Toms River North Heading To First SCT Final in 24 years.

Photos by Tom Smith: https://www.tspsportsimages.com/

TOMS RIVER – They weren’t even born the last time Toms River North advanced to its one-and-only Shore Conference Tournament final – a 64-58 loss to Christian Brothers Academy – but this years Mariners team has a chance to make some noise by being the first team in program history to win a SCT basketball championship.

After a workmanlike effort in Thursday night’s semifinal produced a 60-42 win over seventh-seed Red Bank Catholic, No. 3 seed Toms River North advanced to the SCT final for the first time since 1996.

It took a while for the Mariners (24-3) to separate themselves from the Caseys (17-9) after a somewhat shaky first half which saw them clinging to a 23-18 lead at the half.

Toms River North was coming off a quarterfinal win over Marlboro in a game which saw them score 114 points but the Mariners came out tight Thursday night and appeared tentative in their approach with questionable shot selections that allowed RBC to stay within striking distance.

“For whatever reason we were a little tight,” said Toms River North head coach Rory Caswell. “We definitely missed some shots we normally make. In the first half we didn’t play great and at halftime I told them, ‘Look we’re still up by five points.’ It wasn’t our best game but the kids made some big plays.”

It didn’t help that senior guard Colin Baker picked up three quick personal fouls in the first half and spent extended periods of time on the bench for much the night before eventually fouling out with almost six minutes remaining in the game.

In his absence, however, sophomore guard Jaiden Fraser came off the bench as the sixth man to score 14 big points after scoring 19 points in the Mariners rout of Marlboro in the quarterfinals.

“Jaiden Fraser played unbelievable,” said Caswell. “Without him it would’ve been a much closer game. But I feel for a kid like Colin who has worked so hard to overcome a lot of injuries to play the way he’s played this year. He dealt with foul trouble all night and was never really able to get into the game.”

Senior Jakari Spence scored nine of his 16 points in the first half to help keep the Mariners in front and also added six rebounds, six assists and four steals in a fine all-around effort.

Big man Najae Hallenbeck was pitted against the Caseys 6-foot-6 forward Kevin Bauman in a much anticipated matchup that surprisingly never materialized in the first half as both players appeared hesitant to play their game as they felt each other out through the first half.

Hallenback scored just two points – the first points of the game - and grabbed four rebounds in the first half but came out fired up in the second half scoring the Mariners first six points of the half helping them to take control of the game and never look back.

“The first half, I was a little timid,” said Hallenbeck, who was a freshman the last time the Mariners made the semifinals in 2017. “I was taking some shots I wasn’t supposed to take. After that first bucket in the second half I said, ‘You know what? I’m going to take it to them.’ And that’s exactly what I did.

Hallenbeck’s layup off an assist from senior forward Mike Vansprang with a minute left in the third quarter pushed the Mariners lead to 13 points, 37-24. He finished with a game-high 22 points and 12 rebounds.

Vansprang scored only four points but added seven rebounds and five assists – all in the second half and all to Hallenbeck underneath.

“They play very, very well together,” said Caswell of the Vansprang/Hallenbeck connection. “They’ve grown up together, they came in as freshmen together and have a nice little thing going. Mike made a couple big plays and did a great job on defense using his length.”

Hallenbeck put the finishing touches on the game scoring the final six points for a 60-42 final.

“Coach got on me (at halftime) and told me to stop shooting and take it to the rack,” said Hallenbeck. “In the second half I went right at him (Bauman). I had two points in the first half and I ended up with 22.”

Bauman also scored just two points in the first half but only added another five points while grabbing seven boards. In the Caseys four-game winning streak entering Thursdays semifinal, Bauman had averaged 22 points. His younger brother Alex had a team highs in points (10) and rebounds (8).

The Mariners will now attempt to make history on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. at Monmouth University’s Ocean First Bank Center where they’ll face top-seeded Manasquan (26-1), which needed a valiant comeback to beat Holmdel in Thursday's other semifinal. The Warriors outscored the Hornets 16-4 in the final eight minutes to eke out a 44-40 win.

Manasquan, ranked No. 6 in the state, beat the Mariners 78-63 in the championship game of the WOBM Christmas Classic on December 30.

All five Toms River North starters are seniors so a win Saturday night would be four year’s in the making.

“We’ve got to the semis three straight years (2015 to 2017) and we never got over that hump,” said Caswell. “The last two years, it was the quarterfinals, so this group has kind of grown into it but we should’ve gone further. They’ve really built on those experiences and worked hard to take those steps. Now we want to take the next step.”

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