By Wayne Witkowski
Jackson Memorial High School’s boys basketball team had what coach Kevin McQuade regarded as an up-and-down season but showed improvement from the previous season when he took over the team.
“We handled teams we should’ve and in the bigger games, we’re not up to the moment yet,” McQuade said.
McQuade hopes the strides of improvement continue for a team that went from seven victories two seasons ago to an 11-12 season, ending with a decisive loss to Eastern Regional High School in its NJSIAA Central Jersey, Group IV opener.
“We did a good job of handling adversity and learning along the way,” McQuade said. “They’ve learned you can’t take shortcuts; it will cost you. We got that point going and amplified the intensity.”
The task next season is made much tougher with the graduation of leading player Chris Hawryluk, a 6-foot-5 forward who has started preseason workouts for the Jaguars’ baseball team as a pitcher and first baseman before embarking on a college career in the fall at Monmouth University. Hawryluk, who relies on his curveball and changeup for strikes in a four-pitch repertoire that includes a fastball and cutter, won five games for last year’s baseball team that went 22-7 (four losses by one run), won the Ocean County championship for the first time since 2012 and lost in the semifinals of the Shore Conference and Central Jersey, Group IV tournaments on back-to-back days.
“I feel good,” Hawryluk said of his pitching as the lone returning pitcher and one of three starters after the baseball team graduated 10 seniors. He is joined this spring by Kyle Lona, who goes from catcher back into the outfield, and Kyle Johnson, who moves from third base to shortstop.
Hawryluk comes off a solid basketball season, highlighted by a career-high 36 points against Brick Township High School Jan. 21 (amid a few 30-point games) and a put-back basket at the buzzer when Jackson Memorial beat Brick Memorial High School, 48-46, Feb. 6. Hawryluk finished with 23 points in that Shore Conference A South Division game.
“I definitely came into basketball season not sure of playing basketball because I had played it last year to stay in shape for baseball. And this year, I didn’t know if I might be concentrating on baseball getting ready for Monmouth,” Hawryluk said. “But I just couldn’t end it the way we did last season (7-17) and knew we could do better. As a team, we didn’t have the season like we wanted, but we did not want to have a bad taste [and] we did make the tournaments. It was a better way to end my high school career.”
Jackson Memorial lost its Shore Conference Tournament opener to Lakewood.
“We should’ve had a better record — should’ve won three or four more games,” Hawryluk said. “A lot depends on how you are that day.”
But Hawryluk provided the stability to help the other four starters who return next season steadily improve.
Andrew Trent, a 6-foot-5 forward who added 12 points in that buzzer-beating victory against Brick Memorial, will be one of the returning players leading the way into next season.
“I have a strong feeling this team will be capable of being a tough out [next season],” McQuade said. “We’ll get them involved in summer leagues and different competitions.”
McQuade said things have settled down a bit after a tough first season that still had an effect on this past one. He said that once Joe Fagan left as head coach to take a head coaching position at Neptune High School and McQuade moved up from being an assistant coach at Jackson Memorial, four players transferred to other schools, even though he was adhering to many of the same schemes and strategies Fagan utilized while stringing together four 20-victory seasons. But he said some players rose to the occasion and had to make even bigger strides to fill positions.
“I saw some kids were willing to step up to the challenge and identify [their] weaknesses and not repeat mistakes,” McQuade said. “Those teams had won a lot of games but really had no hardware to show for it other than the WOBM [Christmas Classic] championship.”
Just as in some recent seasons, McQuade has had some size to work with that he again takes into next season. Along with Trent, 6-foot-5 junior Nick Barba showed a smooth touch on his shot, said McQuade.
Calvin Blue, a junior guard, had some good moments running the point, like when Jackson Memorial salvaged a late-season slump with back-to-back victories against Fagan’s Neptune team, 65-58, and over Red Bank Catholic High School, 67-53. There also was a three-game win streak and part of a stretch of six wins in eight games in mid-January when Jackson Memorial avenged losses to Brick Township and Toms River High School East and pulled out a 35-33 victory over Lacey Township High School. The Jaguars also had a solid 71-61 victory over Middletown High School North in that stretch.
John Pitlak, a junior point guard, also had some double-figure scoring games after coming back from an early-season injury.
“He worked hard on his game,” McQuade said.
Ryan Lucas, a junior guard, is regarded for his strength.
“We’re trying to make him a slasher and to cover one of the better players on the other team,” McQuade said.
Another guard, Austin Boyle is a senior who graduates this spring and was out for part of the season with an arm injury.
“We want balance and to look to focus on who is hot at that moment,” McQuade said. “There are times we had five guys in [double-figure scoring].”
McQuade declined to specify other players, taking a wait-and-see attitude into the preseason. He said this is a very important time for players to work more diligently and with more dedication on their game over the spring and summer months.
“They’re a talented group with an upside and if we can get that work ethic to match, the thing is making it happen,” McQuade said. “It’s on them.”