BY MIKE WHITE
Staff Writer
JACKSON — It’s been a long time since the Jackson High School boys basketball team was the outright champion of the Shore Conference Class A South division.
The last time the Jaguars accomplished the feat was back in 1980, according to Jackson second-year coach Mike Antenucci.
Sparked by a tenacious defensive effort, Jackson rolled to a resounding 85-42 triumph over Toms River South last week to claim sole ownership of the Class A South crown.
A few days later, Jackson held off a late rally by a scrappy Toms River East squad to post a narrow 63-59 victory in a Class A South matchup.
"It was a real solid week for us," Antenucci said. "We were coming off a horrible loss to Brick the week before where defensively we didn’t play well at all. I thought we did a good job of limiting second chances and rebounding in these two victories.
"It’s real nice for us to win this title and not have to share it with anybody. But we still have a bunch of games to go. We need to stay focused and play consistent basketball at both ends of the floor with the postseason just around the corner."
In the win over Toms River East, senior off guard Tony Boone led Jackson with a game-high 22 points, including three three-pointers.
"He’s had some really big games for us lately," Antenucci said. "He presents teams with match-up problems because of his quickness and perimeter shot."
Junior forward Jed Marquez chipped in with 15 points, while teammate 6-foot-8 senior center Kenny Simms added 14 and numerous rebounds. Senior lead guard Ryan Mogila scored nine points.
"We did a good job of moving the ball around and getting a lot of people involved," Antenucci said. "I thought that we could have done a better job of shooting. There were some open looks that we need to knock down."
Defensively, Jackson did a solid job of containing TRE in the first half. Jackson jumped to a 17-13 lead after the first quarter. The Jags held TRE to just 21 first-half points.
"We played much better the last two games at the defensive end," Antenucci said. "We can’t allow teams to have a couple of big quarters against us."
With the win, Jackson improved to 14-3 overall and 10-1 in A South. The Jags squared off against Brick Memorial Tuesday and travel to Manalapan Friday — two games that Antenucci feels his team should win — before taking on Raritan Saturday.
"This is a huge week for us," Antenucci said. "We have a couple of games early in the week that we feel we should win. If we accomplish that, we’ll be heading in to take on the top team in the Shore Conference having won 15 of our last 16. That should provide us with a bit of momentum going into that game, but anything can happen. We just need to wait and see and take each game as it comes."
With both the Shore Conference and state playoffs drawing closer, Antenucci would like to have his troops playing as well as possible. The Jags could draw as high as a No. 3 seed in the state tournament.
"We think that we have a good shot at going that high," Antenucci said. "That would mean we would get a first round bye and a home game in the second round. Everything we do from here on in is geared toward these two tournaments."