Jackson Memorial 50-33 over Ocean

By Walter J. O’Neill, Jr

Last week the Ocean boys basketball team hosted Jackson Memorial as their second to last regular season game. The game started off very competitive and the first quarter ended with Jackson Memorial holding a slight 18-12 lead over the Spartans.

 

The second quarter was much tighter on defense for both schools and Ocean had outscored their opponents 8-5. However, going into the halftime break Jackson Memorial was leading Ocean 23-20.

Ocean’s downfall occurred during the first eight minutes of the second half. Jackson Memorial outscored the Spartans 17-3 in the third quarter. Jack Miller was the only Ocean player to score and that was a three-point hoop.

 

In the fourth quarter both teams added 10 points to their totals. Jackson Memorial had enough in the tank to capture the 50-33 victory.

 

The Spartans didn’t have a single player score in double digits. Darius Brown and Andrew Seager both had nine points, Miller finished with eight and the only other Ocean player with points was Chris Vivian with seven.

Following the loss to Jackson Memorial the Spartans traveled to Donovan Catholic to close out their season. They put forward a better effort and beat Donovan Catholic 63-50. Seager was high man with 26 points, Miller scored 12, Vivian had 10, Brown 5, Tim McMahon and David Yatcilla each scored four and Luke Yates had two points.

Ocean plays in the Shore Conference B North division and finished 7-7 in the division and 16-9 overall. They also qualified for the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group 3 tournament. The Spartans were given the seven seed and will host the tenth seed Matawan in the opening round.


 

Ocean girls end season with a win

By Walter J. O’Neill, Jr

Friday afternoon at 3:30 the girls basketball team at Ocean Township High School hosted the Blue Bishops of Asbury Park.

. It was an unusual start time and the gym had only a few diehard fans, but it was a good 39-33 win for the Spartans.

 

In the first quarter against the Bishops the Spartans took complete control leading 16-4. During those opening eight minutes Morgan Bartlett scored 10 of her game-high 19 points for Ocean. The second quarter was a bit tighter, however Ocean had outscored Asbury 11-8 and took a 27-12 lead into the halftime break.

 

Starting the second half both schools were cold. In the third quarter Ocean bested Asbury Park 8-4. The final quarter of the game Ocean pulled their starters and allowed the bench players to get some needed floor time.

Asbury Park took advantage of that and were able to climb back to within four points of the Spartans. That’s when the starting five made their return to the game and held off a charging Blue Bishop squad, who outscored Ocean 17-4 in those last eight minutes.

 

Madison Mastando finished with seven points, Natalia Errico, Sanaa Finley and TT Pritzlaff each scored three points for Ocean. Tyler Bartlett and Carly Weisberg both had two.

 

Asbury Park, which plays in the B Central division of the Shore Conference qualified for the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group 1 tournament as the 11 seed. In the B Central they had a 5-11 record and are 6-14 overall. Kiara Wood led all Blue Bishops with 16 points.

 

Ocean didn’t qualify for the NJSIAA State tournament and the Asbury Park game closed out a tough season.

 

The Spartans play in the B North division of the Shore Conference with powerhouse schools; Manasquan, RBC, Middletown South and North, Wall, Monmouth Regional and Long Branch. So wins were difficult to notch this season.

 

In the B North this year the Spartans were winless going 0-14. With the win over Asbury Park they finished 5-20 for the season overall.


 

Local wrestlers qualify for states

By Walter J. O’Neill, Jr

Brick hosted the NJSIAA Regional VI Wrestling Champions this past weekend. Several local athletes punched their tickets to the State Championships which are held in Atlantic City.
One wrestler, Jake Benner of Ocean Township, had a great tournament. He won his 100th career match and also took the Region VI title for 138 pounds with a pin over Nick Wagner of Wall Township. Benner became the first
Spartan since 2012 to win a regional championship.

Here is a breakdown by weight classes of the tournament.

106 pounds: Ryan Zimmerman of Long Branch was the seventh seed. He won his first round match with a pin. Round two he upset the second seed with a 4-2 victory. In the semifinals he fell 10-4 to Nico Messina of Freehold Borough.

Jack Nies of Ocean Township was the eighth seed and he lost in by pin in the opening round.

113 pounds: Three local guys were competing. Matt Klemser of Shore Regional was given the ninth seed and won his opening round match 9-7. Round two he lost by pin to the top seed.

John Santos of Ocean Township was the tenth seed. He won his opening round match with a pin. He lost by pin in round two to the second seed.

Rev Guzman of Long Branch had the twelfth seed. He lost his opening round match 10-2.

120 pounds: Carlos Irizarry of Long Branch was the third seed. He had an opening round bye. In round two he lost 6-0 to the sixth seed.

Al DeSantis a freshman at Shore Regional was given the seventh seed. He beat his tenth seed opponent 10-3 in the opening round. He lost to the second seed 5-1 in round two, and finished in fourth place.

Adam Manzo of Ocean Township had the eighth seed. He beat the ninth seed 12-3 in the opening round. In round two he faced the top seed and lost by pin.

126 pounds: Chris Dean of Long Branch had the fifth seed. In round one he beat the twelfth 6-0. In round two he lost 12-2 to the fourth seed.

Alex Poniros of Ocean Township was the sixth seed and had a bye in the opening round. Round two he beat the third seed with a pin. The semifinals he then upset the two seed with a 3-2 victory. He lost in the finals 9-0 to the top seed.

132 pounds: Nicholas Villapiano of Ocean Township had the sixth seed. He had a bye in the opening round. Round two he lost 2-0 to the third seed.

Ethan Byrne of Red Bank Catholic had the seventh seed. He lost 9-1 to the tenth seed in the opening round.

138 pounds: Jake Benner was the top seed. He had a bye in the opening round. Round two he beat the ninth seed with a pin. Semifinals he won 8-3 over the fourth seed. In the finals he pinned his third seed opponent from Wall at 3:15.

Monmouth Regional had Tyler Flynn as the eleventh seed. He had a tough 5-6 loss in the opening round to the sixth seed.

145 pounds: Luke Arnold of Long Branch was the third seed. Opening round he beat the fourteenth seed 9-8. Round two the sixth seed beat him 8-6.
Saif Ali of Ocean had the eleventh seed and lost to the sixth seed by pin in the opening round.

156 Pounds: Jack McCrae of Shore Regional had the fourteenth seed. He lost 11-4 to the third seed in the opening round.

160 pounds: Austin Cannon of Shore Regional was the fifth seed. He had a bye in the opening round. Round two he lost by pin to the fourth seed.

170 pounds: Daniel Santos-Silva of Long Branch was the sixth seed. He beat the eleventh seed 6-4 in the opening round. Round two he lost by pin to the third seed.

Steven Cmielewski of Red Bank Catholic had the twelfth seed. He lost by pin in the opening round to the fifth seed.
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182 pounds: Peter Wersinger of Long Branch was the fourth seed. Round one he had a win by pin over the thirteenth seed. Round two he lost 1-0 on a tie breaker to the fifth seed.
195 pounds: No local wrestlers competed

220 pounds: Hunter Marhan of Long Branch was the two seed. Opening round he won with a pin in 29 seconds over the fifteenth seed. Round two he lost 6-2 to the seventh seed.

Clayton Oates of Ocean Township was the sixth seed. He lost his opening round match by pin to the eleventh seed.

285 pounds: Kevin Cerruti of Long Branch had the fifth seed. Opening round the big guy won by pin over the twelfth seed. Round two he lost by sudden victory 3-1 to the fourth seed.

The top four finishers from each weight division qualify for Atlantic City. Local wrestlers going to the big show are; Benner, Poniros, Zimmerman, DeSantis, Wersinger, Marhan, and Cerrruti.

Ocean takes District 24 title

By Walter J. O’Neill, Jr

photos Sportshotswlb.com

 

Freehold Township High School hosted the NJSIAA District 24 Wrestling Championships on February 18. The Spartans of Ocean Township High School captured the team title with 171.2 points. Taking second was CBA, 167, third was Freehold Township 160.5, fourth went to Hamilton North 155.5 and Shore Regional High School took fifth with 79.6 points.

 

Rounding out the top ten teams was Hamilton West in sixth with 50 points followed by Notre Dame 46, Red Bank Catholic 38, Monmouth Regional 35 and Willingboro with 13 points.

 

Ocean had six wrestlers competing in the finals, Shore had three, RBC had two and Monmouth Regional had one wrestler going for a District Title. The Spartans had four wrestlers, Shore Regional and Monmouth Regional each had two competing for third place .

 

Christian Brothers Academy had the most District 24 champions with four, Ocean captured three titles, and Shore Regional came home with one.

 

 

 

Final Results

 

106: Nick Schutzenhofer (CBA) pinned Jack Nies (Ocean) 2:27

 

113: Richie Koehler (CBA) pinned Matt Klemser (Shore) 2:28

 

120: Tariq Morton (Hamilton West) beat Al DeSantis (Shore) 7-6

 

126: Alex Ponioros (Ocean) beat Joe Schneider (Notre Dame) 7-1

 

132: Nick Villapiano (Ocean) beat Ethan Byrne (RBC) 12-6

 

138: Jake Benner (Ocean) pinned Tyler Flynn (Monmouth) 1:33

 

145: Christian Recanti (CBA) beat Saif Ali (Ocean) 3-2

 

152: Rommy Abouelela (Hamilton North) beat Mike Cenname (freehold) 1-0

 

160: Austin Cannon (Shore) beat Kyle Hillermeier (Freehold) 6-3

170: Jonathan Jacobs (Hamilton North pinned Steve Cmielewski (RBC) 0:39

 

182: Sam Houston (CBA) beat Gabriel Williams (Hamilton North) 10-9

 

195: Eric Quartey (Freehold) beat Cameron DoGiorgio (CBA) 3-2

 

220: Devon Stokes (Hamilton North) pinned Clayton Oates (Ocean) 0:39

285: Sylvester Freeman (Hamilton North) beat Austin Colbert (Freehold) 7-1

 

 

 

Third place match results

 

106: Gregory Daloisio (Hamilton North) pinned Devon Pham (Monmouth) 1:08

 

113: John Santos (Ocean) major decision Alex Salkin (Freehold) 16-7

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20: Adam Manzo (Ocean) major decision Brian Lee (Freehold) 9-0

 

126: Sam LaCorte (CBA) beat Daniel Dempsey (Hamilton North) 7-0

 

132: Kyle Cleary (Freehold) beat Dan Schneider (Notre Dame) 5-3

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38: Ethan Diamond (CBA) beat Christian Mangini (Freehold) 8-1

 

145: Larson Johnson (Freehold) major decision Dean Smolokoff (Shore) 9-1

 

152: Jack McCrae (Shore) beat Emerson Derose (Ocean) 5-1

160: Derek Smith (CBA) beat Anthony Esposito (Ocean) 4-0

 

170: Ryan McGuiness (CBA) pinned Thomas Hall (Freehold) 5:33

 

182: Michael Carlucci (Freehold) pinned David Stout (Hamilton West) 5:07

 

195: Amir Murry (Willingboro) beat Ricky Voss (Monmouth) 15-8

220: Zachary Harding (Hamilton West) beat Thomas Burns (Notre Dame) 4-2

 

285: Daniel Oronosky (Hamilton West) beat Omas Santos (Notre Dame) 2-1


 

Spartans tame Huskies 49-24

By Walter J. O’Neill, Jr

February 6, the NJSIAA State Wrestling Tournament started and the Spartans of Ocean Township were the second seed in the Central Jersey, Group 3 bracket. They hosted and beat the seventh seed Huskies of Matawan 49-24 in the opening round.

 

The Spartans have six NJSIAA Sectional titles, 14 District titles, 12 Divisional titles, two State Champions, 19 Regional Champions and 100 District Champions. Cippy Apicelli, who is in his sixth season as the Spartans head coach, also celebrated a personal milestone last week winning his 100th career match. Ocean was hoping to add to the team history with a strong showing in the state tournament.


 

Dinner benefits veterans charities

By Walter O’Neill

Long Branch — The Strength and Honor Motorcycle Club of New Jersey, consisting of law enforcement, fire and corrections officers, held a pre-Valentine’s Day Dinner at the Long Branch Elks Club on Saturday, February 11.

 

Gary Watson, a police officer from Red Bank, is the chapter president.

“We hold two fundraisers a year, this dinner and a Poker Run in the summer.

 

The money raised from these two events is then donated to a charity that handles issues that Veterans face,” said Watson.

 

The club members get together and research the various charities and then vote on which one to send the funds.

They made over $1,500 on the all you can eat pasta night at the Elks


 

Falcons edge Devils 48-43

By Walter J. O’Neill, Jr

It appears to be a down year for the boys basketball teams at Shore Regional and Monmouth Regional this season. Both schools are struggling in the win column even though they have talent and skills. On Saturday afternoon Shore hosted Monmouth in a nondivisional Shore Conference game.

During the first quarter of action the Blue Devils were aggressive in the run game and took an early 13-11 advantage over the visiting Falcons. However, the second quarter was all Monmouth as they held the Devils to eight points while they added 16 to their total.

Monmouth Regional applied a full court press during the second quarter which seemed to catch the Blue Devils flat footed as they committed a few turnovers. The Falcons had a definite size advantage over Shore and used it to their advantage to close out the first half.

The third quarter was dead even as both schools scored only eight points. The last eight minutes of the game for Shore was nearly identical to the opening quarter. They bested the Falcons 14-13, but lost the game 48-43.

Kyle Koob was the leading Blue Devils scorer with 13 points, while teammate Chris Panduri finished with 12. Ryan Jones had nine, and Ryan Flanagan scored six points. Shore Regional drops to 4-11 overall and are 2-6 in the A Central division. The standings in the A Central division has Rumson-Fair Haven 8-0 at the top followed by Holmdel 6-3, Matawan 5-4, Red Bank Regional 4-4, St. John Vianney 3-6, Shore Regional and then Raritan at 2-7.

Leading the Falcons in points was Myles Ownes with 16, Tyler Hawkins scored 11, and Nick Cirlincione finished with eight.

Monmouth Regional plays in the B North division of the Shore Conference and are 0-10. Overall the Falcons are now 3-13, but in last place out of the eight teams. Manasquan, 8-2, is in first, Long Branch 7-3, RBC 7-3, Middletown North 6-4, Ocean Township 5-5, Wall 4-6, Middletown South 3-7 and Monmouth Regional.


 

Morris gets 23 in Wave win

By Walter J. O’Neill, Jr

It was rematch time for Long Branch boys basketball as they hosted the Spartans of Ocean Township last week in a Shore Conference Class B North divisional game.

 

Both schools faced off back on December 20 in Ocean where Ocean pulled off a 58-57 victory. Long Branch was looking to even the score on their home floor in front of their fans and they didn’t disappoint!

 

Long Branch came out quick in the opening eight minutes using speed and strength they outscored the Spartans 15-8. When the first half had ended the Green Wave squad was out in front of Ocean 33-17 and appeared to be in complete control.

 

During the second half Long Branch continued with its dominance and aggressive play. The end of the third quarter the Wave had an 18 point advantage over Ocean going into the final eight minutes up 45-27.

 

Ocean had its best quarter of the game at the end, but it was not enough as Long Branch won 56-44 and improved to 7-3 in division play, which is good enough for second place out of the eight teams. Overall Long Branch has a 10-5 record. Leading the Wave in scoring was Tyree Morris, a junior, who finished with 23 points.

 

The Spartans drop to 5-5 in the B North and are 11-5 overall. However, Ocean is now in fifth place in the division. Manasquan is at the top, following Long Branch is Red Bank Catholic and Middletown North in front of the Spartans.

 

Leading Ocean in scoring was Jack Miller with 14 points. Andrew Seager was close behind with 12, Darius Brown and Luke Yates each scored seven points in the loss.


 

Precious Allah powers Falcons over Devils

By Walter J. O’Neill, Jr

Monmouth Regional junior Precious Allah scored a game-high 12 points as the Falcons defeated the Blue Devils of Shore Regional 36-24 on Saturday afternoon

 

Allah transferred to Monmouth Regional this season from Neptune High School. Her ball handling, speed and shooting skills are definitely welcomed on the Falcons squad.

 

During the first quarter the Devils had a slight 8-6 lead on the Falcons. Allah, along with Marisa Santoro and Karley Trillhaase, had two points for Monmouth. Shore had two players hit three-point buckets; Breanna Jackson and Allie Reiser, who also made two foul shots.

 

The Falcons took control of the game in the second quarter where they outscored the Devils 16-7. Sabin was high girl with five points, Charlotte Gage had three and Madison Searight, Santoro, Trillhaase and Allah each had two points.

 

Shore had only one player make a basket in the second quarter and that was Jaclyn Shapiro. Emily Guo made two foul shots as did Reiser. Erin Rogers went one for two and Brittany Sawyer missed all four of her free throws. Going into the halftime break the Falcons were on top 22-15.

 

The first eight minutes of the second half was the worst quarter of the game for Shore Regional. Reiser made two foul shots for the only points in the third quarter for the Blue Devils. The Falcons scored eight points with Gage, Santoro, Trillhaase and Allah each getting two.

 

In the fourth quarter Shore Regional outscored Monmouth Regional just as they had to start the game. The final eight minutes the Devils scored seven points with Shapiro, Jackson, Guo each getting a basket and Reiser making one of two foul shots.

Monmouth Regional had only one player score in the fourth quarter. Allah scored six points, one basket and made four out of nine foul shots. She finished the game with 12 points. Sabin and Santoro each had six points.

 

The win improved the Falcons to 4-11 overall. They play in the B North division of the Shore Conference and are currently in seventh out of the eight teams with a 1-9 record.

 

Reiser led all Blue Devils with 10 points. The Blue Devils play in the A Central division of the Shore Conference are in sixth place out of the seven teams with a 1-7 record. Overall they are 5-12 on the seaso.


 

Squan beats Wave 70-53

By Walter J. O’Neill, Jr

 

One of the best girls basketball teams in the state with one of the best players in New Jersey paid a visit to Long Branch High School on January 27, for a Class B North divisional game

 

The biggest buzz of the night was that Dara Mabrey of Manasquan needed only four points to reach that magical 1,000 career mark. Also in the stands were several college scouts, one from University of Louisville.

 

With 4:49 left in the first quarter Mabrey hit a jump shot giving her team a 6-5 edge over the Green Wave and getting her name secured in the record books at Squan with her 1,000 career point. The game was stopped and her family and teammates presented her with flowers and cards to a standing ovation by everyone in the gym.

 

When the first quarter ended the Green Wave was deadlocked at 15 with the undefeated Braves. “I’m very proud of how our players responded during that opening quarter,” said Shannon Coyle, head coach at Long Branch.

 

The Wave was missing Hydeinah Moore, one of its best players under the boards. It was just last week that she was honored with her 500th career rebound. However, the junior is no longer on the Green Wave squad, and the coach just wanted to talk about the players she has on the court. “Manasquan is one of the best teams in the state and we are playing them very tight, I just hope we have enough to keep up with them in the long run,” added Coyle.

 

Long Branch had a total of nine players while the top ranked visitors had 14 players. And near the end of the second quarter you could see that Squan was able to rotate players and keep the pace going fast. With only two minutes left in the first half Manasquan had a 27-24 lead on Long Branch. The Braves then went on an 11-0 run taking a 35-27 advantage into the halftime break.

 

That two minute run by Manasquan and their amount of players would eventually be the downfall for the Green Wave. During the third quarter Long Branch used what little gas they had left by outscoring Squan 17-13. However, the final eight minutes had the visitors adding 22 points to their total and only allowing Long Branch nine.

 

Manasquan won the game 70-53 and Mabrey finished with 24 points 1,020 career points. Faith Masonius scored 12, Stella Clark and Lola Mullaney finished with 10 points. Manasquan improved to 17-0 on the season.

 

Stepping into a starting role for the Green Wave was Angelique Gathers, a junior. She has the ball handling skills of a guard and the size and strength of a forward. Gathers was also the high scorer for the Wave finishing with 24 points, eight rebounds, two assists and one block. Sol Margaret Navarro, the point guard for Long Branch finished with 13 points, hitting three consecutive three-point baskets in the second half. Quayniece Page also had a good game for the Wave scoring 10 points.

 

Under the boards for Long Branch was junior Keidy Mar Laureano, who had 10 rebounds. In her two years on varsity she now has pulled in 287 rebounds. Once she develops a more aggressive offensive profile she will be a force to deal with.

 

Long Branch is now 5-9 on the season and currently 3-7 in the B North division of the Shore Conference. Squan sits at the top followed by RBC 13-2, Middletown South 11-3, Middletown North 10-5, Wall 7-9, the Wave, Monmouth Regional 4-11 and in last is Ocean at 2-14.