Young Jersey Blues team has turned the corner
Brookdale men are 18-4 after 1-3 start
BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer

SEAN DWYER Brookdale’s Derrick Truesdale shoots a jumper over a Salem defender during Saturday’s Blues’ win in Middletown.

With 18 wins in their last 19 games, the Brookdale Community College men’s basketball team has obviously righted the ship.

After a shaky 1-3 start, due to the team’s youth (13 freshmen on the roster) and injuries, the Jersey Blues have been on a roll in 2006, changing coach Paul Cisek and his staff’s expectations.

“Our goal was to do the best we possibly can and build toward the future,” he said. “We didn’t expect to be where we are now. We’ve accomplished a lot.

“The kids are growing,” he added. We’re playing hard and aggressive for 40 minutes.”

Brookdale’s hot streak is a tribute to both the team’s resilience and depth. They’ve been hit by the injury bug almost from the start of the season.

“It’s the most injuries I’ve seen in one year and they’ve been odd injuries,” Cisek said.

Todd Eastmond, a freshman guard from Manasquan, went down in the first game with a hip injury. That was shortly followed by a broken arm to point guard Jeff Wedick (Mater Dei). Theo Fujita (Middletown North) was just settling in at point guard when he was poked in the eye. The Blues decided to red-shirt the freshman. Correy Haskins (Red Bank Regional) took over at the point and missed three games himself after being poked in the eye.

Through it all, the Blues have remained on an even keel.

Cisek credits it to the fact the Brookdale has a very balanced team this year and doesn’t look to anyone to carry the scoring load.

“There’s no emphasis on who will score the points,” he said. “A lot of guys have stepped it up.”

What the Blues can count on each night is defense.

“This is the best defense we’ve played in a couple of years here,” said Cisek. “We’re not big, but we’re handling the glass well.”

Brookdale doesn’t have the intimidating presence in the paint like it has had in previous years with the likes of Miguel Rodriguez, but what it has is a very quick and aggressive team that has mastered the 1-3-1 trap. Earlier in the season, the young Blues were struggling with the nuances of the trap, and that contributed to the team’s slow start out of the gate. But now they are all on the same page.

“They understand what makes it work,” said Cisek. “They’re playing as a team.”

Guard Ed Marquez (Jackson) has been the point man on defense. Cisek calls him his the team’s “stopper.”

Defense and some timely three-point shooting bailed the Jersey Blues out in Toms River last week when they rallied from five down in the final 40 seconds to pull out a 68-67 win.

“We played real good defense,” said Cisek. “Offensively, it was our worst shooting night, but we stayed in there.”

Down 67-62, Sean Carter (Freehold Borough) hit a 3-pointer to pull the Blues within two points, 67-65. Paul Butler (Passaic) came up with the defensive play of the night on Ocean’s next possession coming up with a steal and calling time out with 20 seconds to play.

“Paul made a great play and called the time out and put our offense in place,” said Cisek.

Neither option one or two were open and the Blues turned to their third option, an outside shot. Kevin Fallon (Roselle Catholic) was open and hit the 3-pointer that put Brookdale up 68-67 with eight seconds left in the game.

Following a time out, Ocean was not able to get a shot off the swarming Brookdale defense and the visiting Blues improved to 17-4 on the season.

On Saturday, the Blues demonstrated their resiliency by overcoming a 20-point deficit to knock off Salem County College (13-10), 70-69 and register their 18th win of the season. Brookdale turned up the defensive intensity in the second half, holding Salem to just 26 points, while Carter and Marquez began to assert themselves offensively, scoring 13 and 16 points respectively in the second stanza. Carter also notched the game-winning bucket.

By winning 18 of their last 19 games, the Blues have positioned themselves to make a strong run for a good seeding in the upcoming Region XIX tournament that begins Feb. 25. The first two rounds, the 25th and 28th are on the home court of the higher seeded team. The semifinals (March 2) and finals (March 4) are at Morris Community College.

Before the Region XIX tournament begins, the Blues close the regular season with three straight games at home. Tomorrow night, they host Raritan (5:30 p.m.), on Saturday Morris makes a call (noon), and on Tuesday Lackawanna comes to Lincroft (7:30 p.m.)