With the season winding down and the Warriors sitting two games under .500, they cannot afford to drop games, especially games they 'should' win.
After Manasquan fell to three win Holmdel on Saturday, leaving three win Brick without a victory would give the Warriors playoff chances a big blow.
J.R. Hobbie and his teammates made sure that would not happen.
Find out what's happening in Manasquan-Belmarfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Hobbie scored a game high 18 points and the Warriors walked out of Brick delighted following a 43-35 win.
The sophomore, Hobbie, was streaky all night. Hobbie nailed four three pointers in the first half, and then went cold from beyond the arch in the second. Still, he contributed six more points in the second half effort.
Find out what's happening in Manasquan-Belmarfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
"It has been the story for us all year," said head coach Andrew Bilodeau, "We have struggled at times offensively, but we've had a very sound defense all year long."
Manasquan's defense did a great job, especially late. The Warriors only yielded seven points to the Dragons in the fourth quarter.
"It's been a work in progress," said Bilodeau, "We regularly start two sophomores - we only had two returners from our squad last year."
The coach also added, "It came down to us just rebounding well in the fourth quarter - that and just hitting our shots."
Hobbie was not the only Warrior with a strong offensive performance.
Senior Casey Ryan added 14 points, nine of which came from three pointers. 6'6" Jimmy Walsh chipped in with seven. The sophomore joined the prolific pair with a three pointer of his own. Junior Neil Egan scored four and senior Nick Lustrino scored one to wrap up the scoring for Big Blue.
The Warriors maintained a lead throughout the game. Up 11-8 to close the first, and taking a 25-20 advantage into halftime, they recovered from a third quarter scare that saw the Dragons get within two. One of Casey Ryan's three pointers gave them a 33-28 lead heading to the fourth.
The Warriors are within one game of .500 as they improved to 7-8 today. They will have a chance to break even as the Lions of Jackson Liberty will travel to Manasquan to take on the Warriors, Tuesday, at 6:30 p.m.
