McCarthy Helps Bulldogs Pull Away From Warriors late in 56-45 win

Photo above: #1 Elijah McAllister and #14 Jackson McCarthy

MANASQUAN - As former division rivals Rumson-Fair Haven and Manasquan know each all too well and have been accomplices in a number of epic battles throughout the years including last season's monumental 65-64 clash won by the Bulldogs on their home court.

In the past two years Rumson is 3-0 at home against Manasquan, while the Warriors are 2-0 when playing on their own floor when matched up against Rumson. So it’s no wonder the Bulldogs were a little bit leery traveling to Manasquan for Saturday’s game, eventually won by the Bulldogs 56-45.

“Manasquan is a very tough place to play - the student section brings a lot of energy,” said Bulldog junior forward Jackson McCarthy, who helped break open a tight game by scoring seven straight points for the Bulldogs during a 7-2 run at start the fourth quarter and finished with a game-high 18 points. “You just have to come in and play against a very well coached team and just grind it out.”

As expected, Saturday’s game didn’t disappoint. The two teams traded leads for the better part of three quarters before the Bulldogs, behind McCarthy’s late-game heroics, took control in the latter stages of the game.

“Listen, they’re a great team and this is a brutal place for us to play,” said Bulldog head coach Chris Champeau. “We’ve had some wins here, but we’ve had a lot of losses, so it’s like Ohio State – Michigan. You never know, throw the records out.”

The matchup pitted two of the Shore Conference’s top teams with the Bulldogs (16-1, 9-0) ranked third in the Shore and the Warriors (14-3, 10-1) claiming the seventh spot in the top 10.

The two combatants were tied up at 35-35 with 2:20 left in the third quarter when the Bulldogs began to methodically separate themselves from the Warriors down the stretch.

After Manasquan senior point guard Ryan Flynn’s three-pointer put the Warriors up by one, 38-37, junior forward Ian O’Connor’s bucket gave the Bulldogs the lead for good, 39-38, with 1:33 remaining in the third.

A sweet move to the hoop by McCarthy increased the Rumson lead to 41-38 before an Alex Galvan free throw for the Warriors made it a two-point game, 41-39, which would be as close as Manasquan would get from there on in.

With 35 seconds left in the third quarter, O’Connor pushed the Bulldog lead to 43-39 on follow-up that concluded the scoring in the third.

McCarthy then hit a long three-pointer to open the fourth quarter for a seven-point lead followed by two free throws by Manasquan junior Brian McCabe, who led the Warriors with 14 points, to pull the Warriors to within five, 46-41, two minutes into the fourth quarter.

Manasquan failed to score again until the 1:09 mark of the fourth quarter while McCarthy added two more baskets and senior guard Devin Cooper hit on five of six free throws with time winding down to seal the deal.

McCarthy has emerged as one of Rumson’s go-to guys after senior shooting guard Jack Solano went down with a broken orbital bone in his face in their win against CBA on Jan. 6. McCarthy’s bruising style of play has transformed the Bulldogs from a three-point shooting monster into a grind it out, attacking, go-to-the basket team.

“It created the emergence of Jackson McCarthy,” Champeau said when asked how Solano’s injury has affected the team. “When Solano went down I started Jackson and it gave him time to develop and get his game right. And in a way it was a weird blessing in disguise as it created a lot of opportunities for us. Jackson played great today.”

McCarthy added six rebounds and a blocked shot to his afternoons work while Cooper finished with 14 points, five boards, two steals and two assists. Sophomore forward Phillip Wheeler added 11 points, three rebounds and a block but misfired on two – what would’ve been – spectacular dunks and McAllister ended his day with four points, 13 boards and eight blocks.

“I was just taking what the defense gave me,” McCarthy said. “I always try to attack the basket and create opportunities for my teammates. When I was attacking the basket, there was no weak-side help so I took advantage of that.”

“We tried to space them out and attack,” said Champeau. “We’re a different animal this year with the zones if we’re not knocking shots down. We wanted to space them out and create mismatches.

McCabe led the Warriors with 14 points, including three-three’s in the first quarter.

The first half was more or less a defensive battle with both teams big men dominating in the paint as the offenses sputtered.

Rumson led 15-14 after one quarter with the Bulldogs 6-foot-6 center Elijah McAllister blocking four shots and pulling down three boards in the quarter.

Cooper’s three-pointer with 1:24 left in the first half gave the Bulldogs a 25-22 lead before Manasquan’s 6-foot-5 junior forward Xander Korolik’s bucket pulled the Warriors to within one, 25-24 at the half.

Chances are these two teams will meet again in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group II tournament and most likely it will be in the final. Prior to today's game Rumson was No. 1 with 538 power points and Manasquan No. 2 with 476 points. The cutoff date is today, Saturday, so if form holds true Rumson will be the No. 1 seed and Manasquan No. 2.

“We’ve got three games this week and maybe we’ll get a bye in the tournament so hopefully we can rest up and get Solano healthy,” said Champeau.

“We just knew if we don’t come in ready to play tough basketball that teams like this can execute and sneak up on you,” said McCarthy. “So moving forward we’re going to just have to focus on playing tough basketball from the first quarter on. But all-around it was a great team win.”

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