High school state playoff picture clearing up
Regardless of the sport, the arrival of February means that a team’s postseason future will be decided within the next couple of weeks. For those teams with records around the .500 mark, it’s time to lay it all on the line. That means that several local teams are now playing to extend their seasons.
For high school basketball teams, they have until next Saturday to lock up their spots (teams must have a .500 record by the end of play on Feb. 6 to qualify). Local wrestling teams don’t have quite as much wiggle room, as the state deadline for the team tournament is Monday, Feb. 1. Hockey teams have until Feb. 15, while swim teams must be at or above .500 by Wednesday, Feb. 3.
While there are plenty of local teams that seem to be assured of postseason berths, there remain a number of squads that will be in full scramble mode over the next few weeks, making for some very interesting match-ups.
This time of year there are always two local basketball teams that you can count on to be playing for a high seed in the state tournament, rather than a berth. The Red Bank Catholic (RBC) and Rumson-Fair Haven (RFH) girls basketball teams qualify every year, and enter their respective tournaments with high expectations. This season is no exception.
The Caseys entered the week with a 10-3 record, making them a shoe-in for the Non- Public South A tournament. RBC is once again one of the better teams in the Shore Conference’s Class A South division, which is once again one of the very best block of teams in the state. The same can be said of RFH, which entered the week at 12-3, and appears to be in line for another Class A South public school title.
The Bulldogs will be gunning for their 10th straight sectional crown in a few weeks, but will need to get past a Shabazz team that moved to Central Jersey Group II this year, and decidedly beat RFH in a regular-season affair just a few weeks ago.
Shore Regional is another Class A South team that is state tournament-bound, entering the week with an 8-4 mark. The Blue Devils will undoubtedly be the most battle-tested team in the CJ Group I bracket, having played St. John Vianney, RFH, RBC, Manasquan and Holmdel twice each this year. That will make Shore a serious threat to compete for the sectional title.
Down in Class B North, a pair of local teams is on the bubble. Red Bank Regional (RBR) entered the week at 6-5, and will need to put together some wins over the next two weeks to lock up their spot. The Bucs hosted Toms River East (4-8) on Tuesday and will travel to Wall Township (11-4) tomorrow and Lakewood (2-9) on Saturday before taking on top-ranked Neptune (10-1), Marlboro (7- 7) and Long Branch (2-10) next week.
Ocean Township’s girls also entered the week with a mathematical shot at the state playoffs, but had their chances to take a severe hit on Saturday with a 38-36 loss to Mater Dei to fall to 5-9 on the year. The Spartans will need to play flawlessly over the next two weeks if they hope to earn a berth.
The boys basketball picture is quite a bit fuzzier, as no local teams entered the week assured of a state tournament berth. However, as many as seven teams have a legitimate shot at qualifying with some solid play over the next 10 days.
Rumson-Fair Haven (7-5) is the lone local representative from the Class A Central that is in line to qualify, while RBC (4-7) and Shore (4-8) need to put together some substantial winning streaks to extend their seasons.
In Class B North, Monmouth (8-5), Ocean (8-6) and Long Branch (7-5) are all on the verge of qualifying, while RBR (5-7) needs to get hot quick. The Bucs were at Point Pleasant Beach (8-3) last night, and will host Wall (2-11) tomorrow and travel across town to face RBC on Saturday. From there, head coach Scott Martin’s team will take on Neptune (7-5) and Long Branch next week. Overall, RBR needs to win four of their next five to qualify.
The Long Branch High School wrestling team leads the list of local teams in line to qualify for the team state tournament. At 14- 3, the Green Wave will once again be the favorite in the Group II tournament. Ocean Township (11-4) will be back in the CJ Group III bracket, while Monmouth Regional’s chances of joining them came to an end with a pair of losses over the weekend. That leaves Shore Regional, who, at 6-6 entering the week, has its fate in its own hands. The Blue Devils were scheduled to host Manasquan yesterday (3-10), and will take on Lacey (4-10) and Freehold Borough (5-6) on Saturday and Point Pleasant Borough (6- 10) on Monday.
In hockey, both the Red Bank Catholic (6- 6-2) and Rumson-Fair Haven (7-5) teams are in good shape to make a run at the state tournament, while, as usual, a host of local swim teams are on course to qualify as well.
On the boys side, the second-ranked Ocean Township Spartans (10-0) are expected to make a big splash in the postseason tournaments, while Red Bank Catholic (6-4) has also performed well thus far. Red Bank Regional (7-2) will be postseason-bound, while Shore Regional’s boys still have some work to do.
Five local girls teams are in good shape to qualify, led by top-ranked Red Bank Catholic (9-0), which has already captured the Class B North title, and Ocean Township (8-1), ranked fourth in the Shore Conference. Rumson-Fair Haven (4-3) and Red Bank Regional (5-4) appear poised to make their annual appearance in the state tournament, while the Shore Regional (2-3-1) girls, like the boys, need to finish strong over the next week.
The Blue Devils were scheduled to swim against Manasquan yesterday, and will face Freehold Borough on Friday at Monmouth University and Neptune on Tuesday, again at Monmouth.
Next weekend, all of the local swim teams will turn their attention to the Shore Conference Championships.
