Jackson Memorial High School’s Eric Carter (23) puts up a shot over the defense of North Brunswick Township High School’s Virlil Boykin during the Feb. 27 NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV quarterfinals game in North Brunswick. The Raiders won, 50-43. ERIC SUCAR staff Jackson Memorial High School’s boys basketball team exceeded expectations going into the season, but still felt disappointment after a second-round loss in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV tournament to North Brunswick Township High School, which went on a game-ending 7-0 run for a 50-43 victory on Feb. 27.
“Everybody played average. Nobody stepped up,” said coach Joe Fagan, as his team squandered an early 23-9 lead. He noted that the defense did a good job of containing North Brunswick’s best player, who is headed for an NCAA Division I career at Hofstra University.
“We just didn’t mount enough offense,” Fagan continued. “They turned us over a lot from the second quarter on, and we missed some defensive assignments that cost us.”
Jackson Memorial The Jaguars still won their share of games in their third-straight 20-win season at 20-6, including an opening-round threepoint victory in the state tournament over South Brunswick High School, as 6-foot-8 junior center Eric Carter scored 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.
“It was a gut win, a microcosm of our season,” Fagan said, referring to a number of close victories during the season.
Three of the Jaguars’ losses came to Toms River High School North, as Jackson Memorial finished second in the Shore Conference A South Division after going unbeaten in the division the two prior years.
The Jaguars also lost to Manasquan High School in the Shore Conference Tournament quarterfinals and to Notre Dame High School in a showcase game. All of those losses came to teams with 20 or more wins, Fagan said. “Overall it was a great year. We definitely overachieved,” Fagan said after his fifth season as head coach. “We had no real expectations where we’d wind up. We knew we lost a lot of scoring and interior defense from last season.”
Carter filled much of that void and has drawn recruiters from Drexel University, the University of Delaware, St. Peter’s University and Quinnipiac University.
“He needs to get better in many ways, with strength, conditioning and speed,” Fagan said.
By the time Carter graduates, he is expected to be the fourth college bound player over four years from Jackson Memorial. The others are the McDonnell brothers —
Jimmy, who is at Temple University, and Brandon, who has broken into the starting lineup in his first year at Dartmouth College — and Brian Kenny, who became a starter and is playing considerable minutes at Caldwell College.
Carter will be surrounded by a different cast next season. Point guard Salam Simon, twin brothers Mike and Nick Specht, Pete Hetzel, Aaron Burroughs, Matt Hogan and Casey Goscinski will all be graduating in June.
“Now it’s time for the other guys to step up,” Fagan said, mentioning junior forward Marcus Ademiola as a top prospect alongside Carter. “We have kids on [junior varsity] who we think could be players.”
In doing that, Fagan said the new players will continue to play under the system.
“We have kids who come up and we don’t overwhelm with basketball skills, but [they] are decent athletes who play hard and trust what we do.”
If that goes smoothly, Fagan said, the wins can continue.