Ewing tops Ocean 57-41 to win third consecutive title

By Walter J. O’Neill, Jr.

Leading the Spartans of Ocean in scoring was Jineen Ayyash (24) with 14 points against Ewing.

For the second consecutive year the same 10 girls and the same two teams faced off in the NJSIAA Central Jersey, Group 3 Sectional basketball final. The end result was the same, top seed Ewing beat the second seed Spartans of Ocean Township 57-41. It was the second consecutive year that the Blue Devils beat the Spartans and it was the third straight sectional championship for Ewing.

In the 2023 sectional final, Ewing had beaten the Spartans 49-41. They had taken a big 18-4 lead in the first quarter last year. However, the 2024 finals had the Spartans coming out strong and taking an 11-10 lead after the first eight minutes.

Ocean was having some issues with dribbling and passing. Ewing, with four players going Division 1 next season, took advantage of those miscues. And they picked up the pressure in the second quarter, where they outscored the Spartans 13-11 and took a slim 23-22 lead into the halftime break.

Another big issue Ocean was facing, officials had called four personal fouls on Gamila Betton, the senior center for the Spartans. Players are ejected after they receive a fifth foul. A majority of the third quarter had Betton sitting on the bench.

One of the unsung stars of the Spartan squad is Jineen Ayyash, senior forward and guard. She is a utility player, where she can bring the ball up court and pound the boards when needed. With Betton on the bench in third, Ayyash had to pick up the slack in the center. But she also caught the attention of the officials and found herself with four fouls in the third quarter.

Michael Lazur, head coach at Ocean, knew that he couldn’t afford to keep both Ayyash and Betton on the bench. “Ewing is so talented, they have a 6’3” girl who can play point and center, who has a full ride to Michigan,” said Lazur. Those first eight minutes of the second half, had the Blue Devils outscoring the Spartans 14-7. Ewing applied full court pressure the entire game, and the speed and size of the Blue Devils were tough for Ocean to overcome.

Fourth and final quarter of the game, both Betton and Ayyash were back on the court and the Spartans were trying to chip away at the lead. The Clark sisters; Eli and Kayden, were the leading scores for the Spartans all season, and Ewing had a game plan where they were smothering them, keeping the sisters out of sync. That allowed another utility player for Ocean, Sofia Chebookjian, who is an amazing defender and always looking for the assist, to step up her offensive game.

With 3:55 to play and Ewing leading 53-34, Ayyash was called for her fifth and final foul. She exited the game as the leading scorer for the Spartans with 14 points, three rebounds, one assist and one steal. She played a majority of the second half in foul trouble, but never took her foot off the gas.

Less than two minutes later, with 2:15 left on the clock, Betton was called for her fifth foul. She exited the game with six points, eight rebounds, and four assists. When the final horn sounded the Blue Devils had outscored the Spartans 20-11 in the fourth quarter taking the 57-41 victory and sectional title.

Chebookjian finished her high school career with eight points and eight rebounds. Eli Clark, the oldest of the sisters, ended her Spartan career with seven points, three rebounds, and two assists. She also etched her name into the Ocean record books with 1,092 points, 330 rebounds, 440 assists, 15 blocks and 183 steals in her 97 games as a varsity player. Kayden, junior guard, had six points, three rebounds, two assists and one steal. With one year left on varsity, she is only 155 points away from getting into the 1,000-point club. As a freshman she scored 219 points, sophomore year she had 226 and this year she scored 400 points.

Over the past two years, those five Spartans led Ocean to a 47-12 record. They were 9-1 last season in the Shore Conference C South division and this year were 5-0 in the B Central, taking back-to-back divisional titles. “I have been blessed to have had such a great group of players. These girls had two amazing seasons and I could not be prouder of their success,” said Lazur.

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