Mater Dei Survives Point Beach Fourth Quarter Rally

Photos by Tom Smith: #1 Jamir Watkins, #15 Kenny Jones and #10 Adam Afifi

MIDDLETOWN – Senior guard Kenny Jones’ bucket a minute into the fourth quarter pushed Mater Dei’s lead to 24 points, 64-40, over B Central rival Point Pleasant Beach but the Seraphs had to withstand a furious Garnett Gulls rally to eventually pull out a 78-63 win Tuesday night at Mater Dei.

Jake Clark hit the front end of a one-and-one with 1:26 remaining in the game and the Gulls had whittled the Seraphs lead down to 12 points, 72-60, and had the Seraphs back on their heels and reeling.

Senior Kyle Cardaci was then fouled on the inbound play and went to the line for two shots hitting both to push the Seraphs lead to 74-60 for what looked like the dagger with time now a huge factor.

Cardaci and Jones each then hit two free throws sandwiching a three-pointer by Pt. Beach newcomer Mohammed Traore and the Seraphs survived the fourth quarter scare in what initially appeared to be a blowout in the making.

Mater Dei was a perfect eight-for-eight from the foul line in the final 2:22 of the game.

“We were just trying to end the game, that’s been a problem we’ve been having all year,” Mater Dei head coach Ben Gamble said of his team letting Point Beach get back into the game. “We have the lead then in the fourth quarter we just haven’t been executing. Believe me I’m working on it and trying to find out what the problem is.”

Although it was not the way Gamble would’ve liked to have seen his team finish the game, it was a nice bounce-back win for the Seraphs after last Thursday’s disappointing 59-45 loss to B Central rival Ranney. The win also kept them one game behind the Panthers in the division with one game still remaining between the two schools February 2, on the Seraphs home court.

Mater Dei's record stands at 9-2 and 6-1 within the division with Ranney at 10-3 and 6-0 in the B Central.

“The Ranney game is behind us right now,” said Gamble. “So I’m just trying to get better every game. I know my motto is ‘I don’t want to peek now; I want to peek in February and March.’ So the Ranney game’s behind and we’re going to take it one game at a time and try to get better by the time we play them next time.

“Point Pleasant Beach is a well-coached team and I was a worried that there might be some lingering effects from the Ranney game,” Gamble added. “But the problem is right now I have to try to figure out the fourth quarter problem.”

Mater Dei held an 18 point lead at the half thanks in part to sophomore Jamir Watkins 13 points, six rebounds, assist, steal and blocked shot in the half. Watkins, who is a transfer from Trenton Catholic, was playing in his first game for the Seraphs after sitting out the required 30 days and finished with 15 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, steal and three blocked shots.

He brought the house down with a first half steal then driving the length of the court before capping it off with a thunderous slam dunk that was ESPN worthy.

“Jamir finally got a chance to play and did pretty good with a great first half,” Gamble said. “He can do a lot with good size and is an additional ball handler.”

Senior guard Yasin Pretlow was ineligible for the game after being tossed out in the Ranney game. Pretlow is averaging 11.2 points, 2.8 assists 2.1 rebounds per game this season for the Seraphs.

Jones - a Loyola University commit - led the Seraphs with a team-high 21 points to go with five rebounds, four assists, steal and two blocked shots playing a tremendous all-around game.

“Kenny’s a solid ballplayer,” Gamble said of Jones’ stellar game. “He has a very high IQ and keeps us going and he did a great job today.”

Cardaci finished with 19 point including three, 3-pointers and 14 second-half points with five rebounds and two assists while junior guard Alexander Rice added 13 points, five rebounds, three assists and a steal.

For Point Beach, senior Trevor Covey, who spurred the comeback attempt, poured in a game-high 23 points while senior guard Danny Frauenheim added 19 points.

Traore, a transfer from the Boston area, was making his Point Beach debut and didn’t disappoint scoring 17 points with four rebounds, two assists and a steal. He’s a nice little addition to an already solid Point Beach squad.

The Gulls record dropped to 7-4 and 4-2 in B Central play.

Mater Dei returns to the court Friday traveling to Keansburg.