Bengals Blitz: Boys Basketball Primed for a Run in the State Tournament

What's the latest on Barnegat High School's varsity teams? Here's the scoop.

Boys Basketball: The Barnegat Bengals boys basketball team has been getting hot at just the right time. With tournament play of the Shore Conference and South Jersey Group II right around the corner, the Bengals have played well enough to place second in the competitive B-South with a 7-3 division record and 14-6 overall record.

Led by Anthony and Aaron McGugan, the Bengals earned the fifth seed in the SJII tournament and are a shoe-in for the Shore Conference Tournament. In their recent 49-23 win over Mater Dei on Febuary 3rd, Jordan Salt scored a game high 16 points.

Girls Basketball: The Lady Bengals have advanced to the SJ-II tournament as well. Despite a 5-14 reocrd, the Bengals have punched their tickets as the 14th seed and will be travelling to three seeded Sterling.

Back on January 27th, the Lady Bengals defeated Brick Township 36-12. Samantha DeCapua scored 14 points and Danielle Chiarella followed up with eight. 

Wrestling: After a thrilling victory over Toms River East to qualify for the Shore Conference Tournament, the Bengals stay was short, as they fell to Howell in the opening round.

After back to back pins gave Toms River East a three point lead with one bout to go, at the 113-pound weights, Barnegat's Nick Forgarty scored a 5-2 win over East's Jacob Mahar. The win gave tied the team score at 27, as Barnegat won with the tiebreaker of most bouts won, winning 8 of 14 bouts. Barnegat would fall in the SJII quarterfinals to West Deptford. After holding a two point lead with two bouts to go, the Bengals lost the final two and lost 34-27.

Swimming: Bengal boys swimmers qualified for the Shore Conference tournament swim championships, and finished tied for 29th with Long Branch. Billy Breunig, Matt Ihnken, Grant Scull, and Riley Francisco combined to finish 19th in the 400 yard freestyle relay.