LITTLE SILVER – Coming off its greatest football season in school history, unbeaten Mater Dei Prep (5-0) appears ready to do the same in boys basketball if Friday’s impressive 55-40 win over Sayreville in the championship game of the Albert E. Martin Buc Holiday Classic is any indication.
The Seraphs used their quickness, athleticism and superior depth to outlast a quality Sayreville squad in winning their first Buc Classic title since the 1980s.
“We made some big plays and got some help from our bench,” said Mater Dei coach Ben Gamble. “Everyone played well. We fouled a little too much in the second half and put them on the line a lot but, fortunately, Sayreville missed a lot of free throws (10 of 24).”
The Seraphs started fast and finished strong, scoring the first six points of the game and, after Sayreville narrowed the gap to 34-33 early in the final period, scored 15 straight points, eight of them by Princeton University-bound Elijah Barnes, to put the game out of reach.
“We started off a little unbalanced in the second half,” said Gamble, “and they made their run, but we finally settled down and were able to take off again.”
Mater Dei, which had not been challenged in its first four games this season, appeared on its way to another easy win when it opened up a 30-13 lead late in the first half on a layup by Barnes.
The Bombers, though, who had a quick, athletic team themselves, made a furious run that put them right back in the game as they scored the final eight points of the half on a pair of three-pointers by Henderson Mautes and a put back from Xavier Townes to trim the lead to 30-21.
Sayreville kept coming in the third quarter, closing the gap to 34-30 by the end of the quarter on a jumper by Jahsim Floyd. Ryan O’Leary then hit a three-point play to begin the final quarter to make it 34-33 before Mater Dei made its 15-point run to settle the issue.
“Sayreville had a good team but we came together in the fourth quarter,” said Barnes, who earned Most Valuable Player honors with 18 points, nine rebounds and four blocks. “It feels great to be unbeaten and we hope that it will continue, but we have a tough schedule ahead of us.”
Mater Dei started 2017 with an impressive win against Union Catholic and now has two big games coming up, meeting state power Patrick School in the Battle of the Boardwalk at Brookdale Jan. 7 and following that up Jan. 12 by playing host to Ranney Prep.
Ranney (4-1) was handed its first loss of the season to Tampa Sickles, 63-53, in a game in which it was held scoreless in the second quarter. It rebounded strongly, however, by defeating Oviedo (Fla.), 80-75 and followed that up by edging New York City power Archbishop Stepinac, 75-74, in an overtime thriller to grab fifth place.
Sophomores Bryan Antoine and Scotty Lewis led Ranney with 24 and 21 points respectively against Archbishop Stepinac. Lewis also grabbed 12 rebounds and made the All Tournament team.
Unbeaten Rumson-Fair Haven Regional won its own Bulldawg Classic by defeating Barnegat, 58-47, Thursday. The event was a Round Robin format with only Rumson, Barnegat and Fort Hamilton (NY) competing. Ocean Township, which played in this tournament last year, dropped out.
Ian O’Connor paced Rumson with 17 points while Ty Pierson and Teddy Sourlis added 14 and 10 respectively.
Rumson crushed Fort Hamilton, 86-53, in its other game as Sourlis set the pace with 19 points, six rebounds and four steals. Jack Solano scored 12.
———-This sports story ran the week of January 5 – 12, 2017———-
