By: Redd E. Patrick
No, there is nothing wrong in the world of the South Brunswick High School boys basketball team
After steam rolling to a 11-1 record with a 43-point victory over North Brunswick, followed by a 23-point decision over Piscataway, the Vikings were a bit sluggish in a 60-51 decision over a struggling Edison team, followed by an eight-point over a reeling Sayreville outfit.
There were reasons for those outcomes, which we’ll get to in a bit, but if one thought there was something wrong with this club, all doubts were erased Tuesday night when host South Brunswick improved to 14-1 with a 72-44 manhandling of Perth Amboy.
The stat lines were very familiar in this Greater Middlesex Conference Red Division victory. Dan Stonkus led the way with his usual 13 points, 15 rebounds and seven blocked shots; Martin Soaries led the team in scoring as usual with 16; Coron Short continued his torrid play with nine points, six rebounds and six steals and Nick Fazio recorded 12 points and eight rebounds.
Defensively, South Brunswick held Amboy to a season low in points. Jermaine Clark, who leads Middlesex County in scoring at 31 points per game, scored 25, but 16 came in the fourth quarter when the game was out of hand.
"We played very well," said South Brunswick coach David Turco, whose team is 9-0 in 2005."We jumped out 11-0, we held Clark to five in the first half and nine after three quarters, so everything went well."
That wasn’t the case against Edison, a team which came in with a 2-9 record.
"We were a little sluggish against Edison," Turco said. "We were coming off a big, emotional win over Piscataway, so maybe there was a little letdown. But we were on the road, we went up by 17 in the second half and give Edison credit, they started hitting their shots. And they’re much improved, they even went out and knocked off Perth Amboy in their next game."
Against Sayreville, the Vikings played without Joe Clancy and Devon Young, who were both sick.
The Vikings will be at East Brunswick tonight (Thursday) before hosting Piscataway on Saturday. Both games will begin at 7 p.m., following the junior varsity contest.
South Brunswick is now 9-0 in the Red Division with five to play. With a three-game lead over Piscataway, Old Bridge and St. Joseph, the Vikings are in a solid position to win their first division crown since the 2001-02 season.
South Brunswick has a big test coming against St. Joseph’s on Wednesday in Metuchen. The Falcons are 5-7 and lost to South Brunswick by 12 earlier this season, but they now have 7-0 center Andrew Bynum back in the lineup. The University of Connecticut-bound center is averaging 23.5 points, 18.0 rebounds and 9.0 blocked shots per game in his two contests back.
"Every game in the Red Division is a battle," Turco said. "Been that way for years."

