TOMS RIVER – Freehold Township shrugged off a four-point first quarter towards a top-five workforce in the Shore Conference on Sunday night time as a result of the way in which they had been taking part in protection, it was solely a matter of workforce earlier than the Patriots roared proper again into it.
Third-seeded Freehold Township restricted second-seeded Jackson to 11 factors mixed in the second and third quarters on its approach to a powerful 60-36 win in the semifinals of the Jim Ruhnke bracket of the Kevin Williams Christmas Class at RWJBarnabas Health Arena. The Patriots (4-1), ranked No. 7 in the Shore Sports Insider Top 10, handed the No. 3 Jaguars (5-1) their first lack of the season by holding them to their lowest level whole of the yr.
“It’s still very early, but they have good wins, and they’re a very talented team,” Patriots head coach Todd Smith mentioned about Jackson. “Our whole thing was we want to play for 32 minutes with maximum effort, and we did that. We struggled early, but we dug ourselves out of that offensive hole after the first quarter, and I thought we just kept getting better and better as the game went on, on that end. The way we defended, the way we rebounded, how tough we were, those are the things I wanted to see this time of year, so we can keep building on that.”
Junior Jake Schultzel scored a game-high 17 factors to go along with 10 rebounds, junior guard Cole Gerigk completed with 10 factors, 7 rebounds and 5 assists, and junior guard Dakota Lasater held Jackson star George Boley to 2 factors on 1-for-13 capturing from the sphere. Senior guard Yaseer Johnson was the one Jaguar in double figures with 13 factors.
Freehold Township will now tackle fourth-seeded Wall in the championship sport of the Ruhnke bracket at 7 p.m. on Tuesday again at RWJBarnabas Health Arena.
Jackson led 12-4 after the primary quarter after forcing 5 turnovers and contesting all the things, notably in the paint.
“It was just definitely getting in our flow. Our defense was pushing to our offense, so we knew we had the chances, we just needed to capitalize off them, and that’s what we started to do in the second quarter,” Schultzel mentioned. “Our defensive emphasis was definitely to put the pressure on them. We knew that they couldn’t handle it.”
“Jackson was kind of dictating the pace, and we were kind of playing their game,” Gerigk mentioned. “In the second quarter, third quarter, we were getting rebounds, and we were pushing, and we were getting fast breaks. That’s our team identity: just pushing it down the floor, making sure they don’t get back.”
Freehold Township outscored Jackson 15-3 in the second quarter as Schultzel scored 9 of his 17 factors in the interval, together with an emphatic two-hand dunk in the waning seconds of the half for a 19-15 lead on the break.
The Patriots pressured 17 Jackson turnovers in the sport, fueling their offense with simple buckets and transition alternatives. Boley’s solely subject aim of the sport got here on a floater with 1:05 left in the primary half.
“Our depth was a big part of it,” Smith mentioned. “We had a lot of different defenders run in waves to get out there and keep some fresh legs. We have certain guys that are just tenacious. Dakota Lasater is one of them among many others. He works from end to end, and he guards the best guy on the other team.”
Freehold Township put the sport away in the third quarter by outscoring the Jaguars 23-8, together with a 13-0 burst that ballooned the result in 36-20 with 2:02 left in the interval. Gerigk dropped in eight of his 10 factors and dished out a pair of assists in the quarter to offer the Patriots a 42-23 lead heading into the fourth quarter as they cruised to the win.
Jackson had been averaging 57.6 factors per sport earlier than the Patriots grew to become the primary workforce to carry them underneath 48 factors this season.
“I think this is definitely the best game we’ve played so far, but we’re just stacking games up right now and trying to get better,” Schultzel mentioned.
Next up is a Wall workforce that picked up what’s believed to be its first win over rival Manasquan because the Nineties in the opposite semifinal with a stifling defensive efficiency of its personal in a 40-20 win. The Crimson Knights are ranked No. 9 in the SSI Top 10.
“It’s a big challenge,” Smith mentioned. “They’re an outstanding team. Really good players, really good coaches – it should be fun. We’re looking forward to the opportunity.”
Scott Stump is the soccer editor and a reporter for Shore Sports Insider. He first began masking Shore Conference sports activities in 1999 and likewise contributes to the basketball protection.
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