By Wayne Witkowski
James Sofield carved a legacy in Jackson Liberty High School’s athletic program as the school’s first 1,000-point career scorer in boys basketball and as an outstanding baseball player who took his talents in the fall of 2015 to the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), a recently reclassified NCAA Division I program.
Now younger brother Dan Sofield is putting the family name back at the forefront among Liberty Lions athletes. As a freshman, Sofield quickly emerged as the leading player on the school’s basketball team and will be the key as David Zwirz continues a daunting rebuilding project in his second season as head coach next winter. And young Sofield, at 6 feet 3 inches tall, measured up to the challenge this year and will be leading the way after averaging a team-best 15 points and six rebounds while earning a Shore Conference B South Division second team selection.
James Sofield, meanwhile, is recovering from a back injury suffered in fall workouts and has an uncertain return this spring for the baseball team at NJIT.
“What sets Dan Sofield apart is that he already is aggressive, even though he’s a freshman,” Zwirz said.
“He does it all — plays good defense, takes charges, rebounds. There are not a lot of holes in his game.”
“I have had to be aggressive and to be a leader because we did not have much experience,” Sofield said. “I just wanted to help as much as possible.”
Zwirz succeeded Mark Lax when Lax stepped down to become the onsite athletic administrator at the school. Lax had coached the team from its first season, but the team showed signs as the season progressed of adjusting to its new coach.
Jackson Liberty graduates four seniors, including starters Lateef Foster at forward and Julson Badushov, who started about half of the games. Sonto Emenuga, a 6-foot-2 point guard, and Zach Amaty are the other players graduating.
“Overall, we did not have success or make any tournament. But we did make progress; we did improve,” said Zwirz, whose team went 4-16. “We had three of our wins over tournament teams. We were very competitive with not a lot of wins but close losses with only one varsity player back. We cut deficits closer the second time when we lost twice to teams in our league, like Lakewood and Manchester. I look forward to us qualifying for postseason tournaments next year.”
If scores are indeed a barometer, they prove Zwirz’s point in most cases.
The Lions avenged a loss to Central Regional High School with a 53-46 victory and ended the season with tight losses to Red Bank Catholic High School, 61-56, and Matawan Regional High School, 68-61.
As for the closer rematches in the division, Jackson Liberty lost, 41-40, to Point Pleasant Borough High School later in the season after a 15-point loss in the first game between the teams. The Lions also cut a 42-point loss to Lakewood High School in the first meeting to 17 the second time, and likewise against Manchester Township High School, which Jackson Liberty lost to by 27 points in the first game but only 14 the second time.
In the lone exception, Jackson Liberty lost more decisively to Barnegat High School in the second meeting.
“We need to continue to work on our defensive focus and our skill development and chemistry as a team. We’re on the right track,” Zwirz said. “We’re not going to change much. We’re all on the same page with unselfish play and getting better.”
That includes Sofield, one of five players coming back next season along with fellow freshman Miles Neal, who played point guard, and juniors Nico Montano and Anthony Kaminski at guard and Alonzo Aponte at forward.
“I think we worked hard and did not get the outcome we always wanted, but we always fought,” Sofield said. “We have to trust each other with the ball more. We have to believe in ourselves and have confidence. We have to take the extra pass for open shots.”
Sofield said, as aggressively as he played, he will work on being more aggressive about going to the basket.
These days, Sofield is practicing with Jackson Liberty’s baseball team as a shortstop and first baseman.
Just like this year’s team that has a nine-man roster, Zwirz goes into next season without a lot to start with at this point from the underclassmen teams that both struggled. But Zwirz is confident the young players will work hard and that a few may emerge as contributors who could press some of the returning players into starting jobs.