Saturday Showcase Standouts

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Saturday was a day filled with highly competitive matchups across the state among elite contenders and also some games among teams who are "in the hunt" for sectional titles. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In Saturday's marquee matchup, 5 Star guard<strong> [player_tooltip player_id='1153959' first='Dylan' last='Harper']</strong> oudueled <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1406998' first='Semaj' last='Bethea']</strong> as Don Bosco Prep improved to 15-1 with a 55-48 victory over Saint Aug's. The elite junior recruit hit the Hermits for 26 points, highlighted by a trio of triples. Bethea, a 5'11" junior who is one of the top guards in the junior class and one of the best players in South Jersey regardless of class, had 14 in the loss. He's shown up in every single big game that the Hermits have played and delivered the goods. Bosco got 10 from sophomore prospect <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1411403' first='Brady' last='Loughlin']</strong>, who has a bright future as a scholarship recruit ahead of him. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Roselle Catholic taught a young but talented Saint Rose team about just how much work it still has to do in order to reach the elite level of New Jersey basketball in a 77-56 win. RC's elite recruits, Duke bound <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='902732' first='Mackenzie' last='Mgbako']</strong> and UNC bound <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='850752' first='Simeon' last='Wilcher']</strong>, put on an offensive show, with Mgbako dropping a game high 27 and Wilcher going off for 22 and adding an eye popping 12 assists. These two will both be immediate impact contributors at the next level. Saint Rose was led by their super talented junior prospect <strong>Matthew Hodge</strong>, who went for 21 points in defeat. The Roses will contend for the Shore conference title, potentially for the sectional title but may be a year away from being a part of the rarified air group. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We warned on Friday that Trenton's matchup with a wounded Newark East Side was the "sticky wicket" of their undefeated season and it turned out to be the boogeyman game for them as the Raiders won a tight defensive battle 48-45. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1150278' first='Sutan' last='Fitzpatrick']</strong>, East Side's senior leader in the backcourt, dropped a dozen and promising 6'7" sophomore forward <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1472516' first='David' last='Ekhelar']</strong> led the way with 16. 6'3" senior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1150536' first='Davontay' last='Hutson']</strong>, who recently went over 1,000 pts, led the Tornado in defeat with 16&amp;12 and may be one of the more under-the-radar seniors in the state playing at a major program. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Ethan Maynard </strong>beat the buzzer to lead Seton Hall Prep to a riveting 61-60 win over a game Immaculate Conception team. Maynard has 17 in the win and he biggest bucket of the night--but the "wow" factor went to 6'5" freshman forward <strong>Kole Grandison</strong>. Grandison, who plays with poise of a college senior as a high school freshman, continues to showcase his broad skillset of scoring, rebounding and ballhandling. He led all scorers with 24 points on the day. Prep got 19 from <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1013099' first='Jackson' last='Bleeker']</strong>, a top uncommitted senior in our rankings who has D1 interest. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Down the Shore, first year head coach James Reuter and Marlboro got their second big win in two weeks, downing RBC convincingly, 67-52. A balanced attack led the Mustangs to victory, led by multi sport athlete <strong>Alex Frank</strong>, a senior, who had 17. Reuter's charges defeated Freehold Twp on the road on the 12th and have also had CBA and Manalapan on the ropes in the last week before getting over the hump against RBC. For a team that graduated everyone and lost their head coach after last season's incredible run to the state final, Reuter and his team should be commended for holding the standard high and being within punching distance in the fourth quarter of most of their games. While it's his first year as a head man in high school, Reuter has been blessed with being an assistant coach to some of the top minds in the game--He played for Bob Klatt during some high years at Mater Dei, was an assistant with the Seraphs to Ben Gamble and then at Middletown North to Mike Iasparro prior to landing the Marlboro job.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Middletown South lost its first four games by a combined 14 points, including three one-possession losses...and have since run off 10 unbeaten on the trot, reaching the mark with a blowout of Lincoln from Jersey City. <strong>Pat Brown</strong> dropped 22 and senior star <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1206532' first='Dylan' last='Csik']</strong>, one of the top guards at the Bayshore, added 12. The Eagles will play their last six on the road, including games at Colts Neck and a good Shore Regional team, but if they keep this pace up, we may be talking about a 16-4 Middletown South team as a very high seed in the county tournament...That said--There's a lot of hoops to be played. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->