State title chase ends in finals with loss to defending champs
By: David Gurney
For one of the few times this season, the South Brunswick High School boys basketball team headed into the game as underdogs.
And, despite playing from behind against a highly ranked Linden team almost all game, South Brunswick was right there, down by four with a little over two minutes to play in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s state championship game.
But it wasn’t enough.
The Vikings simply could not get over the hump, coming within two possessions of tying defending state champion Linden before losing, 63-54, in the NJSIAA Group IV state finals before a crowd of more than 6,000 at the Rutgers Athletic Center.
SBHS was lead by seniors Martin Soaries and Devon Young, who scored 18 and 17 points, respectively. Soaries registered a team-high three assists as well as grabbing five rebounds, while Young led the Vikings on the boards with seven rebounds.
No other Vikings scored more than six points in the contest.
The loss capped off one of the greatest seasons in school history, with a school-record 27 victories (27-3), a state sectional title, and one game away from an overall state group title.
"This is the best season we have ever had," Young said after the loss. "Before Coach (Chris Balent) came we hadn’t accomplished anything besides a JV championship. It was just a magical run. Before the state tournament started, nobody thought we would make it this far. Just to be playing here at Rutgers in front of our families is an amazing feeling."
Ultimately, the Vikings just fell a little bit short to a Linden team that had two losses this year and defeated the No. 1 high school team in the country in St. Patrick’s (Elizabeth) earlier in the year.
The Vikings weren’t surprised at how tough Linden played them.
"I played against a lot of their players in AAU and know a lot of those guys, and knowing their reputation, I knew what we’d be up against," said Martin Soaries. "They were exactly what I thought they would be."
After trailing by as many as 14 points in the fourth quarter at 52-38, SB went on a 13-3 run over the next five minutes to close the gap to four, at 55-51. During that stretch, junior Arman Wilson scored all six of his points and Young added five, including a three-pointer.
The run culminated with a reverse layup by Martin Soaries with 2:02 left, which sent several thousand SBHS fans into a frenzied state.
"Guys made some big shots, like Devon (Young)’s three at a crucial point and Arman (Wilson) driving and getting fouled," Balent said. "There were a number of plays our kids made. As many sets as we ran, it comes down to, you gotta make a play sometimes. How much you do in the last minute and a half. You have to do a lot and I think we got some good shots in the last minute and a half, just didn’t hit them."
After a Linden timeout, the Tigers gave the ball to junior guard Desmond Wade (11 assists), who drove the lane hard and made contact with senior Viking center Vineesh Manchanda (two points, five rebounds).
The charge was called, but the basket counted as the shot went up before the contact, giving the Tigers a six-point advantage with 1:48 left.
On the ensuing possession, SBHS worked the ball around the perimeter, eventually finding an open Manchanda on the baseline close to the SB bench. But Manchanda’s shot hit back iron, giving the ball back to Linden with close to a minute to play.
Senior forward George Bease’s layup put Linden back up by eight. South Brunswick cut it to five off a bucket by Young and free throw by senior guard Brian Morgan (three points, two assists), but an Ahmad Harris layup, followed by two free throws by Wade, cemented the win for Linden.
"We told the guys before the game that if we could get to the three-minute mark in the fourth quarter up three or down three with one or two timeouts left we thought we’d have a chance to win the game," Balent said. "It was 55-51 and we had two timeouts left, and we were where we wanted to be. But they (Linden) had experience, they made their foul shots, and they’re very difficult to press."
Both teams fared comparably in almost every major category, with SB shooting 22-of-53 (41.5 percent) and grabbing 32 rebounds, while Linden shot 23-of-56 (41.1 percent) and corralled 37 rebounds.
SB made one more three-pointer than Linden and committed four more turnovers (11-7). But the glaring difference between the two was the disparity at the foul line, with the Vikings getting there only five times (making four) while Linden shot 12-for-19.
For most of the game, SB was without the services of senior point guard Malcolm Soaries, who was battling a stomach bug. That forced the Vikings to move Martin Soaries and Young to the point against an extremely quick and physical Linden defense.
The result was five turnovers between the two and a pair of turnovers by Malcolm, who was limited to just 13 minutes and two points, though he did grab four rebounds.
The Vikings trailed by just three points in the first quarter and held the lead on one occasion, at 6-5 with 4:46 remaining. But after that stretch, Linden outscored SB 30-21 to take a 35-27 lead at halftime.

