As county and conference tournament play continues to heat up, our cameras hit the hardwood to bring you more exciting hoops action.
Ranney 77 Saint Rose 73 (OT) | Boys | Shore Conference Tournament Semifinal
The Panthers made a remarkable comeback rallying from 13 down with 1:56 to go in the fourth quarter to stun a Saint Rose team that beat Ranney by double digits in two regular-season meetings. Peter Mauro gave Saint Rose a 64-51 lead at the 1:56 mark before Ranney climbed the improbable mountain. When Isaac Hester scored with 6.3 seconds left, Ranney closed the gap to 65-63. Jahlil Bethea intercepted an inbounds pass and missed his shot but a goaltending call gave Ranney the game-tying bucket. In OT, Drew Buck made a pair of free throws to give the Panthers a 71-70 lead. Ranney created a turnover and Hester threw a long pass to Me’Sean Williams who laid it in to make it 73-70. Bethea led the Panthers with 29, Hester added 23 and Buck scored 18. Matt Hodge had 21 points, 15 rebounds and 7 assists, while Gio Panzini had 18 points and 11 rebounds in a losing effort. The #11 seed is through to the SCT finals where they will face Manasquan.
JSZ’s Rich Chrampanis has highlights of an all-time classic from the RWJ Barnabas Health Arena in Toms River:
Jersey Sports Zone’s coverage of Saint Rose is brought to you by Georgian Court University
Manasquan 68 Raritan 42 | Boys | Shore Conference Tournament Semifinal
Darius Adams scored 19 points to lead four Warriors in double figures to get Manasquan back to the Shore Conference finals. Ryan Frauenheim had 14, Alex Konov had 11 and Griffin Linstra scored 10. Manasquan will face Ranney in the SCT championship this Sunday at 2:00 p.m. at Monmouth University.
JSZ’s Rich Chrampanis has the highlights from Toms River:
Egg Harbor Twp. 55 Mainland 41 | Boys | Cape-Atlantic League Tournament Semifinal
The Mustangs upset the Eagles in the CAL Tournament last year, but third-seeded EHT earned its revenge this time around. DJ Germann and Jay-Nelly Reyes each scored 19 points as EHT (22-5) pulled away late. Cohen Cook scored nine points and reached the 1,000 career point mark in the loss for second-seeded Mainland (22-3).
JSZ’s Mike Frankel has the highlights and reaction:
St. Augustine 72 Middle Twp. 58 | Boys | Cape-Atlantic League Tournament Semifinal
Semaj Bethea poured in a game-high 23 points as the top-seeded Hermits surged in the second half to knock off the 13th-seeded Panthers. Elijah Brown scored 12 points and eclipsed 1,000 career points in the win for St. Augustine (23-4). Bubba McNeil finished with a team-high 19 points in the loss for Middle Twp. (16-11). The Hermits will face Egg Harbor Twp. for the CAL Tournament title on Saturday in EHT.
JSZ’s James Mooney has the highlights and reaction from Millville:
Colonia 49 South Brunswick 31 | Girls | Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament Semifinal
(3) Colonia (14-10) advances to the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament Final with a 49-31 win over (2) South Brunswick (17-7). Junior Taylor Derkack with 19 points through the first two quarters gave Colonia a 28-15 lead at halftime. The Patriots controlled the pace throughout as Derkack finished with 26 points, senior Mattison Chiera had 16 points. Colonia will take on (1) St. Thomas Aquinas (20-6) in the championship.
JSZ’s Nery Rodriguez has the highlights from Monroe:
Thank you to Princeton Orthopaedic Associates for sponsoring our South Brunswick coverage.
Thank you to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (Rahway) for sponsoring our Colonia coverage.
