Ocean blows past Wave 52-32

By Walter J. O’Neill, Jr

Last week the gym at Ocean Township High School was packed for the boys basketball game. The Spartans were hosting rival Long Branch in a Shore Conference B North divisional game, beating them 52-32.

There was a lot of buzz before the game as several college football scouts from Syracuse, Monmouth University and Pat Narduzzi, head coach of the University of Pitt, were all in attendance. They were there to watch and support Long Branch High School football star Kamar Mimes, who also plays on the Green Wave hoops squad. There appears to be a lot of interest from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in Mimes.

Mimes has not yet officially committed to play football next year with any particular university. We will keep you posted when he makes his selection.

Of the four quarters played on January 23 in Ocean, the Spartans outscored the Green Wave in all of them. Two were close and two were not so close.

To start the game, the Spartans jumped out to a 14-11 lead on Long Branch. They used aggressive defense, smart passing and the superior play of 6’8” senior center Andrew Seager, who finished the game with 25 points., five rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block in the 52-32 win over Long Branch.

It was the second and third quarters were the Spartans pulled away and the Green Wave fell behind where they couldn’t recover. Ocean closed out the first half with a 15-8 second quarter performance taking a 29-19 lead into the break.

Starting the second half of action, the Spartans played their best defense in the third quarter only allowing Long Branch to score five points, while they added 12 more to their total. To close out the game the Wave played a little better in the fourth quarter, as Ocean bested them 11-8.

Jack Miller was second high scorer for the Spartans with 18 points. He also had three assists and three steals. Only two other Ocean players scored in the victory over Long Branch. David Yatcilla had six points and Gage Hutzley finished with three. With the win Ocean is now 9-8 overall and 5-5 in the B North which is good for fifth place.

Long Branch drops to 5-10 with the loss and are 3-5 in the division. Marc Dennis was high man for the Wave with 10 points. Tyree Morris scored seven, Juwan Wilkins and Mark Hill finished with three points, Latrell Bennett and Matt Clarke each had a basket and Kahil Campbell made a foul shot.