Patriots fall to Trenton Central in state quarterfinals
Braves, Cougars exit
in first round
Freehold Township was the lone boys’ basketball team to score a win in the NJSIAA state sectional playoffs last week. Brian Golub’s Patriots, the seventh seed in Central Jersey Group IV, routed the Old Bridge Knights, 69-35. They used a 21-1 second quarter to put the visiting Knights, seeded 10th, away.
Walter Roberson, with 16 points, led three Patriots who scored in double figures. Manny Ubilla added 14, and the newest 1,000-point career scorer, Andrew Impastato, chipped in with 12. It’s scoring balance like this that made the Pats a Shore top 10 team for much of the year.
Senior starters Impastato and Ryan Brown, playing in their final home game, went out winners.
Freehold Township was hoping to catch lightning in a bottle like it did in 1998 when a string of upsets sent the Pats to their first state sectional final. That night the Pats fell to the top seed, Trenton Central.
The team waiting for Freehold Township in last Wednesday’s quarterfinal was none other than Trenton Central, the No. 2 seed this year. The Tornadoes ended the Pats’ playoff run with a 75-60 win in Trenton.
Township finished the year with a 15-10 record.
While Freehold Township was advancing to the quarterfinals, the Freehold District’s other two qualifiers, Manalapan and Colts Neck, went out in the first round.
Manalapan, the 11th seed, fell at No. 6 Sayreville, 69-53, as the Bombers used a 23-12 edge in the third quarter to break the game open.
The Braves were led by senior Ryan Sheridan, who scored 15 in his final game, and junior Jeff Burach, who will be the cornerstone of the 2002-03 Braves, added 12. Rick Garretson’s Manalapan five, returning to the state playoffs following a one-year absence, finished the season at 12-12.
Colts Neck’s three-year program made its New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association debut, falling at Voorhees in a high-scoring game, 86-80, in the first round of the Central Jersey Group II playoffs. The Cougars were the 11th seed, and Voorhees was sixth.
This game was a wild one with the two teams going to the foul line a combined 80 times. Host Voorhees was a very accurate 35-49 from the charity stripe, which helped pave the way for the Viking win. Colts Neck was 18-31.
Mike DeCorso led the Cougars with 23 points and Brian Burton added 18. Todd Hampton and Tom Domenico each had 11 for Colts Neck.
Tom Schafer led all scorers with 25 points. He was a perfect 12-12 from the foul line for the game and went 8-8 in the fourth quarter, allowing the Vikings to hold off a fourth-quarter Cougar rally. The team combined for 68 points in that period with Colts Neck outscoring Voorhees 37-31.
Lou Piccola’s Cougars finished the season with a 15-10 mark, easily their best. With Tyler Bennett the only senior among the rotation, Colts Neck figures to be making the postseason a habit.