Toms River South senior Jacob Myers winds up to spike the ball in celebration of a win for his team over Mainland in the NJSIAA South Group III quarterfinals. (Image: Matt Manley)

Toms River Turnaround: TR South Marches to South Group 3 Semifinal

Matt Manley|March 3, 2026|Last Updated March 3, 2026

TOMS RIVER — One year ago, Toms River South boys basketball senior Kharii Pringle would not have fathomed standing in his home gym talking about a second straight state playoff victory.

Once that former pipe dream became a present-day possibility for the senior-loaded Indians Monday night vs. Mainland in the NJSIAA South Jersey Group III quarterfinals, Pringle and his teammates could not imagine losing.

Pringle carried the Toms River South offense through the first two-and-a-half quarters before senior Shane Gambarony finished with a flurry as the seventh-seeded Indians upended No. 15 Mainland, 42-37, to earn a spot in the sectional semifinals for the first time since 2015.

“Last year, I would never think I’d be here right now,” Pringle said. “We were 5-20 and now, we are (16-12), so it feels good to see this for me and my boys.”

One year after finishing with an overall record of 5-20, Toms River South is in a position it has not been in more than a decade and can take it one giant step farther on Wednesday, when the Indians head south on the Garden State Parkway to play No. 3 seed and defending sectional champion Ocean City.

“It feels amazing,” Gambarony said. “We’re all close, so we knew coming into the state tournament, if we played with confidence, we could go on a run. We’re doing it and we’ve just got to keep it rolling.”

Pringle finished with a game-high 17 points, including 15 of Toms River South’s first 20 points in the game. He scored 10 points as Toms River South built up a 15-6 lead early in the second quarter, but Mainland closed the half with a 9-1 run and made it 12-1 with the first three points of the third quarter, staking the Mustangs to an 18-16 lead. Pringle then responded with back-to-back baskets to push Toms River South back in front and found senior Jacob Myers for a layup that made it 22-18. The Indians would not give the lead back the rest of the way.

“If Shane goes out, I’ve got to take over and if I go out, he’s got to take over,” Pringle said. “I felt comfortable, I felt good, so I let it fly.”

After Pringle’s early hot streak got Toms River South to the doorstep of the semifinals, Gambarony brought his team home by scoring eight of his 12 points in the second half. The senior guard and the team leader in scoring sat for a chunk of the first half with two fouls, during which Pringle and the defense picked up the slack.

Mainland pulled within 29-27 early in the fourth and again at 31-29, but Gambarony answered both times — first with a floater and again with a mid-range pull-up that made it 33-29. After the Mustangs again pulled within two at 33-31, Gambarony missed his next attempt, but Myers grabbed the offensive rebound and put it back for a 35-31 lead.

Gambarony later knocked down a jumper for a 38-32 lead with just under two minutes left.

“I was in foul trouble in the first half, so I was on the bench for like five minutes,” Gambarony said. “I felt like I owed it to Kharii and the rest of the guys out there for picking up that slack in the first half.”

Mainland made a push to draw even when Sean Burke scored five straight points, the last three on a three-point play that pulled his team within 38-37 with 1:15 left. Pringle then stepped to the line at hit two free throws with 50 seconds left and senior Brady Gibson did the same with 33 seconds after Toms River South held Mainland scoreless on the other end.

Myers and fellow Gibson each added four points and combined for 18 rebounds, with Myers grabbing 10 and Gibson pulling in eight.

“They do that every game,” Gambarony said. “They are battlers on the boards. They are always hustling. They are not the tallest players, but they put in a lot of energy for our team and they are a big reason we are where we are.”

Pringle, Gibson and Gambarony each added four steals as well as Toms River South forced 17 turnovers and held a second straight opponent under 40 points with its swarming zone. The Indians beat Moorestown, 39-36, in their state-tournament opener on Friday.

“We knew they were a team that likes to play in the half-court so they can try to wear you down by being physical, holding the ball, having good possessions,” Gambarony said. “We knew we had to speed it up on them, not let them play their game and force some mistakes. That was definitely a big factor.”

“Honestly, I feel like we’re the best team in the Shore for defense,” Pringle said. “Our defense is so unstoppable. We lock teams up all the time. It doesn’t matter who, we just play with aggression. I look for the ball and I just get it.”

Gambarony, Pringle, Myers and Gibson form a senior core that has fueled Toms River South’s turnaround from a 20-loss 2024-25 campaign to a 16-win season that is still going into the first week of March. The program is two years removed from a 14-12 season under coach Vin Arminio — now in his sixth season — that began with a December championship at the WOBM Christmas Classic Steve Gepp Bracket, but ended with a double-digit loss at home to Triton in the South Group III Playoffs.

“From the first game, we knew we were going to be a good defensive team,” Pringle said. “Last year, we weren’t very good and coming back this year, every practice has started with defense. Without (assistant) Coach (Jim) Rankin, I don’t think any of this would be possible. He is our defense guy.”

This season started out with mixed results, beginning with a 3-0 start that included a road win over a 21-win Shore Regional team, but followed with three straight losses to teams that finished with a losing record: Long Branch (4-19), Donovan Catholic (7-17) and Brick (11-15). The best, however, was still to come.

Toms River South opened up February with a 67-65 home win over Shore Conference Class B South division champion Point Pleasant Beach, which fueled a late push to get Toms River South into the Shore Conference Tournament for the second time in three years. In the first round of the SCT, the Indians knocked off 12th-seeded Central Regional on the road for their first SCT win in 11 years.

“Early on in the season, we had some bad losses,” Gambarony said. “I think everybody on the team would agree with that. We just didn’t have good games and didn’t do what we needed to do. In those big wins over Beach, Central, Brick Memorial, we played our game. We’ve got a lot of confidence in each other.”

The stay in the SCT ended with a lopsided loss at Marlboro — the No. 2 seed in Central Jersey Group IV and an SCT semifinalist — but Toms River South beat Class B South division champion Pinelands on the day of the NJSIAA Tournament cutoff to secure a first-round home game and went to work preparing for the first-round game vs. Moorestown.

While foregoing a chance to tune-up against other teams, Toms River South prepared with two week’s worth of practice that has paid off with two wins against tournament-tested programs behind stellar defensive efforts.

Toms River South’s tournament success in boys basketball follows a pattern of winning in the athletic program over the last calendar year, which includes a trip to the NJSIAA South Jersey Group III championship game in baseball last spring and a run to the South Group III semifinals in boys soccer this past fall. Gambarony and Myers were both standouts on the soccer team as well, while senior Karsin Migliori — who picked up key minutes when Gambarony was tied to the bench with foul trouble — was a starter on the baseball team, which is coached by Rankin.

Both Rankin and boys soccer coach Mike Conover — who is also as assistant on Rankin’s baseball staff — made a point to credit the growing culture of competition across the athletic programs during their team’s runs and that theme remains for Arminio and his players this winter.

One other theme the basketball players would like to share with the two other teams: beating Ocean City. Both the baseball and boys soccer teams beat the Red Raiders during their respective runs and the boys basketball team will try to make it a trifecta on Wednesday against the reigning South Group III champions.

“We’re all friends, all the athletes, and we all support each other, even if we’re not playing on the team,” Gambarony said. “We all have confidence in ourselves and each other, especially this 2026 class. It’s all about trying to switch the mood here and bring winning to the program and to the school like back in the day. South has a great winning tradition and we are trying to bring that back.”

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