Bruce Gooding leads the Wave to a last-minute win

On Monday night Long Branch High School hosted the Huskies of Matawan in a Shore Conference A Central basketball game that was thrilling right up to the last second. The biggest thrill was that within the last minute of the game, senior Bruce Gooding took control and led his team to a 53-50 victory.

With one minute to play, Long Branch was down by two points when Gooding hit a three-point shot giving them the lead. Matawan scored quickly and were up again, and then Gooding came right back and hit another three. With 30 seconds to play, Gooding was at the foul line four times and made all four of his shots giving Long Branch a 53-50 lead.

Matawan had one last opportunity to win. They had the ball with 20 seconds to play and attempted to work the ball under the hoop but was forced to call a timeout with 10 seconds to play. Darnell Tyler, head coach of the Green Wave, huddled his squad and had them play tight, but insisted they don’t foul. Matawan came out of the timeout and had a hard time getting the ball inbounds. When they did, they were swarmed by the Long Branch defense and with no time on the clock a Huskie player shot an air ball to end the game.

Long Branch improved to 2-9 overall and are in fourth place in the division at 2-2. Up until that game they proved they were talented, but were not jelling as a team. That was not evident on Monday night as they all played together and filled their roles.

Gooding finished with 22 points, two rebounds, one block and two steals. Senior Amari Menter had 12 points, five rebounds, one assists and three steals. Roberto Perez Fernandez, senior, scored 11 points, had five rebounds, six assists, and one steal.

One player for the Green Wave who had to have a few bruises after the win was sophomore Joseph Corley. His job was to cover and muscle out Jayden Elijah, the 6’8” sophomore from Matawan. They were rubbing elbows all night, and Corley did his job to perfection.

Currently the A Central has Raritan at the top at 9-0 overall and 4-0 in divisional action. They are followed by Holmdel 5-4, 3-2, St. John Vianney 4-7, 3-2, Long Branch 2-9, 2-2, Matawan 5-5, 1-3, and in last is Freehold Boro 4-6, 0-4.

Long Branch Schedule

01-12                     Holmdel                                  5:30pm

01-14                      Ocean                                   11:30am

01-17                      @Freehold Boro                   5:15pm

01-20                     @St. John Vianney             6:45pm

01-21                      Monmouth Regional          11:30am

01-23                     Raritan                                  5:30pm

01-26                     @Matawan                        6:45pm

01-31                      @Holmdel                           5:30pm

02-02                    @Wall                                   5:30pm

02-04                    @Freehold Township     11:30am

02-06                    @Keansburg                      5:30pm

02-09                    @Asbury Park                    4:00pm

02-11                      Keyport                                11:30am

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