Vikings lose key battle to St. Joe’s

Vikings offensive woes continue

By: Redd E. Patrick
   Things used to be so easy for the South Brunswick High School boys basketball team.
   Tommy Hill would race the ball down court, he’d put a finger or yell out a play and in one sweet moment, it was X-and-O heaven as things would be executed to perfection.
   It may have been a double screen to free up Martin Soaries for a 3-point stroke in the corner, it may have been a penetration/kickout to Nick Fazio for a short jumper or a lob into the big guy, 6-9 Dan Stonkus for an easy banker.
   The point is, what was once so easy for the Vikings is now so difficult on the offensive end. And the bug has hit everyone at once.
   The Vikings’ offensive funk was in full bloom Wednesday night when St. Joseph of Metuchen posted a 46-26 decision. With 5 minutes left in the game, South Brunswick had 15 points.
   
   "We’re in a big-time funk offensively," a somber South Brunswick coach David Turco said afterward, while searching to the stars for answers. "St. Joseph played pretty good defense, but for three games now, we’re not the same team as early in the season. We can’t get into a rhythm offensively and we just turn the ball over way too much."
   The Vikings (15-3) entered the game averaging 61.0 points per game. Over their last three, the team is averaging 37.0 ppg, turning in its three lowest scoring outputs of the season with 43, 42 and 26.
   Against Piscataway, on the road earlier in the season, South Brunswick put on a clinic, winning 64-41. Last week, at home, Piscataway won 46-42. Over the past three games, Stonkus is the only Viking to score in double figures. He had 10 twice, four vs. St. Joseph. South Brunswick shot 10-for-50 from the field.
   Defensively, the Vikings are still getting the job done — giving up 46.9 ppg on the season, 43.3 over the last three. It’s just this offensive thing.
   "St. Joseph was bad, real bad," Turco said. "It couldn’t have been any worse."
   South Brunswick actually led 4-0 before the home team closed out the first quarter with a 14-2 explosion. In the second quarter, the Vikings committed 10 of their 23 turnovers. And, when the Metuchen-based school ran off the final six points of the session, South Brunswick trailed 26-11 at the break.
   "We talked to the kids about settling down and running the offense at halftime," Turco said. "But we may have been worse in the second half. We have to do something to snap out of it."
   South Brunswick turned the ball over eight times in the third quarter and scored just two points — Stonkus’ lone basket of the game with 5:55 left in the quarter — as St. Joseph claimed a 37-13 lead.
   Devon Young came off the bench to score all nine of his points in the fourth quarter to keep the Vikings from total embarrassment.
   What once seemed like a formality — winning the GMC’s Red Division — has now become a challenge for the Vikings. With the division mark now at 10-2, South Brunswick holds a one-game lead over St. Joseph. The Vikings must win at Old Bridge (Friday) and/or at J.P. Stevens to capture the crown.
   "Right now, we’re just concerned with getting back to the things that made us successful early on," Turco said. "This is hard-working group, so we’ll see what we’re made of."