Bengals Blitz: Shore Conference Tourney Update and More

Mid-to-late Febuary is one of the best times of the year for sports fans of the Shore Conference. With the Shore Conference Tournament in full swing and the State playoffs set to begin shortly. We'll look back at the past week, while giving a preview of what is to come as well.

Boys Basketball: The Bengals had a tough task on hand to open the Shore Conference Tournament and came oh-so-close to decrowning the defending champion Raritan but fell short 50-48.

Barnegat was the 25th seed in the tournament, while Raritan was the eighth seed. The Bengals, like many other teams this year, found out Raritan Mike Aaman is tough to stop as he scored 25 point and had 19 rebounds. Mark McCoy led the Bengals with 13 points and the Bengals had a one point lead at halftime.

This week on Tuesday, the Bengals will take on Asbury Park, at home, at four and travel to Toms River North on Thursday for a 6 p.m. game.

The South Jersey Group II playoffs will begin Tuesday, Feb. 28 with a home a game against West Deptford at 6:30 p.m.

Girls Basketball: Although they had failed to qualify for the Shore Conference Tournament, there is still plenty of basketball left for the Lady Bengals this season.

Later this Tuesday, the girls will be travelling to Toms River South for a 3:30 p.m. game.

Like the boys team on Feb. 28, the Lady Bengals will be playing a first round South Jersey Group II tournament game travelling to Sterling.

Samantha DeCapua has been the go-to-girl for the Bengals as she has played in a team high 17 games, scoring 209 points, good for nearly 12.3 points a game. The sharp shooter has connected on a team leading 29 three pointers. Danielle Chiarella is the only other Bengal to play 17 games and has totaled 156 points. Sara Ridgeway was the third Bengal to score 100+ points this season with 153 in 15 games.

Wrestling: After falling in the Shore Conference Tournament and South Jersey Group II Tournament, the Bengal wrestlers bounced back in a big way with a sweep of a quad match on Feb. 11. The Bengals took down Haddon Heights, Maple Shade and Pitman. The combined score of the three matches was 142-64. 

Last Saturday, the Bengals competed in the District 24 championships. Matt Schofield and Greg Moran both finished second place in the 195 and 182 pound weight classes, punching tickets for next weekends Regional tournament at Pine Belt Arena. Nick Fogarty at 106 lbs and Ed Santiago at 145 lbs both finished third, clinching spots as well. Coming up just short finishing fourth were 126 pounder Joe Mandara and Ryan Kirk at 160 lbs.