By Rich Chrampanis
LINCROFT – When Christian Brothers Academy and Red Bank Catholic established an annual rivalry game six years ago, the Founders Cup began with CBA dominance for the first three years. RBC claimed the Cup for the first time in 2020 and held on to bragging rights last Saturday thanks to a 59-47 win on the road in front of a capacity crowd. (The game was not played in 2021 because of the pandemic).
The Colts (10-1) suffered its first loss of the season while Red Bank Catholic (11-1) is on a six-game win streak that includes victories over Marlboro, Rumson-Fair Haven and CBA. The Caseys showed how dangerous they will be next month when the Shore Conference Tournament and state playoffs begin.
Head coach Tyler Schmelz did a masterful job of mixing in reserve players with a core of solid contributors to showcase a tremendous depth in the RBC roster.
Alex Bauman is one of the most complete and versatile athletes in the state. His presence in the paint is evident on both sides of the floor. Senior CJ Ruoff is one of the most underrated players in the Shore who has the experience and ability to attack the basket or knock down an outside shot. Gio Panzini and Zach Meeks are sophomores who are quickly acclimating to the rigors of Shore Conference basketball. From this core four, Schmelz mixed and matched the rest of his roster to perfection.
Seniors Cyril Arvanitis and Alex Brown started the game with 3-pointers to stake the Caseys to a quick 6-0 lead. Tyler Burnham, a 6-foot-6-inch, 300-pound offensive lineman, provided a huge spark at the end of the first quarter, blocking a shot and finishing the transition on the other end as part of a four-point effort off the bench to give RBC a 14-7 lead after one quarter.
CBA spent the rest of the game chasing the Caseys, coming close to taking the lead on a number of occasions.
Peter Noble was a 3-point catalyst leading CBA with 15 points and Will Bradley continues to be a steady scoring source for coach Geoff Billet. Bradley got the Colts within two at 39-37 late in the third quarter and a Noble 3-pointer made it a 43-42 RBC lead early in the final quarter. But once again, the Caseys went to their bench and a freshman turned the tide of a close game. Ryan Prior, the nephew of Major League Baseball pitching ace Mark Prior, now with the Los Angeles Dodgers, knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers, followed by a steal and lay-in from sophomore Colin Cavanaugh to cap off an 8-0 run and give the Caseys a comfortable margin.
Bauman was a menace with 8 points and 11 rebounds, Ruoff had a steady dozen and Meeks had the best game of his young career with 14 points and 10 boards, capped off by a thunderous dunk right in front of the RBC student section.
“Our team runs so deep we can bring anyone off the bench,” Bauman said. “Prior hits two big 3s, we have Cavanaugh get a steal and a bucket – those are all big plays. We trust everyone off our bench to come in and make a play.”
Four teams have emerged on top of the Shore in boys basketball. At the moment, RBC sits on top with wins over CBA and a split against Marlboro. Ranney will get its chance to be in the mix as well, along with Manasquan. It should make for a thrilling February with these contenders continuing to jockey for position heading into tournament time.
Founders Cup Series History
Feb. 11, 2017: CBA 65, RBC 54
Feb. 10, 2018: CBA 66, RBC 57
Feb. 2, 2019: CBA 61, RBC 39
Feb. 15, 2020: RBC 67, CBA 54
Jan. 15, 2022: RBC 59, CBA 47
*2021 game not played due to pandemic
The article originally appeared in the January 20 – 26, 2022 print edition of The Two River Times.
