Central Jersey Group 3 Semi-Finals: Team-by-Team Preview

<p>The semi-final of the Central Jersey Group 3 Tournament will take place on Friday night. The quarterfinal round saw three matchups where the lower seed advanced to the next round. This tournament is wide open and is what is great about high school basketball. Here is a look at each team heading into the semi-final.</p> <p><strong>No. 1 Wall (22-6)</strong></p> <p>Wall was the only higher-seed to advance in the quarterfinal. As the No. 1 seed, they should feel good about their chances to win the next two games. Especialy if [player_tooltip player_id="896620" first="Quinn" last="Calabrese"] is going to continue playing the way he is. The senior finished with 22 points in the win over Hamilton West. The Shore Conference is loaded. All season long Wall played the best competition. Even in defeat, they did not stray away from their style of play. Wall is a well-coached team who knows their game plan. When watching, it is obvious that they are extremely disciplined. Wall is going to be tough to beat in this bracket.</p> <p><strong>No. 5 Allentown (21-6)</strong></p> <p>What a win it was for Allentown over Nottingham in the quarterfinal. They trailed 28-14 after the first quarter and 14 was the deficit heading into halftime. Allentown completely dominated the second half led by a 31-12 third quarter. They ended up outscoring Nottingham 58-28 in the second half. Tim Mastromarino led the way with 31 points followed by [player_tooltip player_id="900304" first="Brandon" last="Pfeifer"] with 20. Mastromarino is a player that could give Wall fits. They are not a big team so he might be able to get comfortable. Allentown is a scoring threat. They finished with 87 points in the quarterfinal. If they can slow wall down, they might have a chance to pull off another upset.</p> <p><strong>No. 7 Neptune (15-12)</strong></p> <p>This was the game of the bracket so far. Neptune picked up a double-overtime victory over No. 2 Somerville in the quarterfinal. It was the [player_tooltip player_id="900292" first="Sam" last="Fagan"] show. The point guard finished with 40 points including six three’s and 12 free throws. Fagan is another Shore Conference guard who can light it up on any given night. Makai Suit was the other player in double-figures with 13 points. One thing about Neptune is that they are scrappy on both ends of the floor. On defense, they are always up on the ball handler. Offensively, they are patient enough to get good shots and quick to release. Most importantly, they are full of confidence after this win and that is a dangerous thing.</p> <p><strong>No. 11 Burlington Township (14-14)</strong></p> <p>Neptune will be taking on the Cinderella story of the bracket. Burlington Township picked up their second straight upset victory, this time against No. 3 Lakewood. [player_tooltip player_id="929681" first="Emmanuel" last="Ayetigbo"] continued his hot streak in this one along with [player_tooltip player_id="929529" first="Daniel" last="Thomas"]. Confidence was mentioned in the Neptune section, how about Burlington Township? The double-digit seed is playing with house money right now and will be taking on No. 7. Their defense was incredible last round. They allowed just 44 points to Lakewood. When a seven is taking on 11 in the semi-final round, all eyes will be on the two underdogs.</p>