Scottie Lewis and Bryan Antoine are once again going to be two of the most high-profile recruits in the nation and will have fans flocking to Ranney basketball games this winter. Photo courtesy of Alex Lorenzo
By Jim Hintelmann
MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP – Two years ago, any area basketball fan who predicted Mater Dei Prep and Ranney School would arguably be the top two teams in the Shore within a year would be looked at with skepticism.
Any doubts were quickly erased, however as Mater Dei won its first ever Shore Conference championship – an upset over Christian Brothers Academy – while Ranney went 22-4 with three of the losses to Mater Dei.
The two teams could be even better this year as both have most of last year’s players returning along with a flock of transfer players. Mater Dei has four starters back along with five transfers and coach Ben Gamble, in his second season at Mater Dei, is expecting big things once again.
Three definite star ters will be Elijah Barnes, who will play at Princeton next year, football star Marvin Pierre (6-2) and junior point guard Ken Jones (5-11). Once again, the Seraphs will have an influx of transfers that gives coach Gamble the luxury of one of the deepest rosters in the Shore. Guard Yasin Pretlow, a 6-foot junior, comes from Roselle Catholic, one of the top high school non-public teams in the state. A pair of Shore Conference transfers are sharpshooter Kyle Cardaci from Holmdel and junior forward Brandon Wilson from Howell. Two more transfers give Mater Dei some major size with 6-foot-8 Rajae Muhammad from Penns Grove and 6-foot-8 Adam Afifi, who brings international flavor coming from Egypt.
Mater Dei opens its season Friday when it meets Keansburg, and the Seraphs will also compete in the annual Buc Holiday Classic at Red Bank Regional as the top seed.
Ranney had a remarkable season last year despite four freshmen starters, but two of them, Bryan Antoine and Scottie Lewis, were rated among the top freshmen players in the nation. Antoine and Lewis have the attention of just about every major Division I college in the country.
The starting lineup will be five sophomores with Sarno the newcomer joining Antoine and Lewis, along with forward Chris Autino and guard Alex Klatsky. Klatsky was hampered by an injured knee throughout much of his fresh- man campaign. Look for him to be a scoring option getting a lot of open looks with so much defensive attention needed for the other great talent on the floor.
Ranney, the Buc Holiday Classic champi- ons, will skip the tournament this year in order to play in Florida.
