Rumson-Fair Haven Holds Off Johnson For First Sectional Title In Program History

Photo above: 2017 NJSIAA Central Jersey Group II champions

RUMSON – It was a foregone conclusion entering this season that without former Shore Conference Player of the Year and current Dartmouth standout Brendan Barry and the loss of 6-foot-7 big-man Elijah McAllister to an ACL tear prior to the season that Rumson-Fair Haven in all probability was a second-tier club and written off as a contender.

Before the Bulldogs opener in late December Bulldogs coach Chris Champeau turned to his assistants and asked what they thought of the team.

“He looked at me and said, ‘If we go 12-8, they should erect a statue for us,’” Champeau said.

But after the Bulldogs began stacking up win-after-win going on an unlikely 11-0 run to open the season, people began to take notice of this gritty no-name team. Then when they went toe-to-toe with state power Roselle Catholic – ranked No.3 in the state at the time - losing by just three points, it really opened some eyes and the Bulldogs looked like they just might be for real.

Tuesday night in front of a jammed-packed capacity crowd at Rumson, the Bulldogs proved they were for real. They did what no other team in the history of Rumson-Fair Haven basketball has ever been able to accomplish by winning the programs first ever state sectional championship beating Arthur L Johnson 57-51 for the Central Jersey Group II title.

“I wrote ‘no respect’ on the board and we read it before every practice,” Champeau said. “We’re a big cat hiding; they don’t see’s us coming. They picked us third in the division. Elijah McAllister - out with an ACL. Michael O’Connor - out with turf toe. So two starters weren’t there and we went 24-2.

“A couple of my assistants were with me the first year, and we said at some point we were going to get a Shore Conference (title) and at some point we were going to get a state banner, we just had to hang in there. Seven years later here we are. We finally got one that we can put up there. It’s great. It sort of justifies all the hard work these kids have put in.”

Trailing 12-9 after the first quarter, sophomore Ian O’Connor scored 10 of his game-high 19 points in the second quarter helping the Bulldogs forge a 25-17 halftime lead. Junior point guard Teddy Sourlis’ 3-pointer with 16 seconds left in the half contributed to the eight-point margin while at the same time sending Rumson’s student section (The Dawg Pound) into a frenzy.

“The Dawg Pound is great, the student section is awesome,” said O’Connor. “They’re so loud and they support us the whole way through, it’s awesome.”

“I told our guys (before the game), ‘The difference is the home court,’” Champeau said. “We were 15-1 by the cutoff and that got us this (the No.1 seed and home court advantage throughout the sectional). I really believe we go up there (A.L. Johnson in Clark), who knows?”

Johnson opened the second half with a 3-pointer by Brenden Kelly eight seconds in but O’Connor answered with a three of his own keeping the Bulldog lead at eight, 28-20, before a bucket by junior guard Jack Solano gave Rumson its biggest lead of the game, 30-20 at the 6:37 mark.

Rumson led 34-25 with 3:48 left in the third quarter but Johnson pulled to within one, 34-33, after reeling off eight straight points with 2:39 remaining in the third. The two teams traded free throws with under a minute left and the Bulldogs entered the fourth quarter holding a slim 36-35 advantage.

Back-to-back three’s by Sourlis and senior forward Tyler Pierson to open the fourth gave Rumson some breathing room and a drive down the lane by sophomore Jackson McCarthy following two free throws by Johnson’s George Visconti pushed the Bulldog lead to 44-37 two minutes into the fourth.

However, Johnson wouldn’t go away. Joe DiProfio hit for two and Brandon Hund flushed a 3-pointer pulling Johnson to within two, 44-42, with 4:27 left in the game.

McCarthy – who scored seven points off the bench including an important two-points with a minute left in the first half - then came up big for the Bulldogs again attacking the rim for two off a feed from O’Connor and completing the three-point play after getting fouled.

“Jackson McCarthy is another guy who is emblematic of our team,” Champeau said. “He had a rough go the first half of the season and I put him on jayvee. He fought his way back and we wouldn’t be here without him.”

Sourlis followed with one-of-two free throws to make it 48-42 but Johnson again pulled to within two, 49-47, with 49 seconds remaining in regulation. The Bulldogs then knocked down six consecutive free throws, two each from O’Connor, Tommy Oakes and Solano to put the game out of reach.

“That was huge (free throws),” Champeau said. “A lot of games we allowed teams to climb back in we missed key free throws down the stretch. So for those guys to step up and go 7-for-7 that’s why we won.”

Kelly heaved a desperation 3-pointer with 20 seconds left for Johnson before Sourlis bombed a full-court pass to Pierson on a baseline out-of-bounds play that Pierson emphatically slammed home to put the finishing touches on a 57-51 Bulldog win.

As impressive as this win was for the Bulldogs it’s even more impressive how they bounced back from the dreadful 44-point loss to Toms River North in the Shore Conference Tournament semifinals.

“I wrote number 44 on the corner of the white board every day since then because that’s the number of points we got beat by.” Champeau said. “I said we got to own it and use it as fuel. We would put our hands together and say 44 and I also think a lot of guys broke their legs jumping off the Rumson bandwagon after we got blown out. So for us to bounce back from that was something special and that’s what these guys are all about.”

“It ticked us off when everyone said we weren’t going to be a good team without (Barry),” Pierson said. “When we lost (McAllister), we got a little bit more of that. I think that just pushed us even more.”

“I truly think, the last two years, we were Brendan Barry and a bunch of tough guys,” Champeau said. “This was a team. Barry is the greatest who ever player here, but this is the greatest team that ever played here.”

Sourlis finished with 10 points, Pierson eight points, eight rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocked shot while Solano had seven points, seven boards, and three steals and Oakes six points for Rumson while O’Connor had a team-leading nine rebounds to go with his 19 points.

“It’s crazy,” O’Connor said. “We’ve been working all year for this and we’ve had the whole school on our back. Everyone’s supporting us, the whole town. They were all rallying behind us, looking to be the first sectional champs for the boys basketball team at Rumson-Fair Haven. It’s crazy.”

The Bulldogs will now get the chance to extend its season even further when they meet Camden (23-6), who beat Haddonfield 42-40 in overtime for the NJSIAA South Jersey Group II championship, in the Group II semifinals Thursday night at Perth Amboy High School at 7:00 p.m. Camden has won six consecutive sectional titles.