By Jim Hintelmann
LINCROFT – It’s been five years since Christian Brothers Academy won a Shore Conference Basketball championship, but the top-seeded Colts moved one step closer to that goal with a 61-50 win over Manasquan in a quarterfinal game Sunday.
The Colts received another strong game from 6-6 junior Pat Andre, who scored a game-high 22 points and was a force with his rebounding and defense.
CBA had more than Andre, however, with seniors Jack Laffey and Shaun Belbey playing key roles.
“Pat stepped up today,” said CBA coach Geoff Billet. “He didn’t play well in the first half, but when Manasquan switched their zone, we were able to get him good positions to go one on one.
“Belbey penetrated well and he can shoot,” said Billet. “He gives us lots of options.”
“We played real good defense.” said Andre. “Manasquan is a real good team and this was a big win for us.”
CBA led almost the entire game, and it was last tied at 23-23 on a three-pointer and free throw by Jack Sheehan in the second quarter, but Belbey came back with two foul shots and a jumper to help the Colts to a 29-24 halftime lead.
“I came off the bench last season,” said Belbey, “but I worked hard with the team during the summer. This was a good win as a team for us and I can’t wait until the semis Wednesday.”
CBA began to pull away slowly in the third quarter with seven points from Andre increasing the lead to 41-32.
The Colts later upped their margin to 54-41 and that settled the issue as Manasquan never got closer than nine points thereafter.
Laffey backed up Andre with 19 points while Belbey added 11.
