Emma Burke leads Ocean over Green Wave

By Walter J. O’Neill, Jr.

Ocean Township junior Rosabella Salvatore (20) shoots and scores during the 39-23 win over Long Branch.

December 16, was the start of the girls basketball season for the Spartans of Ocean Township. They hosted longtime rival the Green Wave of Long Branch in a non-divisional Shore Conference game. Ocean took the victory defeating LB 39-23.

It was not a barnburner in the first quarter, as both teams were making mistakes on dribbling and passing. Shooting, was limited and off as Ocean had a 4-2 advantage at the end of the quarter. However, both squads settled down and played much better in the second quarter with the Spartans outscoring the Green Wave 13-9to take a 17-11 lead into the halftime break.

In the third quarter, the Green Wave was struggling offensively. They were only able to added four points to their total as the Spartans scored 1229-15. Going into the final quarter of the game, Ocean held a 29-15 advantage over the Wave.

During the fourth quarter, Long Branch started applying full court pressure, which exposed some big weaknesses in the Spartan game plan. “We had a very difficult time dribbling and passing,” said Michael Lazur, head coach of the Spartans. He added that some practices he only focuses on dribbling and passing. “Yes, it’s the first game in a long season and we have a lot of work ahead of us.”

Long Branch forced a lot of turnovers in that final quarter and was only outscored by two points, as Ocean held a 10-8 advantage. That was enough as the Spartans took the 39-23 win.

Leading the Spartans in scorning was Emma Burke, sophomore forward and guard. She scored 25 of the team’s 39 points. As a freshman last season, she finished with 266 points.

Senior Ava Chebookjian, who plays center and forward for Ocean, finished with eight points. Three other Spartans scored two points each; Yassmeen Youssef, Ashley Mains and Rosabella Salvatore. Ocean will need more offensive output from the rest of the squad if they want to be competitive this year. Defensively, Salvatore was solid with quick hands as she swatted the ball away from Long Branch players all night.

Layla Bland (2), a junior at Long Branch High School drives to the hoop during the loss to Ocean Township. She finished with eight points.

Long Branch was led by Layla Bland a junior, who plays guard and forward. She scored eight points, had three rebounds and two steals. She also fouled out of the game, which definitely hindered the chances of winning for the Green Wave which was making a strong effort late in the game. “It was ugly. We have a lot of work ahead of us,” said Shannon Coyle, head coach of Long Branch. Nevaeh Wheeler, junior, finished with seven points and Jadayah Bowles scored five. Caylin Jones-Morais had two points and Michayla Bland hit a free throw.

Over the last five years, Long Branch has a 47-51 record. They were 13-9 last year and back in 2022-2023 they went 16-8. The Green Wave play in the B Central division this year. Other teams in this group are Marlboro, Manalapan, Monmouth Regional, Raritan and Shore Regional.

Over the last five years the Spartans are 70-53. Their best two seasons were 2023-2024 where they finished 24-6 and 2022-2023 when they went 23-6. They play in the A Central division of the Shore Conference along with Freehold Borough, Freehold Township, Middletown North, Middletown South, and Neptune.

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