The Keyport IHOP was one of the sponsors for the 6th Annual 5K Run on December 5th.  It was a great day and photos and other information can be viewed on their website: http://www.poricypark.org/.  There are several other events listed on thier web site.

Poricy Park is a great Community Organization and that’s why Cliff Moore and the Keyport IHOP  are honored to have partnered with them for this event.

The following information is right from the Poricy Park website:   Since 1970, Poricy Park Conservancy has been preserving 250 acres of open space, wildlife and their habitats, prehistoric fossil beds, and the Historic Murray Farmhouse.Poricy Park is an exceptional ecological resource whose 250 acres make it one of the largest parks in Monmouth County. Poricy Park is a regional resource, serving residents throughout New Jersey and the Tri-state area. The park is a center for environmental and cultural education, enhancing the community’s enjoyment and appreciation of nature and local history. Poricy Park Conservancy is a non-profit organization that depends primarily on member’s financial support to keep the Conservancy at the pinnacle of environmental education, historical preservation, and natural beauty. Please take a moment to browse through our website and also consider joining the Conservancy’s efforts by becoming a member. Membership in the Poricy Park Conservancy entitles you to a quarterly member’s newsletter, discounted program and event fees, advanced notice of events, discounted merchandise, and invitations to member’s only events.

This weekend marks one year since I have been sharing my poetry publicly.  I want to thank everyone who has welcomed me to the New Jersey Poetry “Riding Circuit”.

In 1987, during a personal crisis, I began to write. Until December of 2008, I had only shared my work with a handful of people.  For 20 years, from time to time, when the mood struck, I would write on the back of napkins, on reports in a business meeting, on index cards, in a little notebook, and then with less distraction, on a computer.  I had always wondered whether other people would enjoy and appreciate my poems – and whether they were any good.

Just after Thanksgiving in 2008, I wanted to learning about blogging and how people were using blogs.  I found WORDPRESS and when I understood how easy a blog was to set up, decided to post some of my poetry and see what happened. http://raybrown.wordpress.com/

Since then I have had an absolutely wonderful year.  As I have told friends, in a way I am happy I waited 20 years to share my work.  20 years ago, I would have wanted it to “amount to something”.  I am sure I would have been more upset with rejection notices then, and might have even tried to change my writing style to “please” whomever you have to please.  This year I just write and read – if readers enjoy my work, I am appreciative – if not, that is understandable.  It is so much easier to write.

I have received support from a number of people whom I want to thank today.

This year, my poetry has appeared in 13th Annual Poetry Ink Chapbook, Moonstone Publishing, Philadelphia; The Star-Ledger of Newark; NJ Lawyer Magazine; received a NJ Poetry Society 2009 Recognition Award, and will be published in upcoming volumes of the Edison Literary Review, the Big Hammer, FreeXpresSion, and the River Poets Journal. Just this week, my poem, “Tough Year to Give Thanks”, was published as the Poem of the Day, by “The New Verse News”. http://newversenews.blogspot.com/2009/11/tough-year-to-give-thanks.html.  Thank you to their Editors

To my wife, Susan, for her support and love, her proofing, and her patience with our “agreement” that I would only attend one poetry reading per week – which promise I continually try to get around.

To Edie Angelo – I was attending my first “reading” at the Somerset Poetry Group in Bridgewater.  She was welcoming and over the next few months introduced me to a number of poets – and to FACEBOOK.

To Bob Rosenbloom – one of the organizers of the Somerset Group. I see him at Open Readings throughout the State.  He has given me background and advice and information about New Jersey’s Poetry circle.

To columnist Mark Di Ionno of the Star Ledger who read my poem “My Father’s Hands”, and became a reader.  Mark eventually wrote a column for the Ledger in which he highlighted another of my poems – “Shoveling Snow on Wii”. http://blog.nj.com/njv_mark_diionno/2009/03/a_fathers_lament_for_a_bygone.html

To the New Jersey Lawyer Magazine, which first published one of my poem, “Washed Up Attorney”.  I had sent it to them on a lark, never expecting them to even consider publishing it.

To Reena Heenan, who was the first to ask me to feature as a reader with her “Traveling Poet’s Society”, at Expresso Joe’s in Keyport.

To David Roskos, who heard my poem, “Market Street Mission”, and will be publishing it in the next edition of the “Big Hammer”, the first time one of my works was recognized by a literary magazine.

To Anthony Buccino – does anyone know someone who goes out of his way as much to help with things?  Not only has he given me advice, but he read my work and now a link to my blog is a daily feature on this site.

To Basil Rouskas and Paul Sohar who graciously provided me with technical advice.

To Judy Christian, who moderates the South Mountain Poetry Workshop.  To Judith Lawrence who moderates the workshop in Lambertville.   To Pat Hardigee and Joseph Longino who moderate the Delaware Valley Poetry Workshop. To all the members of those groups who have offered comment.

To Edith Kaltovich and the New Jersey Poetry Society which acknowledged one of my pieces, “The Last Thing He Wanted” with a recognition award this year.

To Captain Sullenberger, the pilot who landed his plane on the Hudson River, who read a poem I wrote about him, and conveyed a message of appreciation. http://tinyurl.com/CaptainSullenberger

To those who read my poetry blog the first few months, made comments and have been extremely supportive, Domino, Ceylanthewriter, Nacona 77, Robert Ekstrun, Utopianfragment, Sally, mudly68, Glen  Carlin and the many who have read and commented since then.

To those who joined the Ray Brown Facebook Fan Page.  http://tinyurl.com/RayBrownFanPage Thank you.

To my “first fan”, “A”.

To poet, Bruno Tarzia of Bayonne.

To Carol Bourdette, Warren Cooper, and Elijah Pringle, who had been supportive and objectively critical. 

And finally to Jake in California – an 8^th Grade Student, who had to write a report on a poet for Mrs. Porcho’s English class.  When Jake found out I was “living” he thought that was “neat”, and so wrote my first biography, which he immediately misplaced after it was graded.

Undoubtedly I have forgotten someone.  – Thanks to all.  Looking forward to this year.  Will be publishing a book in May.

I hope I can write about life in a way that will keep you reading. Best wishes with your own word-smitheing.

Ray Brown

I will read a 15″ Spoken Word set of  poetry at ”Poetry & Pasta” Sunday, October 18th, 2:45 pm, at CALVARY UNITED METHODIST CHURCH, Keyport, NJ.  The reading is presented by the Travelling Poet’s Society.  Pasta Dinner & Desserts. $ 5 admission includes dinner.  Dinner and event 1 to 5 pm.  Others poets who will read include Edie Angelo, Adele Kenny, Bob Andrews, Deborah LaVeglia, Eva Mahoney, Ann Day, Alissa Pecora, Frank Finale, Kathy Polenberg, Therese Halscheid, Madeline Tiger,Gloria Rovder Healy,  Gretna Wilkinson,YoliAlto.  An Open Reading will follow.  Calvary United Methodist Church, 41 Osborn Street, Keyport, NJ, 07735, For Information: 732-264-1492 .  Thank you to Reena Heenan for the invitation and organizing the event.

Join my Facebook Fan Page for continuing information. 

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ray-Brown/93692175185

Welcome to Keyport, New Jersey

The Keyport IHOP is a proud sponsor of this event!

The 12th Annual Keyport Country Jamboree and Chili Fest is an old-fashioned street fair featuring live music and entertainment, a contest to judge the best homemade baked cakes, pies and jams, and the best Chili around. The festival returns to downtown Keyport on Saturday, October 10th and Sunday, October 11th.

Admission and parking is free, with the event taking place on West Front Street, which will be closed to traffic during the event from Broad to Beers streets. The event will take place from Noon to 7:00 PM, rain or shine, offering great food and fun for the whole family. There will be a beer and wine garden featuring cowboy mugs available for purchase.

On Saturday, October 10, the Ring of Fire Band will perform from 4:00 – 7:00 PM and on Sunday, October 11, the Southern Steel Band takes the stage at Noon followed by the Steel Rail Blues Band from 3:00 – 7:00 PM. The bands will be performing in the mini-park on West Front Street overlooking the new waterfront promenade. There will be additional performers such as the Legendary OK Cowboy, and strolling Cowboys and Cowgirls. The kids won’t want to miss their stunts such as knife juggling, gun spinning, whip cracking and lassoing.

Keyport’s downtown stores and cafes will be open throughout the festival, and they will be joined by specialty vendors and crafters lining the route, offering unique merchandise. The Farmers’ Market will also be open offering fresh produce and fall plants and flowers.
Chili lovers won’t go away hungry, with the food vendors serving up a variety of chili recipes. On Saturday, professional chili chefs will be competing for a trophy presented by Mayor Rob Bergen. The chili tasting and voting will run from noon to 5pm on Saturday and there is no entry fee to vote. Participating local restaurants will be competing for the trophy. Chili will be available for purchase throughout the weekend at the food court. On Sunday, from noon to 4PM, the Cake, Pie and Jam Contest will be opened to the general public for submissions. The winners will be announced at 5PM. There will be many children’s activities including Inflatable Bounces, Face Painting, Pumpkin Painting and Games.

The Keyport Country Jamboree and Chili Fest is hosted by the Keyport Cultural Celebration Committee (KCCC) with local support from our generous sponsors T&M Associates, the Front Porch Emporium, Hatch Mott MacDonald, Keyport IHOP and CME Engineering.

For additional information, directions, or entry forms, call 732-739-5138

Join our Facebook Fan Page for updated events:

Keyport IHOP Fan Page

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Keyport-NJ/Keyport-IHOP-Open-24-Hours/132818693551?ref=ts

Hey all, Mikey Dee here. Rob, a few others and I just got online with our bartending service. For those that know us, thanks for the support over the last 10 years. To our new friends, we hope to impress you and give you a memorable event that will be talked about for years to come.

Check back often for drinks, party tips or just to say hi.
-Mike

Macabre Manor will be located at 18 – 20 Main Street, Keyport NJ.

Hours of operation from 7:00pm to 11:00pm

The Keyport IHOP is a sponsor and is selling tickets to Macabre Manor in Keyport.  The event is being presented by the Keyport Business Alliance. The show is being shown every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in October.  The tickets cost $10 for adults and $5 for children. 

Scaredy cat and behind the scenes tour every Sunday in October from 2:00pm until 5:00pm – admission is half price.

A Weeping Willow Cemetery and Mike’s Haunted House Production.

Come and journey through the hallowed halls of abandon Macabre Manor on Main Street and immerse yourself in the twisted visions and nightmares that drove its caretaker mad! 

No one has set foot in the ghastly building since his disappearance some years ago but rumor has it that recently strange and unexplained noises have once again been heard emanating from within!

The Keyport and Neptune IHOP’s are proud to be  sponsors of the Third Annual Big Brothers Big Sisters of Monmouth County’s Beach Volleyball Tournament. Please join us on Sunday, September 20, 2009, at Convention Hall Beach in Asbury Park, NJ, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

All proceeds will benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of Monmouth County.

The day will include food, beverages, music by radio station 95.9 The WRAT, along with lots of fun for all participants! PRIZES will be awarded to the person earning the highest pledge amount and to the tournament winners.

Even if you aren’t planning to play, why not come down for some fun in the sun and watch some great volleyball!

Please contact Brian Higgins at 732-947-7160 for team registration and/or volunteer opportunities for this fun event!

You can get additional informantion at:

http://bbbsmonmouth.org/events/Volleyball.php

Today was the Keyport, NJ 5K Race.  The Keyport IHOP was the proud sponsor of this event.  There were over 180 runners this year.  This was the third year and the Keyport IHOP has been a sponsor since its’ inception.  The race is organized by the Keyport Recreation Department.

For additional pictures and information – Join us on our facebook Fan Page at:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Keyport-NJ/Keyport-IHOP-Open-24-Hours/132818693551?ref=ts

Before I get to the stuff from today, just wanted to clarify something on the transfer of running back Devonte Thomas from Asbury Park to Monmouth Regional. He reportedly has moved to Eatontown with his family, so with that valid address, he should be eligible and not have to sit out at all once all the paperwork is finalized.

Now, as for today, the reports are below with some quotes from the day at the bottom. Bob Badders has also been visiting camps for us, so I will get some reports from him as well as the week goes on. Obviously, we will get much more in depth in our upcoming team previews, so if someone isn’t mentioned in these quick reports, don’t take it personally. We’ll get to everybody in the previews.

KEYPORT

This is the year that the Red Raiders have been building toward for two seasons, as they have a large senior class that features a host of two- and three-year starters. This is the best team they have had since the Cattouse-Bedle era early in this decade.

Leading the way is senior two-way lineman Bryan Thomson, who has moved to center from guard and is still at defensive tackle after being voted the 2008 Patriot Division Defensive Player of the Year by the coaches. Head coach Mike Ciccotelli, who is entering his 32nd season and has 200 career wins and six state sectional titles, said Thomson may be the best defensive player he has ever coached.

He battled Rumson’s Taylor Brown for post-season honors last season, and now there is a chance that he and Thomson could be teammates. Thomson, who is also an excellent student, said that the two main schools that he has may be choosing from are Holy Cross and the University of Pennsylvania. Brown is currently a freshman at UPenn. Ciccotelli noted how even when he was a freshman, Thomson was a student of the game who was always watching extra film and always was one step ahead of everyone on the field because of his film study. That also made it easier to transition him to center from guard because he already knows where everyone is supposed to be on every play. It also was because that in the Patriot Division, several teams play three man fronts in which they line up someone directly over the center to try and disrupt plays and flood the middle with linebackers, but putting Thomson there helps negate that tactic.

The Red Raiders have a ton of size and can match up physically with a Group III school on the line. All five of their linemen are returning starters on offense, so this team is just going to try to physically bludgeon opponents at the point of attack in the Wing T with junior Yusuf Francis serving as a primary threat at fullback. One of the returning linemen, senior Dan Quinn, is currently working through a back injury but should return within a week. The new quarterback is senior Jimmy Maguire, who was a wideout last year and is a small, elusive type.

Defensively, the Red Raiders return all four starting linebackers, the entire secondary, and three out of four D-linemen.

They were moved up from Central Jersey Group I to CJ II this year after having been in CJ I for eons, and the reason is because the enrollment of Henry Hudson was added to their enrollment because of the cooperative program that allows Henry Hudson kids to play football at Keyport because the Admirals do not have a football program. It used to be that just a percentage of Henry Hudson’s enrollment counted toward Keyport’s total, but now it’s the whole thing. There are currently five Henry Hudson students who play football for the Red Raiders. They missed the cutoff for Group I by having one more student than Spotswood when the NJSIAA did its latest realignment, and now they must deal with the likes of Rahway, Carteret, defending CJ II champ Manasquan, Raritan, Long Branch, Matawan, Rumson and New Brunswick in CJ II. The best-case scenario for this team might be taking down Asbury Park and winning the Patriot Division title and then taking their chances if they qualify for that brutal CJ II bracket. Their game against Asbury Park should be a great contrast between Keyport’s brute strength and the Blue Bishops’ ability to hit the explosive play.

KEANSBURG

The Titans quietly have 23 seniors this year, one season after most of those same players experienced their first real varsity action following the graduation of the class that included the Laguna brothers and quarterback Anthony Valle. Leading the way is senior QB Frank Soleo, who quietly had 1,900 combined yards of offense last year between rushing and passing. He was cleared earlier this month to start playing again after suffering a bad injury to his left (non-throwing) hand and forearm during basketball season.

Keansburg looks like it will be fairly physical up front for the Patriot Division, and the Titans have three starters back on the offensive line. A newcomer to keep an eye on is senior wideout James Stanback, who is about 6-3 and is a big target for Soleo. Defensively, the Titans are usually solid as head coach Brian Kmak is more of a defensive-minded coach and leaves the offense to coordinator Tom O’Keefe. That usually leads to some fun battles in practice as Kmak’s defense goes against O’Keefe’s offense in drills. Defensively, the linebacking group looks like it will be the standout group right now.

Former Keansburg offensive lineman Jason Wombough, who starred at Montclair State and flirted with the NFL after graduation, has returned as an assistant O-line coach and hopes to make another run at getting invited to an NFL camp next spring. Former Raritan assistant Bobby Devlin is also now with the Titans as the running backs/defensive backs coach.

The Titans definitely look like a darkhorse in the Patriot Division and have a good chance to make the state playoffs on the heels of a 3-7 season.

I would also like to note that the pork roll eating in Da Burg has already begun as after practice I promptly went to Stark’s United in the middle of town and sawed through a pair of pork roll sandwiches that were outstanding. Going into Stark’s is like going back in time. It’s definitely old school, with stools right at the counter and some old-timers getting to work on their scratch-off lottery tickets. I felt like Marty McFly getting out of the DeLorean into 1955, but for a well-cooked, thinly-sliced pork roll sandwich (or two), it was well worth it. I know this is blasphemy, but they might have been better than the ones they serve at the Titan Cafe at Keansburg home games.

RARITAN

This team is loaded and ultimately wants to make a run at its second Central Jersey Group II title in school history in what will be a stacked bracket. Their offense features two big names in wideout Bennett Jackson and tailback Jesse Raymond, both of whom have added muscle during the offseason. Jackson, who has verbally committed to Notre Dame, looked outstanding at practice on Tuesday and should be a major handful for opponents with his downfield speed. As he showed last year, he also is a threat while running the ball on jet sweeps and has a good arm to throw the ball on gadget plays, plus he is a dynamo on special teams as a returner and as the team’s kicker. I know there are those out there (including some opposing coaches) who privately raised an eyebrow to me when Jackson received a bunch of offers from big-time schools and chose the Fighting Irish, but he certainly has the ability to silence the doubters who question his talent.

Senior Joe Pensebene looked solid throwing the ball on Tuesday, as he steps into the starting QB role to replace the graduated Mark Stancati. He has experience, as he started a handful of games as a sophomore because of injuries to the two quarterbacks ahead of him. I think a big key to the offense could be Tim Pizanie, a talented wideout who can hurt opponents who try to gang up on Jackson. He also showed last year that he can be counted on at crunch time and in big games, as he had a big play down the field that set up a touchdown in a huge regular-season win over Manasquan. I still think Raymond is the biggest key. His ability to establish the run game frees Jackson and the others up to make plays vertically when teams cheat toward the line of scrimmage.

The offensive line features several newcomers but has good size, including junior Christian Marchena, a promising player who missed all of last season with a knee injury. Senior Dan Gibson is one of the key returners on that unit.

The vocal leader of the team is clearly senior linebacker Marc Cogliano, who really has embraced the leadership role. He looks like he’s ready to make a run at a first-team All Shore Media spot this year. For some reason, every year a Raritan linebacker seems to be one of the main leaders of the team, like Jerome Dean was last year and Chris Mooney was before him. Cogliano’s brother Wayne, who everyone calls by his nickname, Sonny, has moved from the secondary to outside linebacker this season, and others to watch are defensive lineman Carlo Caponetta, who has a high motor, and safety T.J. Murray. In the random fact department, the Coglianos are the cousins of Keansburg head coach Brian Kmak.

This team is in an interesting position in that Raritan usually thrives as the underdog, but this year the expectations are very high so it will not be in that spot this season. Veteran Rockets coach Bob Generelli is the king of making his team seem like the Little Team that Could and an 0-9 opponent seeming like 1985 Chicago Bears, but that is hard to do when you have the talent that is returning on this roster on the heels of a strong season.

The Rockets are expected to challenge for the National Division title after sharing it with Point Boro and Manasquan last year, and they are expected to make a run in CJ II. However, it’s not an unfamiliar spot for Generelli and his staff, who dealt with the same expectations on the Andrew Mandeville-led teams that reached two straight state finals in 2004 and 2005, winning the school’s only title and going 12-0 in 2004.

The Rockets play at Manasquan on Halloween this year, which is a game you want to circle on the calendar now.

RUMSON-FH

A lot of new faces out there for the Bulldogs this season, and this team has a chance to make a darkhorse run at a state playoff spot in Central Jersey Group II. Most of the remnants from the team that reached the CJ II final in 2007 have graduated, including stud two-way lineman Taylor Brown, so it’s up to this year’s group to continue the winning in Bulldog-land. The words “rebuilding year” are not allowed to be uttered at Rumson.

Senior Sean Burke returns at QB and will start, but junior Mike Villapiano, the son of former Oakland Raiders great Phil Villapiano, should also see plenty of time. Burke is a steady performer who saw significant time last season and is a mobile quarterback who is accurate. Villapiano had a strong offseason and has done everything the coaches have asked of him, according to RFH head coach Shane Fallon, and should also be a solid weapon who allows them to throw some different wrinkles into their attack. Another offensive weapon is kicker Tucker Smith, who should challenge for first-team All Shore Media honors as he has a very strong leg and is a great combination kicker/punter.

The backfield has experience with John Riley and Michael Guzman, and tight end/linebacker Paul Michael Barrows is a Division I-AA prospect who has received interest from Delaware and others. The offensive line is a little undersized and has three newcomers in the starting unit, so that is an area to keep an eye on. Senior Quentin (OK, deep breath and I hope I’m spelling this right…) Gierlatowicz is a key returner on the line.

Defensively, the Bulldogs are tall but a little undersized up front, but should have a solid group of linebackers, led by Barrow and Michael Huttner. A newcomer to watch on the defense is hard-hitting sophomore Brian Truex. The secondary is all new.

This team will rely heavily on precise execution and doing the little things right like minimizing penalties and hitting big plays when they are there because there are no dynamo playmakers, just a bunch of solid guys. Their status in the Patriot Division race will be determined during a rugged stretch in which they play Asbury Park, Shore Regional and Keyport in succession in October. Fallon said that he has been notified that the Asbury Park game is MSG Network’s Game of the Week for that week, so it will be televised. There also is a new scoreboard at Borden Stadium this year.

Finally, I leave you with a few quotes from the day.

“Cogs, what would you have done to that ballcarrier had he (another linebacker) done his job on that play and forced him back inside?’‘ – Raritan defensive coordinator Anthony Petruzzi to senior LB Marc Cogliano.

“Oh, it would’ve been on SportsCenter.” - Cogliano’s reply.

“Coach, you look great for 100 years old. Tell us about living through the Great Depression.” – The Keyport peanut gallery during a water break, messing with veteran defensive coordinator Ed Ryscavage, who lives in Nevada during the rest of the year but comes back to New Jersey to coach at Keyport during the fall.

I found this photo I took a few years ago on the beach of the Raritan Bay in Keyport NJ. This dog came running full speed out of the bushes  and  whizzed right passed us to just disappear again. I do not know how but I actually managed to take a decent photo. One of those things. This was the first day Justin and I found the Hobo Hideaway which would turn into one of our main haunts for 2 years.

Tomorrow Jeff and I will start recording the first ThunderBeing ep.

Freehold Township’s Brian Golub picked up his 200th career victory in the midst of his 14th season with the Patriots in a 72-56 nondivisional win over Monsignor Donovan on Friday night in which senior Steve Talbott poured in 29 points and senior Matt Devine added 27. Sophomore Sean Grennan had 20 points in the loss for the Griffins, who have had a rough week of pick-up games before next week’s Non-Public South A bracket kicks off. I know Golub would’ve loved to have gotten that 200th in a Shore Conference Tournament Round of 16 game against Middletown South in which the Patriots took the Eagles to overtime, but it’s still a nice milestone no matter when you get it, so congrats to a coach who has made this program into a perennial contender.

The 1,000-point scorers are coming one after another at this point as Keyport senior Mark Ziobro scored a career-high 33 points in a 73-71 win over Raritan on Friday night to pass the 1,000-point mark for his career one day after Lacey senior point guard John Pierce hit 1,000 for his career. The Red Raiders are gearing up for a run at Asbury Park in Central Jersey Group I, so we’ll see if Ziobro and the rest of the seniors can extend their senior season a little further next week.

As for Saturday, I will have live updates from Saturday night’s showdown between No. 1 Christian Brothers Academy and No. 2 Neptune in the Shore Conference Tournament final, so make sure to check in for that if you can’t make it to the game. Because I love the Ritacco Center so much, I will be helping Bob Badders with our Region VI wrestling coverage in the afternoon at Ritacco before the basketball game, so it should be an exciting day of action overall in Toms River. I also didn’t do Players of the Week for last week and this week or a Top 10 because all of that will be included in my Shore Conference Tournament wrap-up for the boys and girls sides on Sunday.

Before I get to the extra stuff from the girls Shore Conference Tournament Round of 16 action on Thursday night, here are my picks for the boys Round of 16 on Friday.

Also, just a quick note: I will be doing live updates from the St. Rose at Manasquan game on Friday. Manasquan is expecting a sellout, and St. Rose athletic director Jim Agnello told me at the girls game on Thursday night that he was told the doors at Manasquan will be opening at 5:30 p.m. for a 6:30 p.m. tip-off. If you can’t make it, I’ll have updates and video highlights.

Now, on to the picks. I went 9-5 in the preliminary round, which is nothing great. I’ll try to do better in this round. Hopefully I can take the momentum from my girls Round of 16 picks, where I went 8-0. There is more parity on the boys side, so it won’ t be as easy. I’ve seen all 30 teams in the field, many of them multiple times, and I still bricked a couple picks in the first round. Time to do better. Here goes.

(17) Colts Neck at (1) Christian Brothers Academy: CBA already has beaten Colts Neck twice this season in Class A North, and this is going to be No. 3. I just don’t think the Cougars have enough scoring depth to stay with CBA. The Cougars will have to hope that the Colts struggle shooting from the perimeter if they are going to have a chance. Colts Neck is a hard-nosed team and doesn’t back down from anyone, but CBA’s high-scoring group of Brian Neller, Roy Mabrey, Pat Light and Matt McMullen is just too much to try and match up with. The pick: CBA.

(25) Keyport at (9) Brick Memorial: Obviously, this game got a whole lot more interesting after Keyport shocked Monsignor Donovan in double overtime. The Red Raiders won’t be sneaking up on anyone this time, and I think Brick Memorial matches up well with them. Keyport’s Mark Ziobro is an athletic swingman, and so is Brick Memorial’s Matt O’Brien. Keyport’s Shawn Dowd is a rugged forward who is also a good athlete, and so is Brick Memorial’s Steve Zrowka. Keyport’s Tony Lopez is a streak-shooting 3-point sniper, and so is Brick Memorial guard Jose Ramos. Keyport’s Bryan Thomson is the muscle underneath who is primarily a rebounder and defender, and so is Brick Memorial’s Brian Rushalski. Maybe Keyport will make me look bad again for picking against them, but I see Brick Memorial being able to counter what they do well and being a little bit deeper, which I think will make the difference in the fourth quarter. The pick: Brick Memorial.

(12) Freehold Township at (5) Middletown South: Will the third time be the charm for the Patriots? Middletown South has beaten them twice this season, including a 66-64 nail-biter that I covered in their last meeting. The Patriots were able to score in a hurry via their full-court pressure, so we’ll see if they just try and play that way for 32 minutes this time. With Matt Devine and Steve Talbott, they are going to score, so that’s not the problem – it’s that they haven’t been able to mount a 32-minute defensive effort in a big game this season. Kyle Cancillieri is starting to emerge as an All-Shore candidate for the Eagles, and the Patriots have not been able to solve them once Middletown South gets into its halfcourt sets. Freehold Township has to turn this into a fast-paced game and turn Middletown South over in the backcourt. I still think the Eagles will find a way behind Cancillieri and Matt Callori, who are tough to match up with in the halfcourt. The pick: Middletown South.

(20) Holmdel at (4) Freehold: On paper, this looks like a mismatch, but I would never count out Holmdel. Freehold has better athletes, but Holmdel has some size that could bother the Colonials, or at least allow the Hornets to play inside-out with Mike Kelly and others and maybe get some good looks for Mike Perillo and Erik Shirvanian from behind the arc on kickouts. This game is about tempo, because Freehold is going to try and get Holmdel to play fast. I think senior Andrew Gerbehy could have a big game because Holmdel doesn’t really have a player who matches up well with him, and the match-up of Perillo and Freehold’s Lance McKenzie at point guard is definitely one to watch. I think Freehold has just enough of an edge offensively that it will take this one unless Holmdel gets hot from behind the 3-point line. The pick: Freehold.

(14) Lakewood at (3) Monmouth: The Falcons already beat the Piners once this season, but that’s back when Joe Willman was dunking on everyone’s head. Lakewood hasn’t shown me they can beat a team of Monmouth’s caliber, especially on the road, this season. I think Monmouth’s guards, Anthony Gibson and Neil Thompson, can turn over Lakewood’s young guards in the backcourt for some easy points. The wildcard here is Lakewood sophomore Jarrod Davis, who I don’t think Monmouth has anyone in particular who matches up well with. A good battle in the paint looks to be Monmouth’s Brent Shelton vs. Lakewood’s Tyquan Strand. I give the edge to Monmouth here just on experience and a proven track record, which Lakewood doesn’t have. The pick: Monmouth.

(11) St. Rose at (6) Manasquan: It’s going to be a madhouse in Warrior-land for this one, as two local rivals battle it out less than a week since St. Rose upended Manasquan in the regular season. Manasquan’s Matt Vadas is one of the top guards in the Shore and a match-up nightmare. Put a smaller defender on him and he’ll post him up or shoot over him from behind the arc. Put a bigger defender on him, and he’ll blow by him off the dribble. The one thing I like about Vadas is his patience, as he does a good job of reading how a defender is going to play him off a screen, and he waits for the play to develop. He also has that killer instinct that all good scorers have. If he knows he can score on you, he will bust you up on every single possession until someone calls timeout or orders a double team to come at Vadas. If Manasquan can just get something close to double figures out of Zach Rodgers, Neal Sterling and Kyle Wehner, this team could make it to the final. Senior center Sean McPaul leads the way for St. Rose, and he has size that Manasquan has had trouble dealing with. If St. Rose’s guards knock down shots off kickouts, the Roses will win again. One scary thing about St. Rose is that it is not a good foul-shooting team, which doesn’t bode well at tournament time. However, I am sticking with my pre-tournament pick of the Purple Roses to go into enemy territory and pull it out. The pick: St. Rose.

(10) Point Boro at (7) Asbury Park: I’ve tried to figure out this game for a while and I just can’t seem to get a handle on it. Will Point Boro handle Asbury Park’s pressure and do enough in the halfcourt to win? The Panthers’ offense is not built to come from behind double-digit deficits, so they can’t let the Blue Bishops hit them with a big run early on. I’ve seen Asbury Park a few times, and other than maybe Ron Berardesco, they flat-out can’t shoot. They get all their points on second chances, turnovers and transition because they are so fast and anticipate rebounds so well on the offensive glass. Plus, Jamar Smalls does a good job of running the break in the open floor and the Blue Bishops have tons of finishers. They are way faster and way quicker than Point Boro, but I can see Kevin Hynes coming up with a gimmicky defense that could frustrate Asbury Park. My main hesitation in picking the upset is that Asbury is so tough on its home court. I’m chickening out and going with the chalk, although I think this is one I might regret, especially because junior guard Wil Hawthorne may have snapped out of his scoring slump in Point Boro’s first-round win over Central. The pick: Asbury Park.

(15) Toms River East at (2) Neptune: This is not a good match-up for Toms River East because I don’t know if the Raiders’ guards can handle Neptune’s full-court pressure. Plus, if Richie Suhr has to expend a lot of energy just trying to get the ball up the court, he won’t have as much in the tank to focus on scoring. I’m guessing the Raiders will sit in a zone because they have nobody who can keep someone like D.J. Gutridge in front of him. I’m interested to see if Alex Bergstrom can cause some trouble on the offensive glass against the smaller Scarlet Fliers, but conversely, Neptune senior Dan Singleton is so quick off the dribble for a forward that TRE doesn’t really have any big men who can match that, except for maybe Ray Cochran. The pick: Neptune.

OK, now, on to some extra girls SCT stuff from Thursday night.

I was at St. Rose’s 52-49 overtime thriller against Freehold, which was one of the better games I saw this season from the standpoint of a big fourth-quarter comeback and a great crowd (and not from the foul shooting, which only Shaq could have loved).

St. Rose coach Joe Roman wanted to push the pace from the beginning because the Purple Roses have a deeper bench, and I think it paid off. Freehold missed a lot of free throws down the stretch which could’ve been tired legs, and on Alexx Hall’s coast-to-coast, game-tying lay-up at the fourth-quarter buzzer for St. Rose, fatigue also may have played a role for the Colonials. I give St. Rose a lot of credit because the way it was shooting and the amount of lay-ups it was missing, added to Alex Eagle’s buzzer-beating 30-footer at the end of the third quarter for Freehold, it would have been enough to frustrate anyone into thinking it just wasn’t their night. Hall was playing in another gear down the stretch, blowing by defenders routinely and finishing with the left hand, and freshman Sam Clark hit some big shots as well. The fact that a girl with that kind of size can step out and knock down threes as a freshman is scary.

St. Rose also did a good job of making Shannon Mayrose catch the ball 15 feet and out on most occasions, while also running another defender at her repeatedly. She scored 18 points, but she had to expend a lot of energy to do it. I know most will remember Hall’s heroics, Clark’s steady play and Alison Sweeney’s clutch 3-pointer, but I think senior Mary Hagaman did a nice job as well with a big fourth-quarter bucket and two huge free throws in overtime on a night when seemingly no player on either side could convert two consecutive foul shots. Also, there’s something to be said for team chemistry. The girls on St. Rose seem to genuinely root for one another and don’t seem to care who gets the credit, which, believe me, is becoming a more and more rare quality in top teams. I think that helped them stick together when they couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn for three quarters.

Freehold also shot itself in the foot with a rash of missed free throws and by shooting early in possessions even though it was up by double digits with only 4 minutes left in regulation. That gave St. Rose more possessions, and the Purple Roses took advantage of them.

As for the other games, it was a little dicey for Rumson-Fair Haven, which trailed 21-12 at the half to Freehold Township before coming back to claim a 36-31 win. It sure helps to have Kate Miller, who had 15 points, and a defense that can pitch a shutout for a whole quarter, like the Bulldogs did in a 15-0 third-quarter showing that gave them the lead back for good.

The rest was all pretty predictable, although Red Bank Catholic beating Middetown South was seen as a trendy upset pick that obviously didn’t happen.  I think the Eagles are just solid and this is just not RBC’s year. Danielle Pankey turned in another big effort for the Eagles with 26 points and her profile will dramatically raise if she can do something like that against undefeated Neptune in the quarterfinals to give the Eagles a fighting chance. The Scarlet Fliers were stuck in a tight game with Raritan for a little while before running the Rockets out of the gym down the stretch to win by 29.

As for the quarterfinals, I don’t see St. John Vianney-Manchester being much of a game, Colts Neck-St. Rose could possibly be interesting but Colts Neck is a heavy favorite, and Neptune has already beaten Middletown South by 20-plus this season, so that leaves Rumson-Southern. Rumson edged the Rams with a big fourth-quarter comeback in the WOBM Classic final back in December, and Southern is playing some great basketball right now behind junior center Kristen Sharkey.

There is a ton of stuff to get to after the past couple of days, so I won’t waste any time,  and we’ll start with the boys basketball side and wrap it up with the girls side, so scroll down if you want to get right to the girls hoops stuff.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Updated 6:55 p.m.

I took in two games on Saturday, starting with Shore’s 48-39 win over Red Bank in a must-win game for each team to get into the state playoffs. It’s clear that the Blue Devils and coach Doug Shaw used the fact that everyone thought they would fall on their face after moving from Class B Central to the bigger-school Class A Central as a rallying cry this season, so making the state playoffs became a badge of honor for them. I thought they wanted it a little more, while Red Bank sunk under a hail of technicals, missed shots and the ejection of coach Scott Martin to finish a frustrating morning, while Shore senior guard Mike Pillari did his best Steve Nash impersonation while setting up shop at the free throw line in the fourth quarter to bring home the win. I’ve heard from other coaches that they think they never get any calls in Shore’s gym and that the physical Blue Devils turn it into a football game out there, but from what I saw, Shore just plays in-your-face defense and teams just have to match that intensity. In an earlier version of this post, I may have implied that Martin said something to me about the officials, which he did not. I just meant that opposing coaches have been frustrated in that gym, so I could see where Martin was coming from when he expressed his displeasure to the officials during the game, not to me in any way after the game.

It’s a typical Shore team in that the Blue Devils defend you to the death and never give anyone a clean look from the perimeter. They are a little more vulnerable on the glass because sophomore big man Mark Coleman is out for the season with an injury, but they all do their best inside. They also have two athletic big men in Rich Vivian and David Roslin who can face the basket and put the ball on the floor. They are so methodical on offense that they limit the overall number of possessions in the game, which, coupled with their defense, can keep them in the game against anyone. Someone is going to have to work hard to knock this team out of the Central Jersey Group II bracket, and I like the gritty Pillari, who doesn’t really take any bad shots and is a hard-nosed defender.

From there I went to the Neptune-Monsignor Donovan game, where the Scarlet Fliers community honored legendary coach Larry Hennessy, who passed away in Virginia in August. As for the game, Mon Don had it down to seven points in the fourth quarter, but Neptune’s ability off the dribble was just too much in the end. Senior forward Dan Singleton was slashing to the rim with success and, as usual, senior guard D.J. Gutridge was breaking down his defender and getting into the lane off the dribble. It got a little chippy near the end, as Mon Don coach Mike Kearney got hit with a technical for arguing and a Mon Don fan got tossed out of the gym, but the main thing I noticed was how Monsignor Donovan sophomore guard Sean Grennan (19 points) was able to score against some good defenders, including Gutridge, arguably the best on-the-ball defender in the Shore. That’s the kind of thing that colleges want to see, and Monmouth University assistant Chris Kenny, a former star at Christian Brothers Academy and Monmouth U, was in the stands watching the game.

While I knew that Hennessy was a legend who won over 600 games, I learned a lot more about him from Saturday’s event, particularly from the outstanding program put together by 1972 Neptune graduate Bill King. That was no shock, given that King was the public relations director for the Milwaukee Bucks for 22 years, so he knows how to put together key information, but he really did a great job on the research for everything. I had no idea that Hennessy was also an outstanding player in his own right whose jersey still hangs from the rafters at Villanova. Neptune coach Ken O’Donnell, who spearheaded the event and was very close with Hennessy, said he didn’t even really know about all that stuff because Hennessy never talked about his playing days. I included Hennessy’s coaching accomplishments in my story on the event, but here are some more fun facts:

• In the 1952-53 season with Villanova, he finished second in the nation in scoring at 29.2 ppg, just behind Frank Selvy’s 29.5 ppg mark.
• His roommate in college at Villanova was none other than a coach synonymous with Saturday’s opponent, former long-time Monsignor Donovan coach Steve Gepp, who has the gym at Mon Don named after him.
• The Philadelphia Warriors won the NBA title in Hennessy’s rookie season in 1955-56, beating the Fort Wayne Pistons in the finals.
• The 58 wins in a row at home for Neptune during nine seasons (1959-60 to 1967-68) are believed to be a state record.
• Hennessy coached one season at Brookdale Community College, and during four seasons at Mater Dei after his first stint at Neptune, his teams went 87-18 and won four division titles.
• This one might be the best one: In 1954, Hennessy was an extra in the film, “Go, Man, Go!” about the Harlem Globetrotters, and it featured legendary actor Sidney Poitier as well as actress Ruby Dee. I’m sure the unintentional comedy is off the charts in that one.
• Neptune has only had four boys basketball head coaches since Hennessy started in the 1957-58 season and has only had eight coaches in since the 1930s. That is insane. They are like the Pittsburgh Steelers of Shore basketball, and Lakewood and Christian Brothers Academy spring to mind as the only ones who can really match that type of longevity out of their coaches.
• The name Scarlet Fliers came from 1929 Neptune graduate James L. Ogle for a team that wore scarlet and flew up and down the court.
• The 1907-08 squad beat Asbury Park 96-0 in one game. I had the over-under at 94 points in that game, so that last bucket killed me.

As for the rest of Saturday’s action, that’s a gutsy win by Monmouth over St. Rose without Neil Thompson, who was suspended for one game for a violation of school policy. Justin Ruiz and Cameron Lee stepped up and had arguably their best games in their careers to bring home the win, and that could go a long way toward this team’s confidence going forward, if those guys can rise to the challenge. They now know that they can beat a quality opponent with a so-so game from Anthony Gibson (10 points) and no Thompson or Joe Willman, which has to help their confidence.

Raritan had a major scare when Vincent Casalaspro had to be helicoptered to Robert Wood Johnson Hospital after hitting his head on the floor against St. John Vianney and suffering a seizure. He stayed overnight after returning to stable condition, so thankfully everything is OK. As for the Lancers, they needed that win to qualify for the state playoffs, so I guess they will either play the rest of a suspended game that they led by 18 points with 35 seconds left in the third quarter, or Raritan will just take a forfeit and move on.

Congrats to Mater Dei and good job by head man Bob Klatt for leading the fight out of a four-game hole and qualifying for the state playoffs with a win over Jackson Memorial. That name that keeps popping up game after game for the Seraphs is senior forward Chris Chamberlin, who has gotten it done scoring and rebounding to help lead the way.

Finally, the Snakebitten Team of the Year Award has already been wrapped up by a one-win Wall squad. So far this season, senior starting guard Tom McDonough was lost for the season with torn ligaments in his thumb after 7 games, freshman sixth man Derek Gardner suffered a season-ending fracture in his thumb after 10 games, senior captain and starting forward Andrew Cecchetti tore his ACL and meniscus on Feb. 2 and is out for the season, and on Thursday, senior captain and starting forward Corey Whitman, who was averaging 14.2 ppg, suffered a severe high ankle sprain and is done for the season as well. Suffice it to say that the first season for new head coach Michael Puorro has been a learning experience in overcoming adversity.

As for the Shore Conference Tournament, which will be seeded on Feb. 15, here are a few quick things. I’m not going to attempt any mock seeds until we see the results from this upcoming week as there are still several big games looming out there that will have implications. I will have a big preview of the tournament next week, but here are some thoughts.

• It’s not so much about seeding as it is about match-ups. Teams will want to avoid the 8-9 seed because that most likely means a date with No. 1 Christian Brothers Academy in the quarterfinals, so if a team like Middletown South is in that area, it would probably want to get dropped to No. 10 rather than get 8 or 9 in order to avoid CBA until the SCT final if it can make it there. There is so much parity that after CBA, I think anybody can beat anybody on a given day.
• The most intriguing team by far is Asbury Park. The Blue Bishops have won 15 in a row, including two last-second wins over Point Beach and a close one against Keyport. They are clamoring for respect, but I think they are going to have to beat Freehold this week to get it. I know the B Central always feels disrespected, but here’s a question – when was the last time a B Central team reached the SCT semifinals? I can’t think of one in the last 10 years or so, unless St. Rose did it with Collin Kamm a few years back, but I don’t think so. One of those teams is going to have to get to that point for people to really take the division seriously, and maybe Asbury Park is that team. With Lamar Young and particularly Jamar Smalls, whom opposing coaches have quietly said should be the Player of the Year in the division for all the different things he does even though Young has better numbers, the Blue Bishops have the firepower. They have shown they can get to the SCT quarterfinals, but they are going to have to win one of those games sooner or later. I have seen them a couple times this season, and this is what they are going to have to prove in the SCT – that they can consistently knock down jumpers from the perimeter. Teams are going to zone them and do everything to seal off the defensive backboards, where the Blue Bishops get the lions’ share of their points.
• I’m interested to see how bad that Marlboro loss hurts Middletown South because it could end up dropping them from maybe 4-5 range to around 7-8, which they want to avoid. Usually good wins are weighted better than bad losses in the SCT seeding meeting, so the Eagles might be able to gloss that one over.
• How much have injuries affected the way certain games and teams will be viewed in the seeding? Monmouth lost to Freehold and Neptune without Joe Willman (who obviously isn’t coming back), Middletown South lost to Rumson without Kyle Cancillieri, and Freehold lost to Middletown South without Christian Garcia. From hearing the coaches discuss these scenarios in the past, I can tell you that there usually is no sympathy there. Injuries are part of the game, so a loss is a loss usually to the delegates.
• How hot is Howell right now? If the Rebels qualify for the SCT after qualifying for the state playoffs, they could give someone trouble because of the way they shoot from downtown. Senior guard Tom Callahan is a 3-point sniper, while several opposing coaches have said that sophomore guard Ryan Keegan is a legit all-around threat and could play for any team in the Shore.
• Did Freehold Township wake up in a recent loss to CBA? The Patriots had been kind of floundering around, but took nemesis CBA to the wire on Friday. Can that give the Patriots the confidence to make a run in the SCT?

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Before I get to some girls SCT talk, here are some quick notes.

• I know Colts Neck struggled shooting the ball in a 3-point win over Trenton Catholic in a good nonconference game on Saturday, but it might be a good thing. The Cougars experienced some adversity on the road against a good team and found a way to win, which should only strengthen their resolve going forward.
• While Rumson’s Kate Miller surpassed the 1,500-point scoring mark for her career last week, she isn’t the only Shore Conference senior to do so. Freehold senior forward Shannon Mayrose currently has 1,566 career points and is now just 15 points shy of breaking the school record of 1,580 points set by Liz Scharpf.
• Matawan coach John Kaye must have been reading my mind as he sent me an e-mail to remind me of how well junior Alyssa Johnson has been doing. I know the one-win Huskies have struggled mightily in the merciless Class A Central this season, but in a recent stretch, she had 18 points and 9 rebounds against Shore, 16 points and 18 rebounds against Mater Dei, 17 points and 13 rebounds against Red Bank Catholic and 21 points and 15 rebounds against Manalapan. So even though Matawan is having a rough season, Johnson deserves some credit for a nice year.
• Great job by Howell to lock up a state playoff berth with a win over Manalapan in a year in which standout guard Jacquie Ward went down for the season with a knee injury in the preseason. Junior center Maggie Gilbertson and underrated sophomore Sarah Olson have led the way for the Rebels.
• Keyport also earned its state playoff berth by knocking off Academy Charter. Sophomore Devinn Bright has been a bright spot (no pun intended) for the Red Raiders this season and has put the team on her back in the scoring department to help push them into the postseason.

Now, as the for the Shore Conference Tournament, which will be seeded Feb. 15, the debate continues over that No. 1 seed. Colts Neck just added another bullet to its arsenal with that nonconference win over Trenton Catholic, a team that Neptune will get a crack at this week. That is seriously going to be splitting hairs, but after watching No. 1 St. John Vianney terrorize Rumson 72-45 the other night, it is hard to argue against the Lancers, who now have two wins over RFH this season. I know it might be blasphemy at this point, but SJV freshman Michaela Mabrey might be one of the best players ever at St. John Vianney when it’s all said and done, and I’m including the Gomezes in that conversation.

If SJV is going to shoot like they did against RFH in the SCT, no one is beating them, period. SJV is back to just smashing on teams like Audrey Gomez is running the show, as they have buried old foes like Rumson and RBC like it’s 1989 or something. This team has a swagger, and it is not going to let up on anyone. That RFH game got a little chippy as well as SJV coach Dawn Karpell and RFH coach George Sourlis got into it at one point when Sourlis felt a foul had wrongly been attributed to star Kate Miller. That prompted Karpell’s husband, Jeff, who is the head baseball coach at Shore Regional and a teacher at Rumson, to get up in the stands and bark at Sourlis. It probably was the best part of the whole game as far as I’m concerned.

After halftime, Sourlis and Karpell shook hands and calmly squashed anything in sportsmanlike fashion, but it’s clear that there is no love lost between these teams. I, for one, absolutely love it. As long as the play on the court is clean and hard-n0sed, I love great rivalries. With all of the AAU stuff going on today, everyone on different teams are friends. When I played back in the 1990s, we hated everyone on the other team. Years later I would see those guys and we would laugh about it over a beer, but at the time, we wanted to beat people’s brains in. It’s nice to see that come back again a little bit.

Anyway, as far as the No. 1 seed is concerned, we’ll see how this week shakes out as Neptune has some big nonconference and nondivisional games to help bolster its argument as well. I still most likely see SJV getting that top seed, but you never know. The Class A Central delegate on the SCT seeding committee is Red Bank Catholic coach Joe Montano, who has seen firsthand on multiple occasions how good SJV is this season.

Middletown South is on fire right now after blowing out Freehold, and I wonder if the Eagles’ recent stretch of wins against Rumson and Freehold will help erase a bad loss to Middletown North and a setback against a Southern team that will most likely win or share the Class A South title. Can that get them as high as No. 5 over St. Rose? It could, considering that St. Rose has no wins over any other teams currently ranked in All Shore Media Top 10, although the Purple Roses don’t have any bad losses, either. That could possibly set up a 4-5 rematch between South and RFH in the SCT quarterfinals, which would be a fun game.

Posted 2:45 a.m.

Before I get to basketball, there were two more football signings from Wednesday to announce. Matawan linebacker/fullback Jamiel Sims is headed to Wagner, and his Huskies teammate, wide receiver Kyle Hardy, will join Colts Neck linebacker Sean Smith and St. Peter’s Prep quarterback Justin Perez (a Freehold Twp. resident) at C.W. Post. Congrats to both of them.

Now, on to Thursday night, where there were plenty of interesting games, headlined by the performances of the Middletown South boys and girls teams.

I’ll star with the girls, who rolled Freehold, 51-33, in a nondivisional game behind 32 points from senior Danielle Pankey, the reigning All Shore Media Player of the Week, who also helped limit the Shore Conference’s leading scorer, Freehold forward Shannon Mayrose, who was in foul trouble all game. That win certainly adds to Middletown South’s Shore Conference Tournament seeding resume and continues some scorching-hot play as they also knocked off Rumson. Pankey is playing her way right into the All-Shore discussion with two big games in high-profile wins, and she has shown that she can be a force offensively and defensively. She always could put it on the floor and get to the basket, but her improved outside shooting has made the difference as she nailed five threes in the win over the Colonials.

Tom Brennan’s crew is playing its best basketball of the season at the right time as it seems to have taken consecutive losses to Middletown North and Southern to heart and has come roaring back into the SCT seeding picture. I’m sure Southern is quietly loving every minute of it because the Rams have a nice bargaining chip in that SCT seeding meeting with every impressive South victory.

Also on the girls side, a few non-suspenseful division titles were wrapped up as Neptune, which is currently without sophomore guard Syessence Davis as she recuperates from a broken nose, routed Wall to claim the outright Class B North championship and St. Rose rolled past Mater Dei to clinch the Class B Central non-public title. Keyport’s win over Asbury Park means that the Red Raiders need to knock off Academy Charter in their final game before the state cut-off on Saturday to qualify for the NJSIAA playoffs, while Brick now has to beat Central on Friday night to get in after being knocked off by Lacey, which has become a real thorn in some teams’ sides with some good late-season play.

On the boys side, injuries continue to play a significant role as No. 8 Middletown South knocked off No. 3 Freehold, 58-45, in a nondivisional game as the Colonials were without their main inside presence, junior forward Christian Garcia, who was out with a sprained ankle suffered on Monday in a win over Monmouth. Meanwhile, Middletown South welcomed back its main inside presence, 6-5 junior Kyle Cancillieri, from a broken nose, and he dropped in a game-high 18 points to get the win. South certainly knows what it’s like to lose a key game while short-handed as it fell to Rumson on Saturday without Cancillieri. That’s a big win for the Eagles’ SCT seeding hopes, and I also think it helps Neptune in its quest to cement the No. 2 seed because the Scarlet Fliers have a win over the Eagles while Freehold now has a loss to them. I continue to say that the Eagles have the goods to make a run to the SCT final (unless they run into CBA in the semis) as long as everyone stays healthy.

Garcia is expected to return soon, so at least Freehold won’t be without him for long. Colonials coach Ben DiBiase is also a no-excuses guy so I’m sure he is not writing this loss off just because they didn’t have Garcia. They still expected to win.

I took in Monsignor Donovan’s 43-41 win over Point Boro in front of a packed house down at Mon Don with two good student cheering sections. The Griffins kicked off a stretch in which they play No. 5 Point Boro, No. 2 Neptune and No. 10 Lakewood in succession, and they can now take the overall Class B South title outright with a win over Lakewood at home on Monday and then a victory over Pinelands in their final divisional game.

Mon Don sophomore point guard Sean Grennan continues to impress, as he had a game-high 19 points. You can tell that Grennan really worked hard in the off-season to add to his game. He can catch and shoot from mid-range and behind the arc, he can get to the rim, and he has a nice fadeaway off the dribble from about 15 feet that is becoming automatic. He also will pull the trigger off the dribble from behind the arc and does a nice job of using his body and inside-out dribbles to create space between him and a defender. Other than packing on more size, I think his other main area for improvement looks to be defensively, but his offensive game now has a ton more variety than it did last season and that is a testament to his hard work on his game.

I also like the size and athletic ability of sophomore forward Anthony Duszczak, who is about 6-5 and is a good leaper. He’s still feeling his way offensively, but the more aggressive he becomes, the more dangerous he will be. The inside-outside tandem of Duszczak and Grennan could be a fearsome one in the not-too-distant future. Junior Ryan Milana also had a solid game with some big free throws near the end, and he just has that bulldog, football mentality that every successful team needs.

Point Boro’s Pat Hart had 13 points after dropping 29 on Mon Don the first time around, but I think that was more because of Point Boro’s limited possessions. When you work the ball around the perimeter for 30-35 seconds at a time before a shot, you’re not going to get a ton of chances to score, especially if the other team is also methodical offensively. Hart has one of the better post-up games of any guard in the Shore, as once he gets a shorter defender pinned on his hip, it’s over. I know there was a lot of howling over the no-call when Hart got into the lane in the final seconds and ended up throwing up an off-balance jumper that fell short after making some contact with Milana, but after watching the video a couple times, the contact with Milana was not that significant. If any foul might have been called, it should have been on one of the two defenders who bumped Hart when he split a double team off the dribble before getting into the lane. Still, it’s a judgement call, and it went Mon Don’s way.

Point Boro coach Kevin Hynes wasn’t exactly thrilled about that no-call after the game, but he felt his team gave a good performance, it just came down to a few little things. It’s always interesting to see how different coaches view this public/non-public division title stuff. A lot of the coaches in A North value the public (i.e., non-CBA) title and consider it a good accomplishment, whereas in other divisions, coaches could care less about winning a title if it’s not the overall title. When informed that Point Boro could still win a share of the Class B South public title even if Mon Don all but clinches the overall (and the non-public) title with a win over Lakewood on Monday, Hynes looked like I wrapped a turd in a box and told him to have a Merry Christmas. I guess the Panthers won’t be springing for “Class B South public co-champs” jackets if they end up tied with Lakewood behind Mon Don in the end.

Brick Memorial received an unexpected gift when it was able to clinch the Class A South title outright by virtue of a 72-68 win over Southern and a loss by a reeling Toms River North team to a sub-.500 Jackson Memorial squad. Senior Matt O’Brien dropped 25 for the Mustangs, who are getting hot at the right time with the SCT looming.

CBA also squeaked by Marlboro, 90-47, to clinch the overall Class A North title, believed to be its 8 billionth division title. Right now it’s just the Colts and everyone else in the Shore. Raritan clinched its state playoff berth with a win over Shore Regional, which now has to beat Red Bank Regional on Saturday to earn its berth in the state playoffs.

Congrats to Howell, which earned a rare state playoff berth of its own by routing Allentown. If I’m not mistaken, Howell’s last state playoff berth was the year I started covering Shore hoops way back when in 1999-2000, so great job by head coach Brian Quick and a team led by guards Tom Callahan and one of the most underrated sophomores in the conference, guard Ryan Keegan. Also congrats to a young Manchester team for clinching its spot in the playoffs with a nice win over Central.

Freehold Township beat Manalapan in a game that has an interesting wrinkle in that Patriots senior Matt Devine, one of the Shore’s top scorers, lives in Manalapan, but that part of Manalapan is districted for Freehold Township (only in bizarro world the Freehold Regional District). He had 21 in the victory.

Asbury Park almost got caught looking ahead to Friday night’s showdown on the road with Point Beach in Class B Central as it edged Keyport, 42-39. That would have dented the Blue Bishops’ SCT seeding case pretty hard had they lost, but now they can stay on a roll by beating the Garnet Gulls, who are looking for their most significant win of the season.

After a loss to St. Rose, Mater Dei now has its back against the wall and must win against Jackson Memorial on Saturday to get into the state playoffs. The Seraphs couldn’t have been excited to see that the Jaguars are playing well as they upset Toms River North.

A team that has been the definition of under the radar, Long Branch, routed Keansburg to get into the state playoffs as well, so congrats to the Green Wave.

Finally, I hope you took some time out of your night to watch that Celtics-Lakers OT thriller on TNT. Great game, featuring some cold-blooded jumpers from Kobe Bryant down the stretch. I am an unabashed NBA fan along with Miss All Shore Media (the biggest Lakers fan this side of Jack Nicholson), as we are probably the only people in Monmouth County who have NBA League Pass that gets us all of the games even though I am a Knicks fan and can get their games on MSG. So yes, that means I’m the guy watching Sacramento-Golden State at 1 in the morning while I’m writing for this site. If you can’t get fired up watching LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett or Kevin Durant (who I love) and others on a regular basis, you don’t like basketball.

However, I feel like being an NBA fan is seen as some kind of mental illness at this point by the so-called purists. I remember telling a hoops junkie like Holmdel coach Sean Devaney that I loved the NBA way more than college hoops (which is only good for gambling during March Madness but fairly boring until then) and he looked at me like I said that I enjoyed punching puppies in the face. The egos and the individualism gets to a lot of people, but I love every minute of it, even Oklahoma City vs. Minnesota. The Knicks are even watchable at this point for crying out loud, and I’ll take David Lee and Wilson Chandler (and hopefully LeBron) on my team any day. One day I will write a full treatise to the NBA on this blog just to annoy everyone singing the praises of the college game and its no-name players (although I wish the best for all Shore grads playing in college), just to drive everyone nuts.

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My plan was to go to Espresso Joe’s in Keyport for lunch today.  I got in the car and headed over to Keyport.  When I turned onto Front Street, I saw that it was blocked off and, much to my pleasure, a street fair was going on.  I love street fairs!  So I found a parking spot on a side street, and walked up Main Street.

Lining both sides of the streets, vendors of all kinds were selling their wares… clothes, jewelry, accessories, candles, specialty items, and more.  Then I saw signs that said 1st Annual Keyport International Food and Music Festival.  Wow! I had NO idea this was taking place, yet something was drawing me to Keyport today.  I love happy surprises!

I was definitely excited to be there.  Looking ahead I noticed the food stands set up so I made a beeline in their general direction.  There was your typical selection of standard American fare such as hamburgers, hot dogs, cheesesteaks, french fries, and the like.  There was also Mexican, Caribbean, Greek, and some other ethnic foods represented as well as a seafood stand by Keyport Fishery.  I saw a BBQ stand, but I think I was too early because it didn’t look open to me.  The guys were still tending the smokers.  They happen to open them when I was passing by and it was filled with ribs!  I began to salivate, but decided to keep moving to a stand that was open and ready for business.

I came upon the Caribbean stand – Blossom’s Catering.  Caribbean food is usually too spicy for me, but I was feeling adventurous today.  I mulled over the menu while the guys were still prepping to open.  I was told not everything on the menu was quite ready yet.  I asked about the curried goat since that certainly piqued my interest and he said it was ready.  Having never had curried goat before, I asked to try a piece before buying and he was happy to oblige.  Wow, it was tender, not chewy, a little fatty.  The curry sauce was spicy and ultra flavorful, but not hot.  Winner!  I got that with a platter along with rice & beans and collard greens.  He put some hot sauce on the greens, but it did not deter me.  I still ate them.  Everything was wonderful!

I sat down in the middle of the street where they had set up a seating area.  There was an old-timey band, The Happy Tones — complete with an accordian player — playing a bunch of old polka-ish tunes.  Ahhh, I couldn’t have asked for a better lunch!  My mouth was a bit overwhelmed by the spiciness and the hotness of the greens, though, so after I finished eating I walked over to Espresso Joe’s (my original destination) to get a cold coffee drink.  I ordered a large Iced Mocha Latte and while I was waiting for my drink, who happens to walk in but Drew of Drew’s Bayshore Bistro.  I’ve never met the man in my life and I haven’t eaten at his restaurant yet (it’s on my list, promise!) but when everybody said “Hey Drew!”, I just knew.  A few guys were asking him what food he tried.  He, too, sampled the Caribbean and said it was quite good.  I decided to jump in the conversation and reported that the curried goat was excellent.  Impromtu foodie talk with a well-respected local chef.  I love it!

Anyways, Espresso Joe’s is great.  I love independent coffee shops and cafes.  This is one thing I wish Matawan had. I stayed away from the computer station and decided to chill out and read the paper instead on one of the red, hand-like chairs.

After I finished my drink, my body and mouth duly cooled off, I decided to go back outside.  I strolled the vendor area again, but nothing struck my fancy.  A Beer Garden was set up on Main Street, but it was even too early for me to start drinking.  Beer + heat = I would have been laid out in no time!  So while I was certainly craving some good German beer, I decided against it.

Behind the Beer Garden, I noticed a consignment shop called Tuesday’s Child.  I love consignment shops so I decided to go inside and have a look.  I actually found a nice pair of navy blue dress pants on the $1 rack that were my size!  I tried them on and they fit perfectly so I got them.

I figured since I was in Keyport, I should check out the waterfront before I go.  So I sauntered down there.  They had rides for the kids and games set up.  It was a perfect day for a summer festival and even though it was early in the afternoon, there were plenty of people out enjoying the festivities.  I walked up and down the Bulkhead taking in the view of the bay and the boats.  It didn’t take long though and the sun/heat was starting to get to me, so I made my way up to Front Street and headed back to my car.

When I got home, I was wiped out!  I actually took a 2 hour nap.  Haha.  I’m tempted to go back tonight to sample some BBQ!  If not tonight, then I think I will surely go tomorrow for Day 2.

If you’re in the area, go check out Keyport’s International Food and Music Festival.  It’s a great idea and I hope it’s a great success to everyone involved.

Hey all.  This is a common question we get.  How much ice do we need for a party?  I always say to get a half pound of ice per person with mixed drinks.  and 1 to 1 1/2 pounds per person if serving frozen drinks.

Did you know?

When you book a frozen drink party with us we bring 50lbs of ice!!  That’s right, you don’t have to lug 50 lbs of cold hard ice from the store, to your car and in the house. 

We will do all that hard work for you as part of our service.  Your job is to be a party host.  Our job is to help you relax with a frozen concoction.

-Mikey Dee

www.GetDizzyNow.com