Cohen's Double-Double Powers CBA Past Colts Neck

Photo above: Colts 6-foot-9 center Josh Cohen

LINCROFT – Junior Josh Cohen scored 16 points and pulled down 14 rebounds helping No. 4 Christian Brother Academy roll over sixth-ranked Colts Neck in their 54-34 win over the Cougars Thursday at CBA.

The win was the Colts (13-3, 11-0) 10th in a row since losing to Rumson by three points early last month keeping them undefeated in Class A North play while maintaining their one-game lead in the loss column over Neptune (14-4, 11-1), who easily took care of Manalapan Thursday routing the Braves by 26 points, 55-29.

The loss dropped Colts Neck (13-3, 8-3) a full three games back of CBA for the division lead. CBA and Neptune are scheduled to meet this Tuesday, February 6 at Neptune in a game that will most likely determine the Class A North champion.

“We really wanted to win this game to lock up a chance to win the division and set our place in the state rankings,” said Cohen, who also had three blocked shots and dished out three assists. “So this was a big win for us and we’re excited and we’ll be excited for Neptune next week.”

The Colts needed double-overtime the last time these two teams met to slip by the Cougars 72-69 early last month.

“They missed some shots tonight that they made at their place,” Colts head coach Geoff Billet said of their first meeting. “Hopefully that had a little bit do with us. We did a better job defensively and that was one of our keys tonight.”

This time around Cohen did his best to prevent a reoccurrence of that double-overtime game with a dominant first quarter that helped the Colts bolt out to a 16-5 lead after one quarter ending it on a 10-0 run.

The 6-foot-9 Cohen controlled the paint in the quarter grabbing six rebounds and blocking two shots in an awesome display of power and strength that set the tone for the game.

In their first meeting between the teams, Colts Neck senior Rob Hill scored 19 points with Cohen defending him but on Thursday Cohen held Hill scoreless.

“Coach did a good job preparing me for Hill and Bosland (Ben) and that pick-and-roll they run so well.” Cohen said of his defense on Hill. “Really, I was just more prepared after actually seeing it for the first time and this time knowing exactly what to expect.”

The game itself got a little physical inside with Hill and Cohen jostling with each other underneath but whatever Hill dished out to Cohen the big man gave it right back at him.

“Last year, Hill was really the only guy who was able to stop Josh all year,” Billet said. “He gets physical with him and I thought in the first game and again today, Josh got physical right back.”

“It’s always tough in the middle, whoever is trying to beat me up,” said Cohen of Hill's physical play. “That’s what happens every game.”

Colts Neck outscored CBA 9-7 in the second quarter to pull within 23-14 at the half but the Colts pushed the lead to 14 points, 37-23, after three quarters. Cohen put up six points in the quarter along with three rebounds and an assist. Junior Stephen Braunstein and senior Robert Mahala added four points each.

Braunstein finished with a team high 17 points in the game along with seven boards while Mahala had a tremendous all-around game adding eight points, six rebounds, three steals and a team-high seven assists.

The CBA lead got as high as 27 points, 54-27, with 2:20 remaining in the game before Colts Neck rattled off the final seven points against the Colts bench.

Junior Liam Kennedy led the fourth quarter surge with six points to finish with eight points, three assists and two rebounds.

“We always preach defense and practice defense,” said Cohen. “Our goal is to play great defense then our offense will come and that’s what happened in the fourth quarter.”

The Colts still have two games to play, Cherokee – ranked No.8 in the tough Olympic Conference - on Saturday and Freehold on Monday, before their big game with Neptune on Tuesday.

“It’s still one game at a time,” Cohen added. “We’re on a ten-game win streak, but it’s just about focusing on the next game, which is Cherokee. That’s what got us to this point so we’re just going to keep it going.”

“Tonight he rebounded like a man, he’s been rebounding like a man all year,” Billet said of Cohen’s night. “He’s averaging close to 13 rebounds a game and for high school that’s a heck of a lot of rebounds - not to mention he's averaging 17 points per game. He’s been terrific all year. He gets after the ball, he’s tough down there, because we really don’t have a ton of size without him and he really controls the backboard for us.”

The Colts start three juniors along with two seniors but Billett feels his team is in good shape heading into the postseason.

“We’re still young and still learning,” Billet said of his team. “We have three juniors in prominent roles but they all played last year and got valuable minutes. We’ve got three games left, but obviously that’s going to be a huge game Tuesday - they’re very good and that’s a tough game there. CBA-Neptune; what’s better than that for the division title.”

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