished their season with a 2-7 record. Despite finishing far below their expectations, there is a bright future ahead if the team can keep their young talent together next year.
Intern Helpers will face 3-seed ACI/Robin’s Nest on Thursday night if ACI wins tomorrow night against Larson Ford. If they lose, then the Helpers play the winner of Sea View Jeep and RKE Athletic.
Game One Notes
- Both teams only had 5 players in uniform in what was an iron man basketball game
- Sterns shot 76.7% from three in the second half and 57% for the game
- WCT shot 14% from three point range
- Sterns Trailer had 58 points in the paint WCT had 28 points
Game Two Notes
- Intern Helpers scored 43 points in the third quarter after 41 points in the first half
- Intern Helpers scored 42 of their 46 points in the paint in the second half
- Ortho-NJ shot 16/52 from 3pt range (31%)
- Ortho-NJ only attempted 8 free throws making 6