JACKSON — This was the year Goetz Middle School boys basketball coach Steve Bado hoped his team would land in the championship game of the Run for the Roses tournament in Belmar.
With a resounding quarterfinal victory over Howell South, Goetz earned a meeting with Point Boro in the semifinal.
"We liked our chances a lot at that point," Bado said. "I thought we had a pretty good draw. The last couple of years we faced a couple of programs that traditionally are basketball powerhouses at the middle school level. But this year we managed to avoid those teams and go up against Point Boro."
However, as has been the ending the past couple of years, Goetz fell to a scrappy Point Boro team, 42-33 in the semifinals, to end their bid for the elusive tournament title.
Last year, the Cougars lost in the semifinals to Colts Neck and two years ago Goetz suffered a loss to Middletown in the title game.
"Again it’s disappointing not to get to the final," Bado said. "We’ve had a great season and the kids have worked really hard. It is a shame that we didn’t come out in this game against Point Boro and play better than we did."
Indeed, the Cougars finished the 2003-04 campaign with gaudy numbers. Goetz posted an overall mark of 25-4 and captured the Blue Division title of the Ocean County Intermediate Athletic League.
"We were hot coming in," Bado said. "I thought we looked real good in the first game of the event. But in this game you never know when your team is going to have an off night. We picked a bad time to have a bad game."
In the loss to Point Boro, forward Alex Morgans led the Cougars in scoring with 11 points. Scott Cullen and Nick Lopez both chipped in with nine, while teammate Derrick Onyenuenyi added four.
Point Boro started quickly, building an 8-3 lead after one period. Boro continued to hold the Goetz offense in check and led 19-11 at intermission.
"Offensively we struggled a lot in this game," Bado said. "We had a difficult time getting the ball to our big guys on the block. Our perimeter shooting that night wasn’t there. We started forcing shots and losing patience."
In addition, the Cougars only converted 3 of 13 free-throws.
"It’s tough to win a semifinal game at this event with making only free throws," Bado said. "We’ve been a pretty solid free-throw shooting team all season. We just didn’t get it done."
Goetz, however, did make a run in the third quarter. The Cougars’ full-court press gave Point Boro trouble and Goetz cut the deficit to three points. That would be as close as they would get.
"Momentum began to swing back in our favor for a short time," Bado said. "Our defense did a solid job. But we still struggled down the other end. We weren’t turning the fastbreaks we did get into buckets."
In a 61-42 triumph over Howell South, Goetz dominated the blocks. The Cougar guards were able to get the ball inside and Lopez and Onyenuenyi capitalized on their size. Lopez finished with 24 points, while Onyenuenyi had 23.
"What a difference from the Point Boro game," Bado said. "Here we were able to make that entry pass into the post. Our big guys are very good once they get the ball on the block. Howell South couldn’t stop either guy. That game was more indicative of the style of play we’re use to."
Sean McPaul had six points and Justin Hodges added five. Sean Kilkenny contributed three points.
"That’s the kind of game I expected to play in the semis," Bado said. "Our offense clicked. We were patient and got the ball to the guys down low."