State playoff picture quite clear this year

BY DOUG McKENZIE
Staff Writer

CHRIS KELLY staff RBC’S Allie D’Amico looks to drive past a Colts Neck defender during the top-ranked Caseys’ loss to the Cougars on Monday in Colts Neck.

The scramble to qualify for the high school basketball state playoffs is usually somewhat hectic the week prior to the cutoff date.

Not this year.

With tomorrow’s cutoff for teams to have a .500 record or better nearly here, only one local team found itself on the bubble this week, on both the boys and girls side.

The Red Bank Catholic boys basketball team kept its playoff chances alive on Monday with a clutch 48-42 win over a good Colts Neck team to improve to 6-8 on the season. That means with a win over Manasquan yesterday (no easy task considering the A Central-leading Warriors are 13-1 on the season) and another win over Mater Dei tomorrow, the Caseys would earn a spot in the state tournament.

Brian Ahearn led the way for the Caseys in their win over Colts Neck on Monday, scoring eight of his 23 points in the first quarter, and going six-for-six from the foul line down the stretch to seal the win. The Caseys were sure to need another stellar effort from the entire team if they hoped to knock off Manasquan last night.

The Monmouth Regional Falcons got a solid win over a good St. John Vianney team on Monday to keep alive their hopes for a berth in the Shore Conference Tournament. Unfortunately it was not enough to get them into the states, as it improved their record to just 7-9 with only a game against Raritan last night on the schedule for the rest of this week.

However, as evidenced by their win over the seventh-ranked Lancers (11-5) on Monday, head coach T.O. Brunson’s team may be a tougher out than most people expected if they do indeed get into the SCT.

Among the boys teams assured of a state playoff berth are Red Bank Regional, who nearly knocked off second-ranked Neptune on Monday before succumbing 58-54 to fall to 11-4 on the year. The Bucs fell behind in this one, trailing by as much as 21 points in the third quarter, before roaring back to tie the game in with just 44 seconds left. But Neptune made its foul shots down the stretch and held on for the Class B North win.

RBR has suffered a number of close losses to top teams this year, and is hoping that the trend reverses once the postseason comes along.

The Rumson-Fair Haven Bulldogs are also postseason-bound, posting a solid 10-5 mark following Monday’s 59-37 win over Matawan. And Shore Regional, who beat Henry Hudson 68-39 on Monday, will also earn a state tournament berth after playing to an impressive 12-4 mark thus far.

On the girls side, there is quite a discrepancy among the local teams at this point. There were no local teams on the bubble this year, as the teams either played to very strong records or struggled well below the .500 mark.

Among the teams heading to the postseason are top-ranked RBC, who was stunned by Colts Neck on Monday, 43-31, in just their second loss of the year.

They are joined by Rumson-Fair Haven, who has played to a stellar 14-1 clip thus far, Monmouth Regional, who played well before dropping a tough one to second-ranked St. John Vianney, 47-41, on Monday to fall to 11-4 on the year, and Shore Regional, who improved to 12-3 with a 53-22 win over Henry Hudson on Monday.