Another Brick in the Wall: Crimson Knights Build Toward Championship Season With KWCC Title

TOMS RIVER – Step by step, Wall’s boys basketball team has been building itself into a championship-caliber team for four years. 

Wall won only six games when the current seniors were freshmen and 12 when they were sophomores before making the leap to 21 wins and a division title in their junior season. Their latest milestone came on Tuesday night when the Crimson Knights knocked off Freehold Township 48-41 in the championship game of the Jim Ruhnke bracket to bring home a title at the Kevin Williams Christmas Classic. 

It marked the second straight season they won a title at the annual holiday tournament at RWJBarnabas Health Arena, but this year it was in the more competitive bracket featuring the tournament’s top eight seeds. The win essentially stamped Wall (5-0) as the No. 3 team in the Shore right now behind top-ranked Christian Brothers Academy and unbeaten Rumson-Fair Haven heading into 2026. 

“I think we’re over the hump,” said senior guard Brian McKenna, who was named the MVP of the bracket. “I think we’ve just been building and building, and we have a really exciting season ahead of us.” 

Veteran Wall coach Bob Klatt knows all about the steady work of building a championship team, as he led the Crimson Knights to back-to-back Central Jersey Group 3 titles in 2019 and 2020. This team is trying to follow that same trajectory. 

“It’s just them working hard,” he said. “These kids really play all year round. Most of my seniors play travel, play AAU, and they’ve just gotten better. And the younger kids have stepped up their game to where I don’t have to rush them right now.” 

The Crimson Knights showed on Tuesday night that they have the type of unselfishness characteristic of a team that is all pushing in the same direction. If a player doesn’t have it on offense that particular night, he is not sulking and mailing it in on defense or giving less effort on the boards. 

“Coach Klatt really tells us, ‘You’ve got to give me something out there,’” senior point guard Liam Killea said. “If you’re not scoring, give me something, so we all kind of play for each other.” 

A prime example on Tuesday was McKenna, the team’s leading scorer. It was a grind on offense against one of the Shore’s toughest perimeter defenders in Freehold Township junior guard Dakota Lasater, but he didn’t let that affect the rest of his game. McKenna turned in a stellar defensive effort of his own against Patriots leading scorer Jake Schultzel, limiting him to nine points while finishing with 8 points, 8 assists and 5 rebounds. 

“We’re all one big family,” McKenna said. “It doesn’t really matter who scores, it just matters if we win.” 

Senior guard Jake DeBrito led Wall with 12 points, 10 of which came in the first half. The Crimson Knights had five different players score in the fourth quarter to seal the comeback win. 

“Tonight, I was hot and some other guys weren’t, but they did the little things,” DeBrito said. “Roles reverse every night. We’re all just ready to step up. We have a whole roster ready to do their job.” 

Wall also showed the poise of a veteran team. The Crimson Knights trailed after each of the first three quarters but didn’t blink against a Freehold Township team that loves to trap and put relentless pressure on opponents. 

“I feel like we’re now more battle-tested, and now we’re ready to be on top,” DeBrito said. “We knew that we weren’t playing our best ball, and then it got down the stretch, and we were really all selfless. I think that’s what got us over the hump and won that game.” 

“Last year we’d lose these types of games where we weren’t really shooting the ball well, but this year with our defense and how much we trust each other it’s different,” Killea said. 

Wall hit the Patriots with an 8-0 run to start the fourth quarter for a 41-34 advantage and never surrendered the lead on its way to claiming a second straight KWCC title. It wasn’t just the seniors, either, as junior center Donovan Buist chipped in with seven points and seven rebounds, junior forward Marius Rossi added a key block and junior guard Mavin Tu had a layup during the decisive 8-0 run. 

Now comes the hard part – claiming a championship in the Shore Conference or NJSIAA Tournaments. While CBA is a heavy favorite to win the SCT, Wall should be a serious contender in Central Jersey Group 2, which rival Manasquan has ruled with an iron fist for nearly a decade. 

Wall beat Manasquan in the KWCC semifinals of the Ruhnke bracket in what is believed to be its first win over the Warriors in decades. Rumson-Fair Haven also lurks as a major contender in Central Jersey Group 2, and Holmdel is another threat. 

The Crimson Knights are also just at the beginning of their clashes with Freehold Township, which they will play twice in Class A Central this season in their bid to claim a second straight division title. Their win at the KWCC puts the target on their back as one of the top five teams in the Shore, but they have been building to this moment for four years. 

“We’re happy to get the recognition, but we have one goal in mind and that’s to win championships,” DeBrito said. 

Scott Stump is a reporter Shore Sports Insider who has been covering Shore Conference sports since 1999. 

Email: scottstump25@gmail.com