Point Boro Boys Advance in WOBM Consolations

Sean Cooke scored 20 points to lead Point Boro to a crazy 60-51 victory over Barnegat in consolation action at the WOBM Christmas Classic on Monday.

The Panthers, who were knocked into the consolations by Lacey on the opening day of the tournament, led by 9 points after the first quarter. But Barnegat rallied for a 33-29 lead at the half. The game went back-and-forth before Point Boro pulled away for the win. 

The Panthers face Ocean in the next round of consolation games on Wednesday at 12:45 p.m. at Pine Belt Arena.

The Panthers girls team, seeded second in the tournament, returns to action today at 4:15 p.m., when they take on Brick Memorial. Point Boro easily advanced to the quarterfinals with a 62-31 victory over Ocean in the opening round. Brick Memorial topped Lacey, 42-38, to advance to the meeting with the Panthers.

In the boys quarterfinal action on Monday at the WOBM Christmas Classic,

Toms River North rode junior Solly Stansbury in the second half and overtime in its 46-41 victory over the Manchester Hawks. Stansbury, a huge inside presence, battled on defense all night, scored the first four points of overtime along with four more in the fourth quarter, totaling 10 in the game.

North junior Karl Blum hit a 3-pointer with 55 seconds left, knotting the score at 41. In overtime, the Mariners held the Hawks leading scorer, Mason Jones who had 11 points in regulation, to none and North went on to win. The Hawks offense was balanced, as Sir Ismail chipped in nine points and Isiah Torney and Damien Moore each added eight.

North point guard Alex Levchencko had 14 points, but just two in the second half. Caswell said it attributed to the senior’s smarts on the court.

For Lacey and Toms River South, seeded 13th and 12th respectively, both teams count on being solid defensively, so it was no surprise to see neither team break 40 points in Toms River South’s 38-34 victory.

Toms River South made crucial shots down the stretch of the fourth quarter, answering every time the Lions got within striking distance. Senior Elija Dupree scored in bursts, contributing 14 points to the winning effort.

With 6.1 seconds left, South senior Zach Liguori sunk two free throws to clinching the game for the Indians. Liguori had nine points.

Lacey point guard Tasheen Carrow led all scorers with 16 points, despite MacIntosh constantly reminding his Indians to cover him.

Lacey took a 28-26 lead with seven minutes to play when junior guard Kevin Leahy connected on a four point play, after getting fouled to the ground making a 3-pointer.

Jackson Memorial defeated Southern 54-39 in the other quarterfinal, and Toms River South will have its hands full with the top-seeded Jaguars.

Toms River North will take on defending WOBM champion St. Rose, following the Purple Roses’ dominant 58-37 win over Brick Memorial. The Roses contest was never in doubt as they held leads of 16-8 after the first quarter, 33-15 at halftime, and 44-28 after three quarters.

Junior Sean Maguire scored a game-high 16 points, including three 3-pointers, while last year's tourney MVP Mark Kukoda scored 15.

"It was a near perfect first half for us, in the second half we made a few more mental mistakes," said St. Rose head coach Dennis Devaney, "Our goal is to be really good, not just a good team and there are some things we need to work on."

Devaney noted he was never comfortable knowing how good of a shooting team Brick Memorial is and how much damage they could do in a short amount of time.

With a couple big injuries last year, many of the Roses had to learn on the fly. That experience is paying off early on.

Point guard Vince Lombardi led the Mustangs with 10 points followed by Ryan Cieplenski with seven.

In other consolation games, Central Regional scored 13 straight points to lead Red Bank Catholic 30-18 before the Caseys scored their first points of the second half. Central went on to win 55-38.

Toms River East and Wall played a game that would have fit right in with the quarterfinal action, a 36-34 East win. East led 31-24 going into the fourth quarter and held on for the win thanks to Dave Lewis' game high 14 points. Wall's Derek Gardner scored 12.

Brick fell to Ocean 50-31. Brick's John Kizzman led the Dragons with 10 points.

The WOBM tournament continues Tuesday with the girls quarterfinals, beginning at 2:30 p.m. with Monsignor Donovan taking on Jackson Memorial. Brick Memorial and Point Boro face off at 4:15 p.m., followed by Toms River East vs. Rumson at 6 p.m. Shore takes on Manasquan at 7:30 to close out the day.

The boys semifinals are at 6:15 and 8 p.m. on Wednesday, and the girls are at the same times on Thursday. The championship games are Friday, with the girls at 5:30 p.m. and the boys tipping at 7:30 p.m.

Consolation-round action is happening daily starting at 11 a.m.