Old Bridge boys are a true work in progress
Local hoops teams chase tourney titles
BY WARREN RAPPLEYEA
Staff Writer

MIGUEL JUAREZ staff Sayreville’s Kofi Genfi soars over the Monsignor Donovan defense on his way to the hoops during the Bombers’ loss on Wednesday in the Buc Holiday Classic in Red Bank.

With a relatively young team and little varsity experience, it’s not too surprising that the Old Bridge High School boys basketball team has struggled in the early going.

Nevertheless, coach Rocky Knowles said his team has time to right the ship.

“We really don’t have an identity yet as a team,” the coach explained. “So we’re struggling right now because without experience it’s like on-the-job training for the guys. So we have to push the kids very hard in practice to help them catch up with the other teams. That’s always difficult.”

The Knights are 1-4 having lost to East Brunswick, Brick, Edison and Piscataway. Knowles noted that his squad hung tough in three of the four contests, with the Piscataway game as the lone exception.

The Knights’ lone win came on Wednesday, when they knocked off Manchester, 44-30, in a consolation game at the WOBM Classic in Toms River.

Lance Rogers has been a key player thus far, and Knowles said the Knights need to get the ball to the 6-7 senior center more often. Rogers averaged five points and five rebounds a year ago. He was especially active in Wednesday’s win over Manchester, grabbing 14 rebounds.

Junior Quinton Crawford has been manning the point and is still adjusting to varsity competition. Knowles noted that Crawford works hard, but sometimes tries to do too much. On Wednesday, however, he played his finest game yet, scoring 15 points to lead the Knights to victory.

Scrappy Justin Zimmerlink, the two guard, is solid defensively, but has not found his shooting touch as yet.

Elvis Obi (13 points against Manchester) and juniors Rasean Padron, Ray Brown and Kwadro Okrah join Rogers in the forecourt. Knowles also employs sophomore Ted Griffin up front. Another soph, guard Danny Shapiro will see some time at the point.

Two freshman guards, Tyler Abad and Joe Reyes, are expected to see more playing time as the season progresses. Abad plays the point and Reyes is an outside threat, and Knowles said he expects contributions from both.

“Right now I’m looking for the guys to be more aggressive, and I think that will come with more experience,” Knowles said. “The other thing is that we need someone to step up on the floor. And we have several kids who are capable of doing that. Hopefully, one of them will step forward.”

Another factor working in Old Bridge’s favor is a top-flight coaching staff. In addition to Knowles, the Knights coaches include Bill Leahy, a former coach at Bishop Ahr; Bill Kilduf, who coach at St. Peter’s High School and Kean College; Paul Salsbury and George Casey, who both played college ball.

“Having so many excellent coaches is a great benefit to the kids,” Knowles said. “Hopefully, they’ll be able to help the team get going. They’re certainly teaching the kids a lot.”

Local teams chasing holiday

tournament titles

This is the week in the winter hoops season where local teams have their first chance at capturing some hardware for the trophy case.

And this season, several teams are in the running in a variety of tournaments.

The Monroe boys improved to 5-1 on Wednesday with an impressive 56-53 win over Susan Wagner (N.Y.) to advance to the finals of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart Tournament at St. Joseph in Metuchen. Shamil Graham hit a pair of clutch free throws with just over a minute left to break a 51-51 tie, before Vinny Mahmoud sealed the deal with some clutch foul shooting of his own down the stretch. For the game, Graham netted 13 points to lead a balanced scoring effort from the Falcons.

Meanwhile, South River’s boys earned a shot at the South Amboy Tournament title with a 50-49 semifinal win over Keansburg on Wednesday. The Rams took and early lead, which reached 19 points at one point, before the Titans mounted a furious comeback to get within one late in the game. But South River managed to hold them off and secure the win, led by the efforts of Kwasi Bell (13 points) and Josh Williams (10 points, 10 rebounds).

With the win, the Rams earned a shot at Henry Hudson in the finals yesterday. Hudson knocked off host South Amboy, 53-43, on Wednesday.

South Brunswick’s boys remained undefeated on the year with a 78-43 whitewashing of Academy Charter on Wednesday at the Joe Silver Tournament at Hillside. The top-ranked Vikings cruised to an early lead and never looked back, allowing them to rest their starters for the entire second half.

South Brunswick took on Port Richmond (N.Y.) in the semifinals last night, hoping to advance to tonight’s final against the winner of yesterday’s Lincoln-Hillside semifinal.

The remainder of the local boys teams all suffered losses in their respective holiday tournaments on Wednesday. East Brunswick’s boys (3-2) put forth a strong comeback effort against Immaculata in a Vaughn Stapleton Tournament (Bridgewater) game, before falling 52-42. Andrew Golczewski scored 14 points to lead the Bear effort.

The Spotswood boys were knocked off by Asbury Park, 57-45, in a Cardinal Classic semifinal game at St. Peter’s High School. The Chargers, who fell to 4-2 on the year, were led by Ross Gerhart’s 10 points in the loss. Spotswood faced Dayton in the consolation game yesterday.

Sayreville’s boys fell to a strong Monsignor Donovan team, 57-45, in the first round of the Buc Classic at Red Bank Regional. The Bombers (1-3) were tied with the Griffins at the half, only to be on the wrong end of a 12-5 spurt in the third quarter, which was the difference in the game. Sayreville, who faced the Peddie School in a second-round game yesterday, were led by Kofi Genfi’s 14 points, while Ricardo Harding added 12.

North Brunswick’s boys were set to tip off against Wachtung Hills at the Len Sepanak Tournament second-round game at Ridge High School last night.

In girls’ action, the Spotswood girls (2-4) tipped off against host South Amboy in the South Amboy Tournament final last night after knocking off Keansburg, 30-27, on Wednesday in the semifinals. South Amboy advanced to the final with a 63-39 win over South River in the other semifinal.

South Brunswick’s girls also notched a win on Wednesday, routing Marlboro, 56-40, in a War of the Worlds Tournament game at West Windsor North High School.

The Vikings were led by a brilliant effort from Jordan Confessore, as she tallied 29 points and eight rebounds, while Susie Miller added 15 points.

South Brunswick (2-2) was trailing early in this one before igniting their transition game with some full-court pressure that the Mustangs simply couldn’t counter.

Meanwhile, Monroe’s girls lost a 59-36 contest to host Allentown in an Allentown Tournament game to fall to 1-3 on the year.

Sayreville’s girls also lost on Wednesday, dropping a 50-41 contest to Manasquan in the Kuhnert Memorial Tournament’s first round. Holly Miara scored 15 points for the Bombers (1-3) in defeat.

North Brunswick’s girls hoped to make a strong first impression in the Roselle Catholic Tournament’s first round last night when they took on the host Lions, while Old Bridge looked to get a win in a WOBM consolation game against Toms River South. The Rams (0-6) lost to Toms River North, 38-21, on Tuesday.