Mater Dei Ousts Bulldogs, Seek Third Straight SCT Championship

Photos above by Tom Smith: #1 Jamir Watkins, #2 Yasin Pretlow, #14 Kyle Cardaci, #21 Alexander Rice, #12 Kyle Devaney and #24 Adam Alston

TOMS RIVER – Rising star Jamir Watkins recorded a double-double with game-highs in points (20) and rebounds (10) to help second-seeded Mater Dei top third-seeded Rumson-Fair Haven 70-53 in Thursday night’s second of two Shore Conference Tournament semifinal games at the RWJ Barnabas Health Arena in Toms River.

The Bulldogs (21-2) were riding an 18-game winning streak and are ranked No.16 in the state.

With the win the Seraphs now have a chance to become the first team to win three straight Shore Conference Tournament titles since Christian Brothers Academy won four consecutive championships from 1993 through 1996.

“That’s nice,” said Mater Dei head coach Ben Gamble of getting a shot to play for his third straight Shore Conference Tournament championship in his third year at Mater Dei. “Did I envision that coming here? No, but I’ve worked pretty hard, the team has worked pretty hard, and they have bought in to what I’m saying. It’s nice and great for the school too.”

Mater Dei (21-4) defeated CBA in the 2016 final 50-43 then beat Marlboro a year ago 54-41 for their second SCT championship in a row.

It also sets up a rematch with top-seeded and division-rival Ranney, who beat Mater Dei twice this season, including a 65-61 setback on February 6 in a game that was tied at 61-61 with under a minute remaining.

Ranney (22-4) easily defeated CBA 69-51 in the first game of Thursday’s semifinal double-header.

“It’s a little different now because now all of a sudden I got depth,” said Gamble of his team’s rematch with Ranney. “And that’s been the success for us the last couple of years. And the good thing is that I’m familiar with them and they’re familiar with us. They’re a good group and we'll roll our sleeves up tomorrow and get prepared for them.”

Watkins scored 15 of his 20 points in the second half going 3-for-4 from three-point range after intermission. Two of those three’s ignited a 10-0 run to push Mater Dei’s lead to 16 points, 48-32, after the Bulldogs had closed the gap to six, 38-32, with 4:48 left in the third quarter.

“He was special today,” Gamble said of Watkins performance. “His decision making was great and he was a true leader today.”

Trailing by six, Rumson had the ball with a chance to cut the deficit to four but missed an easy layup and Watkins answered with a game-changing three-pointer before finishing off the 10-0 run with another three at the 2:08 mark of the third quarter.

“Once I hit that first one I knew I had to keep shooting,” said Watkins of hitting that first three. “My team told me to keep shooting. I was just feeling it during warmups.”

Junior Jackson McCarthy’s bucket with five seconds left in the third quarter got Rumson to within 53-42 entering the fourth quarter but from there it was all Mater Dei.

Senior Kyle Cardaci, who finished with 18 points including two three’s, pushed the lead to 18 points, 62-44 with 5:17 left in the game before Watkins completed his night scoring six of Mater Dei’s final eight points including going 4-for-4 from the free-throw line to close out the Seraphs scoring.

With Loyola University commit Kenny Jones (flu) and senior forward Adam Afifi (shoulder) both missing the Seraphs first two games of the tournament Watkins has been the unsung hero in getting Mater Dei to the final.

The 6-foot-6 sophomore transfer from Trenton Catholic led the team with 17 points, eight boards and six steals in a quarterfinal win over Manasquan and knocked down two game-clinching free throws in the Seraphs tight 51-47 win over Ocean in the second round.

Jones and Afifi both returned in very limited roles Thursday night but just having them on the court gave the Seraphs an inspirational lift and gave Gamble some needed depth moving forward.

“We played much better today,” said Gamble of his team’s performance. “I was worried because I just had the kids (Jones and Afifi) come back and I got used to that new group I got. So I started them (Watkins and Alston) and I wanted to make sure I didn’t over exert Kenny and Adam. It was a great effort by everyone.”

One of the story lines of Thursday’s game was the matchup of Watkins and Rumson’s super sophomore Phillip Wheeler – a 6-foot-7 jumping jack. Wheeler followed his first three-pointer of the night with a thunderous first-quarter one-handed dunk and completed the three-point play on the foul. He then pulled the Bulldogs to within 18-13 with another tre giving him nine first-quarter points while singlehandedly keeping Rumson in the game.

However, he picked up his third foul with just under five minutes left in the half forcing him to sit out the rest of the half and his time on the court was limited for the rest of the game, but he did finish with 15 points going 4-for-6 outside the three-point arch.

While Watkins was the second-half workhorse, Cardaci and fellow senior Yasin Pretlow combined for 25 of Mater Dei’s 35 first-half points. Cardaci scored 12 of his 18 points before the half while Pretlow accounted for all of his 13 points before intermission.

Pretlow helped neutralize one of the top rebounders and shot blockers in the state, Elijah McAllister, by driving then kicking the ball out to the perimeter allowing his team to hit 10-of-16 shots from three-point range and finished with a team-high six assists. His offensive rebound and two-handed putback dunk gave the Seraphs a 29-18 lead with 3:44 remaining in the first half.

“I felt like I was able to get by my defender and draw the big man,” Pretlow said. “We knew that he attacks and jumps for everything , so I just wanted to find whichever one of my teammates were open and they were knocking down shots.”

Cardaci’s second three-pointer of the first half pushed Mater Dei’s lead to 34-21 before Pretlow’s free throw gave the Seraphs a 35-24 half-time lead.

“From the start, I felt it today,” Cardaci said. “Last game I wasn’t getting as many touches, but that’s fine. I felt a lot better today.”

Jones and senior Kyle Devaney added six points each and junior guard Alexander Rice chipped in with five points, five assists, three rebounds and an assist. Devaney’s second three-pointer of the game with 18 seconds left in the third quarter made the score 53-40.

For Rumson, junior Ian O’Connor finished with a team-high 18 points but overall Rumson had a horrible night shooting going 7-for-19 from the field and 3-for-14 without Wheeler. Much of that can be attributed to Mater Dei’s vaunted defense that has a knack of pressuring teams into off shooting nights.

“We’ll definitely go over the mistakes (we made against Ranney) tomorrow,” said Cardaci of their rematch with Ranney – ranked No. 4 in the state. “I think we’re going to come back and be a different team from the last two games we played against them. We’ve proven we can compete with anyone and we think we have a really good chance.”

Besides their losses to Ranney, Mater Dei’s two other losses came in a two-point loss to Montclair Immaculate – ranked No. 12 in the state and a 59-49 early-season loss to Roman Catholic (PA) – ranked fourth in Pennsylvania. The Seraphs are currently ranked No. 13 in the state.

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