Freehold Boro clinches share of title

TINTON FALLS, NEW JERSEY – The Shore Conference No. 3 Freehold Boro Colonials (N.J.) let a 19-point lead slip away but were able to escape with a 69-65 victory against the No. 6 Monmouth Regional Falcons (Tinton Falls, N.J.) on the road Monday night.

With the victory, Freehold Boro (15-3 overall, 9-1 division) secures a share of the Shore B – North title. The Colonials can clinch the division championship outright with either a win or Monmouth Regional loss in the teams’ final two Shore B – North games this week. Freehold Boro has not won a division title since 1996.

“I’m very proud of [my players], but one thing they are not is satisfied,” Freehold Boro Head Coach Ben DiBiase said. “They feel that through their hard work this season, they deserve to have the division championship on their own. It’s important for the Shore Conference Tournament, and it’s important for state playoff seedings. We have five games to go before our regular season ends, and we want them all.”

Christian Garcia scored 32 points.

Photo by Steve Goldberg

Christian Garcia had a stellar first half for the Colonials. The senior forward scored 8 of Freehold Boro’s first 11 points, had 21 by the half, and finished with a game-high 32. The Colonials defeated the Falcons for the second time this season.

“This game means a lot to us. In my four years here, we never won a division title and this is my first win ever in this gym like at Neptune,” Garcia said, referring to a 69-67 road win against the Scarlet Fliers earlier in the season. “It meant a lot to me to get this win. They fought hard, but I think we’re the better team and we came out with the victory.”

The game was close until early in the second quarter when Freehold Boro went on an 18-0 run. The Colonials outscored Monmouth Regional 24-5 in the quarter and led 40-24 at the half.

Freehold Boro extended their lead to 53-34 with under three minutes to go in the third. The Falcons cut the Freehold Boro lead to 55-43 and ended the third quarter with an exclamation point, a one-handed dunk by Neil Thompson as the buzzer sounded.

“I had never dunked at a home game, and I was just saving that,” Thompson said about the play. “After the dunk, I think the atmosphere got a whole lot louder. Everyone got up, and the team just fed off of that energy. The dunk was definitely the turning point.”

Monmouth Regional continued to chip away at the lead in the fourth quarter. Cameron Lee hit two three-pointers, and the Colonial lead was down to 57-51 with 5:45 to play. Lee finished with 16 points and four three-pointers in the game.

Garcia answered with a three and Brandon Reynolds scored a basket to put Freehold Boro back up by 11.

“We went a good five possessions without me touching the ball,” Garcia said. “I told Coach [DiBiase], ‘Get the ball in my hands. I’m going to make something happen.’ He ran a play for me to hit the three. I was having a good game already, and I had the confidence to shoot that, and it put us back up a little bit.”

Neil Thompson led Monmouth Regional.

Photo by Steve Goldberg

The Falcons responded with a 12-3 run in the ensuing three minutes. The score was 65-63 Colonials after Thompson connected on a shot from long range with just over a minute remaining.

After a Lance McKenzie layup for Freehold Boro and two Thompson free throws, the score was 67-65 with 45 seconds to go. Garcia pushed the ball down the floor and found teammate Jazzmar Clax slashing to the hoop for an easy layup. Clax’s basket gave the Colonials a 4-point lead with 35 seconds left, and the Falcons were not able to make another run.

“The [layup] that Lance [McKenzie] hit was off of a set play in the halfcourt,” DiBiase said. “On Clax’s play, we just executed our press break. When they trapped the ball on the first pass, we ended up getting the layup on the weak side.”

In addition to Garcia’s 32 points, McKenzie helped the Colonials with 13 and Reynolds added 7. Thompson, one of three Shore Conference nominees for the 2010 McDonald’s High School All-American game, led the Falcons with 22 points and 6 blocks.

Both teams will finish out the remainder of their regular season schedules and prepare for postseason play where they could possibly meet again.

“We’re probably not going to get first, so we just have to come in second in the Shore B – North,” Thompson said. “We’ll have to try to get a good seed in the Shore Conference Tournament and in the state playoffs.”