Barham brothers and Watson lead Devils over Dragons

By Walter J. O’Neill, Jr.

Ryan Barham (4) senior guard at Shore Regional had 14 points in the 58-48 win over Brick.

A trio of seniors at Shore Regional High School led their basketball team to a 10-point victory in a nondivisional Shore Conference game. Their opponent was Brick Township on Saturday afternoon. It was an explosive first quarter with Shore Regional jumping out to a 19-13 lead.

During these opening eight minutes, Finn Watson a senior guard for the Blue Devils, scored eight of his game-high 15 points. Maddox Paulin, junior, added five while senior Andrew Barham had four and Jasias Colon, senior, had a basket.

The second quarter, was much tighter as Shore only outscored Brick 13-12. , Senior guard Ryan Barham had six of his game-high 14 points. Paulin had a deep three-point bucket, Andrew Barham added a basket and Colon made two foul shots. Going into the halftime break, Shore held a 32-25 lead.

The second half of action was very tight as the lead went back and forth. At one point, Eric Mazur, head coach of the Blue Devils, called a timeout. He told his players that they are doing exactly what Brick wants. “Stop playing their game and play your own.” Shore outscored Brick 16-14 in the third.

The final eight minutes were the lowest offensive output for both teams. Brick was applying full court pressure and for a majority of the time the Devils handled it without any turnovers. In the fourth quarter Shore added 10 points and held Brick to nine.

Shore Regional won the game 58-48 and improved to 9-3 overall and are undefeated in the C North division. Watson was high man for Shore with 15 points. He also had three rebounds and one assists. The Barham brothers were right behind him. Ryan finished with 14 points, nine rebounds, one assists and one steal. Andrew had a double-double for the Devils. He scored 12 points and had 11 assists, nine rebounds, one block and one steal. Paulin finished with six points, Timmy Decker had two and Kedo Sayson had a foul shot.

The Blue Devils lead the C North followed by Henry Hudson, Keyport, Keansburg and Asbury Park. For Brick Township, they fell to 3-10 overall and are 2-1 in the C South division, which has Pinelands on top followed by New Egypt, Brick Township, Manchester Township, Lacey and Lakewood.

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