Aidan Saint Louis scores 25 to lead Ocean

By Walter J. O’Neill, Jr.

Leading the Spartans of Ocean in the 48-44 win over Long Branch was Aidan Saint Louis (20). Defending for Long Branch is Cameron DeJesus (33).

January 6, the Green Wave of Long Branch High School hosted cross-town rivals the Spartans of Ocean Township in a Shore Conference B North divisional match-up. Both schools entered the game winless on the season, and it was a very competitive game.

Unfortunately, only one of these two would notch their first win of the year. And that was the visiting Spartans who narrowly edged the Green Wave 48-44. Leading the way for the Spartans was Aidan Saint Louis, a junior, who plays guard and forward for Ocean. He finished the game with 25 points.

At the end of the first quarter, Ocean had taken a 13-10 lead on the Green Wave. In that quarter, Saint Louis had four points. During the second eight minutes of the game, Long Branch was outscored 7-4 by Ocean with Saint Louis having six points. Going into the halftime break, Ocean had a 33-24 advantage.

Third quarter Long Branch played much better. They created turnovers, and pressured Ocean with an aggressive half court attack. Both teams however added 14 points to their totals in the third quarter. Going into the final eight minutes, Spartans had a 34-28 lead.

The last quarter was very dynamic as both teams were going hard to the hoop. Long Branch pulled within four points with Quentin Fisher showcasing his speed and athletic ability. However, it was not enough as visiting Ocean pulled out the 48-44 victory. In that last quarter, Saint Louis never made a basket, but he made 11 foul shots. Jack Bell finished with nine points and Niall Tantrum scored seven for Ocean which improved to 1-7 on the season.

Josh Da’Cruz was high man for Long Branch with 12 points and had three rebounds. Fisher ended with 10 points and Joshua Guzman scored nine. With the loss, Long Branch slips to 0-7 on the season.

Going up for two of his game-high 10 points is Quentin Fisher (2) of Long Branch.

Ryan Pringle, head coach of Ocean, stated that his team has athletes, but they are mostly soccer, football, track and lacrosse players.

Jason Corley, athletic administrator for Long Branch, stated that Darnell Tyler, who is the head coach has the same circumstances on the Green Wave squad. Corley stated that Long Branch has big, fast and athletic players, but few are actually basketball players. According to Corley, the feeder program in Long Branch has shifted over the years. “Coaches in high school are not responsible for teaching fundamentals,” said Corley. That is something the players need to have acquired before they reach high school, and added. “I tell my coaches that their job is to develop strategies.”

Pringle and Tyler both have athletes that basketball is not their dominant sport, but both teams played one heck of a game on Monday night.

Shore Conference B North divisional standings

Shore Regional 7-0

Freehold Borough 5-4

Ocean Township 1-7

Asbury Park 0-6

Long Branch 0-7

Monmouth Regional 0-7

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