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Imhotep (Pa.) Charter-Msgr. Donovan, extra CBA-Boys and Girls
For the second straight game, a Shore team lost to a nonconference team within the final five seconds as Imhotep’s Will Adams scored a lay-up off an inbounds play with three seconds left for a 48-47 win.
I’ll start with CBA’s last-second loss first. I talked to Boys and Girls’ Chris Harris, who buried an NBA 3-pointer that banked in with five seconds left to beat the Colts. He said that he just didn’t even think, he just launched it, and that CBA didn’t close on him strongly because he is not one of Boys and Girls’ main scorers.
I talked to the Kangaroos’ coach, Ruth Lovelace, afterward, and she called it a “really gutsy shot” because Harris was not even the third option at that point and he just put it up.
CBA is taking it as a positive rather than its second straight heartbreaker after losing at the buzzer to Freehold Township in its previous game. They figure they were right there with one of New York City’s best teams and they had to make a very difficult shot to beat the Colts. I joked with new CBA coach Geoff Billet, who has received some criticism over some losses this season, that this one should keep the pitchforks and torches at bay for another week (Or at least until the Colts Neck game on Tuesday).
An interesting sidelight in that game is that a disputed dunk by CBA’s Pat Light could have been huge. It went in and out of the net and was ruled a basket. What if CBA had won by two points if Harris missed that last-second three? Hmmmm.
Another interesting wrinkle is that Boys and Girls is used to playing with a shot clock, which is the rule in the league they play in in New York City. Lovelace said they’re not used to having to defend for as long of stretches as CBA made them work by passing the ball around.
One other thing on CBA is that the Colts may have found a solid point guard before the return of Dallas Ouano from injury in sophomore Roy Mabrey, who had nine points and played some fearless ball in a heightened atmosphere in his first varsity start. Billet said he made the move because he didn’t want senior guard Mike Kuhn to have to worry about serving as a point guard when he is really a two-guard.
As for Monsignor Donovan, coach Mike Kearney elected to go man-to-man rather than a zone look on that final inbounds play, and the defense simply broke down as Adams got open via a pick and then had an open lay-up after center Rashad Savage cleared out the closest defender. Adams told me afterward that in the huddle that they decided to run the play they call “S-2” but they were going to call out “S-1” before inbounding in hopes that Donovan would anticipate that particular pick sequence because of the scouting report.
Griffins’ senior Kyle Milana, who had a game-high 20 points, essentially put the team on his back offensively in the fourth quarter, making one clutch drive to the hoop after another in the final minutes. Kearney looks at the loss as a sign that the Griffins can hang with a team that has three players who are either committed to Division I-A schools or getting major looks on a team ranked in the top 10 in the state in Pennsylvania.
CBA-Boys and Girls (N.Y.)
The Colts lost on a 3-pointer with 5 seconds left in the game by Chris Harris. I’ll discuss that above in the Mon Don recap as well because it happened to two Shore teams in a row, except that Imhotep’s was a two-pointer.
CBA is down 36-35 in the third quarter and playing like a totally different team from the one that has stumbled recently. Sophomore Roy Mabrey has given them a lift in his first start and their zone has Boys and Girls out of sync, and Brian Neller has nailed two deep threes to get a little momentum going offensively.
There was a bit of controversy in the first half when CBA’s Pat Light threw down a dunk that came back up out of the net. They awarded him the basket but not after discussion. The rule is that it has to go all the way through the net, but the officials didn’t get a clean look. Luckily, we’ll have the video replay of it for you.
It looks like CBA’s recent loss to Freehold Township really emptied the bandwagon because the Colt Crazies and any semblance of a student section can’t be found at Convention Hall. Sophomore guard Roy Mabrey has also gotten his first start of the season for the Colts. CBA is down 10-5 halfway through the first quarter. Random fact about Boys and Girls: They are coached by a woman, Ruth Lovelace, who is in her 14th season. Don’t see that too often.
Colts Neck-Bloomfield Tech
Colts Neck fell 64-57 to perennial state power Bloomfield Tech, but in talking with head coach Lou Piccola, point guard Mitchell Kates and forward Steve Spinella after the game, they are treating it like almost a win. They pushed a team that reached the Tournament of Champions final last season to the wire after being down by as many as 18 points in the third quarter. I’ve seen this before, where teams come to the Battle on the Boardwalk and give a good game to a big-name team, and it jumpstarts their season. Raritan and Qa’rraan Calhoun vs. St. Benedict’s and J.R. Smith a few years back comes to mind.
Piccola said that the tempo of the game hurt Colts Neck, because it became a run-and-gun game at times, which Bloomfield Tech loves. A crucial stretch to start the third quarter in which the Cougars went scoreless until there was 3:35 left in the game proved to be the difference. Also, whenever Colts Neck desperately needed a defensive stop when down by eight or 10 points in the second half, the Cougars could not get it.
However, they still showed heart in the comeback, which they had been missing in their recent four-game losing streak after a 7-0 start. Kates and Spinella combined for 44 points, which is also an encouraging sign heading into a huge Class A North game against Christian Brothers Academy on the road on Tuesday.
The Cougars were hanging right with Bloomfield after looking like they might get blown out after getting down 11-3 early. They are losing 25-20 in the second quarter, but Colts Neck coach Lou Piccola just loudly reminded his players in the huddle that the breakneck pace of the game is not to Colts Neck’s liking. Bloomfield likes to play in a track meet, so even though they are close, they have to slow the game down.
Bloomfield was hitting everything against Colts Neck’s zone early on, making the Cougars switch to man-to-man. Steve Spinella also picked up his second foul with a charge with 6:26 left in the half. Florida Atlantic-bound guard R.J. Hall has been as advertised for Bloomfield thus far, and guard Troy Webster . The good news for Colts Neck is that Spinella and point guard Mitchell Kates are both off to fast starts, although Spinella did miss a wide open dunk after a steal.
Asbury Park-Monmouth
The Asbury Park-Monmouth game is underway, with Asbury Park leading 13-10 in the first quarter at Convention Hall. Both teams are sitting in zones on defense, but the Blue Bishops are getting points by pushing the ball in transition and getting to the foul line.
I’m proud to report that it’s actually warm in Convention Hall after feeling like I had to wear gloves to this event in past years. Good job by the town and The Hoop Group for bringing the warmth to the old building. Unfortunately, the lighting in here is pretty dim. I think they forgot to turn the overhead chandeliers off of “intimate dinner setting” mode. Decent-sized crowd, which is pretty good because the noon game often doesn’t draw well. It certainly can’t hurt that it’s Asbury Park playing in its own backyard.
Monmouth is up 40-27 late in the third quarter. The Falcons are getting points in transition and their zone is baiting Asbury Park into launching long 3-pointers that are causing fast breaks the other way when they come off the rim long. The Blue Bishops are also making unforced turnovers like numerous traveling calls.
Monmouth took care of Asbury Park 62-53 despite a late 9-0 run by the Blue Bishops that closed the gap to 57-50. Asbury Park had 19 turnovers in the game, which Monmouth converted into 23 points to become the first Shore Conference team to defeat Asbury Park this season.
I’ll tell you one thing, Asbury Park guard Ron Berardesco will launch it from the parking lot. He hit four 3-pointers in the game, and most of them were a foot or two behind the NBA 3-point line at Convention Hall. However, the difference was the turnovers and Monmouth’s ability to limit Asbury Park to one shot, which usually was a long jumper, because of the Falcons’ size advantage inside.
I’ll keep posting updates here throughout the day, so check back.
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