Spartans start season with 42-24 win

By Walter J. O’Neill, Jr.

Floating to the hoop is Keith Allen (5) a senior guard at Ocean Township, who had 14 points in the win over the Green Wave of Long Branch.

Ocean Township opened the 2023-2024 boys’ basketball with a surprising 42-24 win over the Green Wave of Long Branch. The Spartans of Ocean, who finished 16-10 overall and 8-2 for first place in the Class C South division last year, had a big exodus of players this season.

Ryan Pringle, in his fourth year as head coach, was expecting four impact players to return, owever, two transferred out of Ocean and two decided to focus on their main sport. “Well, to be honest, it’s going to be a hard season. Losing four very talented players is tough. Fortunately, the players we have are all working hard and are dedicated,” said Pringle.

The Spartans are in the B Central division this year, where the Blue Devils of Shore Regional are the preseason favorite. Others in that division are Donovan Catholic, Monmouth Regional, Jackson Liberty, and Lakewood.

Meanwhile, the Green Wave are coached by Darnell Tyler, who is in his fourth season. Last year, they finished 5-19 overall and were 3-7 in the Class A Central division. Long Branch also suffered loss in veteran players, as four graduated and only one starter returns. This season, the division has a new name, A-Coastal and the Wave are expected to finish in the middle of the six teams.

In last Friday’s game the Green Wave jumped out to a 12-11 lead on the Spartans after the first quarter. They only scored a total of 12 points in the next three quarters. Ocean had a 15-7 advantage in the second, 8-2 in the third and 8-3 in the fourth.

Leading the Spartans in scoring was senior guard Keith Allen with 14 points. He also pulled down 12 rebounds in the victory. Teammate Aidan Saint Louis finished with 13 points, six rebounds and two assists. Devon Simis, 6’4” junior forward, had seven points for the Spartans.

Long Branch had two players finish with eight points; Havier Gonzalez, who also had five rebounds and Josh Da’ Cruz who had four rebounds. Peter Da’ Cruz finished with six points and nine rebounds while Kevin Harrell had two points and two rebounds.

Following the loss to Ocean, the Green Wave suffered an 88-48 loss at Ranney and 69-33 at Manasquan. They open their home games on January 2, 2024 at 5:30 p.m. against Rumson-Fair Haven.

Ocean is currently 3-1. After the win over the Green Wave, suffering a 60-56 loss to Keyport. They then traveled to Neptune beating the Fliers 34-24 and then on the road again at Jackson Liberty, where they won 53-47.

The Spartans will be playing in a holiday tournament in Lawrence starting on December 27. They will start January with four road trips to Wall, Point Beach, Hunterdon Central and Lakewood. They return home on January 12, where the Blue Bishops of Asbury Park will tip off at 5:30 p.m.

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