SBHS fans in championship form

By: David Gurney
   PISCATAWAY—It’s pretty safe to say that earlier in the season, the South Brunswick High School boys basketball team didn’t drum up much support.
   There was the usual cast of parents, die-hard program supporters, cheerleaders and teachers, but not much else.
   In fact, head coach Chris Balent and the team used to joke that they could sit in the stands and shoot arrows across the court and not hit anyone.
   But things changed dramatically at the end of the season and the culture of SBHS basketball was turned upside down.
   During the NJSIAA Group IV State Finals on Sunday, the end bleachers at the Rutgers Athletic Center were filled to the brim with SBHS students and fans, by far the most concentrated area of fans in the whole building.
   Fans even arrived at the RAC as early as 7:30 a.m. to line up for tickets, even though they didn’t go on sale for another 3½ hours.
   "(When I decided to become a coach) I really wanted to have the fan base that you only get, in a lot of ways, in high school basketball," South Brunswick head coach Chris Balent said after Sunday’s 63-54 loss to Linden. "To be truthfully honest, and we joked about it all the time, we really never got it until the last week and a half. And it’s come in droves."
   Last Thursday, SBHS brought 14 buses of students down to Atlantic City to neutralize what was, essentially, a home court for South Jersey Group IV champ Cherokee. Despite the fact Cherokee supporters lived 40 minutes away and South Brunswick fans were two hours away, it became a home away from home for the Vikings.
   Sunday, behind some organization from Director of Athletics Elaine McGrath, along with Assistant Athletic Director Scott Horowitz and Athletic Secretary Karen Bertucci, the high school not only filled the end bleachers with students, but brought a full cheerleading squad and pep band.
   "It’s a very good turnout," McGrath said before the game. "I think it was a group effort. The band asked to come and we didn’t say no. We had to get special permission for them, but overall, it’s been great."
   This wasn’t the first time SBHS brought fans out in mass to support the basketball team. Against Rancocas Valley in the sectional finals, taking a page from Brick Memorial and the buses of fans they brought to SBHS in the state sectional quarterfinals, the Vikings had a large number of fans come out to fill the crammed gymnasium.
   Buses of students traveled to Woodbridge for the game against Freehold Township and 14 busloads took over 500 students to the Cherokee game in AC.
   Meanwhile, SBHS fans outnumbered Linden fans almost two to one, as the lines before the game consisted primarily of black and gold.
   Many painted their faces and sported black and gold apparel, much like SBHS senior Matt Goddard.
   Goddard, had a Burger King paper crown on top of his head, his face painted black and gold, and an S and B on opposite cheeks, divided by a white line down the middle of his head.
   "I think we have a much bigger turnout today than we did against Cherokee," Goddard said. "Things are much crazier and hopefully after this game we’ll be the kings of this court. There were a lot of people here earlier and a lot of students here supporting."
   The students were out in full force, but it took a while for the Vikings to drum up that support. Overall consensus — lopsided games, coupled with other interests were the prime deterrents.
   But suddenly, something clicked within the student body.
   Senior Robert Goodwin, a member of the Viking swim team, had this to say about his fellow students.
   "It’s been a lot of fun, especially as seniors, because there’s more school spirit now more than ever at the games," said Goodwin, who went to four home games and every playoff game. "Our town was never really big on school spirit before, it was always the same people involved in spirit week. But because this is something so special, people have gotten some pride in our school. This is something we can all be proud of."
   For Balent and the rest of the Vikings, the fan support showed how far they’ve come as a program.
   "I kind of knew how far we’ve come when I had to show up at 7:30 to drop off scouting reports for these guys in the morning and before I got to work there were 15 people lined up buying tickets," Balent said. "I was floored, just to look up today to see all the yellow shirts, the band and the cheerleaders. We’re greatly appreciative of the support."