Spartans top Falcons 65-39

By Walter J. O’Neill, Jr
One of the surprise teams in the Shore Conference this basketball season has been the boys at Ocean Township High School. The Spartans play in the B North division with powerhouse programs like Manasquan, Red Bank Catholic, both Middletown North and South, Wall Township, Long Branch and Monmouth Regional.
What’s surprising this season is Long Branch and Wall are near the bottom with Monmouth Regional, while Ocean Township is near the top with Squan and the Caseys.
Last week Ocean hosted Monmouth Regional, which has been struggling for the past few years.
The Falcons came into Ocean winless a 0-12 in the division and 1-17 overall. On the other hand, the Spartans entered at 7-5 in the B North, sitting in third position with Manasquan at 11-2 and Red Bank Catholic ahead of them at 9-4.
During the first quarter the Falcons played their best basketball and only trailed the Spartans 12-9. However, from the second quarter on MR just imploded, making errors in basic basketball skills; traveling/walking, missing layups, bad passes and not boxing out under the boards.
Monmouth Regional has the talent, and it’s obvious that once they fall behind the mistakes are more frequent as a result of frustration. That is understandable as the team has had a few different head coaches over the years and developing an identity has been difficult.
Ocean on the other hand has had steady leadership with John Terlecsky and his staff. They also have one of the best centers in the Shore Conference with Andrew Seager, who stands 6’8” and plays bigger.
Ocean outscored Monmouth Regional 21-13 in the second quarter, 16-9 in the third and 16-8 in the fourth taking the 65-39 victory.
Seager finished with 24 points to lead all scorers. He also had six rebounds, five assists and two blocks for Ocean. Luke Yates scored 13 points and had three rebounds and four assists. Jack Miller was right behind Yates with 12 points, five assists, one block and one rebound. Ocean had one other player reach double digits in scoring; David Yatcilla finished with 10 points, five rebounds and five steals.
The Falcons had only one player in double digits. Sean Gades finished with 10 points. Teammates Ryan Cronin scored nine and Kerron Holley had eight. Monmouth Regional is now 0-13 in the B North and 1-18 overall.
Ocean Township improved to 8-5 in division games and 13-8 overall. Terlecsky is looking for a good run through the Shore Conference Tournament, however Raney School, Mater Dei and CBA are of course the big heavy favorites. However, when the state tournament is announced within days, Terlecsky is hoping for a high seed and home game.