Sweet 16: Wall Boys Basketball Clinches Division, Extends Undefeated Start

WALL TWP. — Like the rest of the Shore Conference, the Freehold Township boys basketball team has been trying to catch its counterpart from Wall High School since December. The more the more the field throws its best at the Crimson Knights, however, the better Wall gets. The rest of the Shore in improving, but not as quickly as Wall has been improving.

On Monday, Wall — the No. 2 team in the Shore Sports Insider Top 10 — found itself in a toss-up game at halftime and turned it into another statement win thanks to a dominant second half. The Crimson Knights beat Freehold Township by a seven-point margin in each of the first two meetings between the teams and on Monday, Wall doubled that margin of victory with a 69-55 win that marked the team’s 16th straight win to start the season, as well as its second straight Shore Conference division championship.

“We don’t talk about being undefeated, we just talk about the game,” Wall coach Bob Klatt said. “We have not talked about what’s going on beyond the next game. In practice, we play like this. We do live situations three-on-two and two-on-one and they love that because it’s freedom. They can just compete and learn and that’s what shows in the game.”

Seniors Brian McKenna and Dan Hennessy combined for 4o points, with McKenna scoring 21 to go with six rebounds and Hennessy scoring 15 of his 19 in the second half while also picking six steals as part of another frenzied defensive effort from the Shore’s No. 2 team.

“I did not expect to be undefeated for this long,” McKenna said. “But I’m very grateful for the way the season has gone and just the way we’re playing as a team. This is what happens when you have guys who love playing together and want to work hard and play hard for each other.”

“We’ve got a bounty on our head every game,” Hennessy said. “Someone wants to give us our first loss and we know that going into every game.”

McKenna was his usual steady self, scoring 10 points during the first half before scoring 11 after halftime. Eight of McKenna’s second-half points came during a 14-3 late-third-quarter run that flipped a three-point Freehold Township lead into a 47-39 Wall advantage.

‘That comes from coach Klatt,” McKenna said of his ever-improving offensive game. “He teaches us what is a good and bad shot. I know my teammates are going to find me when I’m open, so I always have trust in them to find me. When you move the ball as a team, somebody is going to get an open shot and I have just as much trust in my teammates to make the open shot as they have in me.”

Wall now with its largest lead at 52-43 with 6:22 left after this Brian McKenna 3-point play. pic.twitter.com/B2ji7uNfpL

— Matt Manley (@Matt_Manley) February 2, 2026

Wall defeated Freehold Township in its first Shore Conference Class A Central divisional game, 65-58, on Jan. 20 in Freehold. That came after the Crimson Knights beat the Patriots, 48-41, in the championship game of the Kevin Williams Classic Jim Ruhnke Bracket. In both games, Freehold Township junior guard Dakota Lasater embraced the assignment of guarding McKenna and held him below his season average of 17.9 points per game — 10 points in the December win in Toms River and 14 points in the divisional win at Freehold Township High School.

On Monday, McKenna finally solved Lasater enough to crack the 20-point threshold, although the Freehold Township junior still left his mark on the game with a team-high 16 points — 11 of which came in the first half.

“He is a good defender, but it’s more about what we do as a team to get me opportunities to score,” McKenna said. “It’s coach calling good plays, my teammates creating for me — that’s what it’s about.”

Nice flurry by Brian McKenna and Wall to finish the 3rd and Wall leads Freehold Twp 47-41 heading to the 4th. pic.twitter.com/OutW5PBjuk

— Matt Manley (@Matt_Manley) February 2, 2026

Hennessy did not factor prominently into the first-half scoring, but he was a pest on the defensive end throughout the game and led the scoring charge in the second half. With Freehold Township and Wall even, 28-28, at halftime, Hennessy went off for 15 points in the second half to lead a Wall barrage that outscored Freehold Township, 41-27, after the break.

“We have scorers one through eight,” Hennessy said. “We have a guy who can score 20 every night and we five guys who can score 15 points in a night. That has continued throughout the season.”

Wall’s bench once again left its mark on the game, with juniors Navin Tu, Donovan Buist and Marius Rossi give Klatt effective minutes off the bench. Their work during the second quarter helped spark a 14-2 run that turned a 22-14 Freehold Township lead into 28-24 edge for Wall. Freehold Township clawed back even by halftime, but the 10 bench points and the energy the group provided proved pivotal.

“Navin gave us great minutes defensively tonight,” Klatt said. “Navin, Donovan and Marius during the second quarter got us back in this game. This is what a team is. One night it could be somebody else and that’s what I love about this team.”

“Our bench has really stepped up,” McKenna said. “They just keep growing throughout the season. Navin had really good minutes today. Donovan has been huge for us, Marius as well. They all work hard, so it’s just great to see them getting better.”

Wall entered the season with three returning starters in McKenna, Hennessy and senior point guard Liam Killea and senior Jake DeBrito also played major minutes off the bench in 2024-25. The emergence of Tu, Buist and Rossi behind those four and fellow senior starter Joey Ambrozy have given this year’s team a second unit to change the game — like they did when they scored a combined 25 points in a road win over Howell — and also give the program hope beyond this season.

“We have probably one of the best benches in the Shore,” said Tu, who had his biggest game in Wall’s second win over Howell, when he scored 16 points and grabbed four rebounds off the bench in a 65-49 road win on Jan. 22. “That’s what helps us get those tough wins on the road and gives us energy when we need it.”

“I knew we were going to have depth off the bench,” Hennessy said. “I knew these guys were going to come to play they have been showing it, getting better every single game of the year.”

Seniors Jake DeBrito and Liam Killea also had a hand in the win, with DeBrito igniting Wall’s offense by scoring eight of his nine points in the game during the first quarter. Killea, meanwhile, dished out six assists to go with his six points.

“We all have confidence in each other,” McKenna said. “We have all been through it with each other. We have played with each other for a while now, so we know someone is going to knock down a shot when we need it.”

“In order to stay undefeated, everyone is going to have to step up,” Tu said. “Even when Brian doesn’t have his best night or the other team gets off to a good start, everyone just has to step up.”

Freehold Township junior point guard Cole Gerigk missed the previous meeting between the teams while nursing a broken nose, but has since returned while wearing a black protective mask. Gerigk made a significant difference, finishing with 13 points, five rebounds and six assists. Junior forward Jake Schultzel also pitched in 12 points and seven rebounds for the Patriots.

Wall is now one win over Manalapan on Thursday from finishing the Class A Central schedule unbeaten and, depending on whether or not the Crimson Knights add a game to the schedule on Saturday, a Thursday win could mean they head into next week’s Shore Conference Tournament with an undefeated record. Close games have been a rarity for Wall, which has outscored its opponents by an average of 17.2 points per game, including 19.1 in divisional play. The first two wins over Freehold Township and a 46-39 win over Ocean on Dec. 22 are the only games Wall has won by a single-digit margin this season.

“It feels really good to have that on our shoulders, but we know it’s not safe,” Tu said. “Teams like this can take us out and our division is very good.”

“I told these guys to look around, because they were in grammar school the last time this gym was rocking like this,” Klatt said, referring to Wall’s last NJSIAA sectional championship victory in March of 2020. “If you keep winning games, that crowd is going to get bigger and bigger, so I hope we can keep it up.”