Wins with youth

New players help Vikes to 8-1 start

By: Redd E. Patrick
   With just two players returning with any varsity experience, the South Brunswick High School boys basketball team was obviously going to need big-time contributions from players on last year’s highly-successful JV and Freshman programs if a winning season was going to be in order.
   So far, so good.
   With as many as 12 different players making contributions to complement the play of 6-9 center Dan Stonkus and point guard Tommy Hill — the two experienced players — the Vikings have posted an 8-1 record.
   The latest effort was something which had coach Dave Turco smiling, at least from an offensive standpoint.
   Martin Soaries, a 6-0 sophomore guard who is emerging as one of the GMC’s top outside shooters, led South Brunswick to a 75-65 home victory over Old Bridge with a 19-point effort. Soaries, after scoring nine points on opening night, has scored in double figures in every game since and is averaging 13.2 points per game.
   "Martin has certainly stepped up and meant a lot to our success so far," Turco said. "He is a legitimate 3-point threat, which makes it harder for teams to collapse in on Danny. Martin can stroke it and he’s gaining confidence in each game."
   Sophomore Joe Clancy, known as one of the Vikings’ defensive stoppers, turned in his best game to date by registering 12 points and 13 rebounds. Coron Short, one of just three seniors on the team, had been seeing spot duty lately, but when his number was called against Old Bridge, the athletic guard responded with 13 points and seven assists.
   "Coron got an opportunity and took advantage of it," Turco said. "And Joe was outstanding too. We use a lot of players and each game, it seems like somebody different is stepping to the forefront. That’s a good sign. Against Old Bridge, we wound using 15 players and each game, we use at least 10."
   Stonkus, who was in foul trouble all game before fouling out, finished with eight points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots. Hill finished with eight points and six assists.
   South Brunswick fell behind 10-3, but bounced back to trail just 12-11 after one quarter. In the second quarter, like they’ve done many times this season, the Vikings turned it on and outscored the Knights (3-6) 27-17 to take a nine-point halftime lead. Tim Lucas, who had 37 in defeat, led the Knights, who scored the most points on South Brunswick this season. The previous high was 55 by Hamilton West.
   "We were going to keep running different people at Lucas," Turco said. "But once we got up by 10 early in the third quarter, we didn’t do it because we were able to maintain that lead.
   "We played very well offensively, but it wasn’t one of our better games defensively. We don’t usually give up 65 points. But they did shoot 54 percent."
   Last Thursday, the Vikings had beaten St. Joseph’s of Metuchen 65-53. Soaries had a career-high of 21, while Stonkus recorded a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Hill and Clancy each had eight points, while Devon Young chipped in with seven.
   The Vikings play 1-7 J.P. Stevens on Thursday and 3-4 North Brunswick on Saturday. If they can win both, the Vikings would take on Piscataway on Monday. After Tuesday night’s action, Piscataway (8-2) and South Brunswick were both 5-0 and in first place in the Red Division of the Greater Middlesex Conference.