Red Raiders win first boys New Jersey hoop title since 1964
PISCATAWAY – It was a long time in the making. John Bruno and his Ocean City High School Red Raider basketball team are state champions.
The Red Raiders capped off a historic season and era of boys basketball with the biggest trophy possible. In a game that was a tossup until the final minutes, they took down Colonia High School 55-46 in the Group III state championship game on Sunday, March 15.
It was Bruno’s 37th season at the helm of the program. He and his team accomplished a feat he said was “never on our radar.”
“I don’t have thoughts, I really don’t understand the scope of it except that every year, everybody wants a state championship,” Bruno said. “It’s never on our radar. It’s maybe to win South Jersey. The best part is watching these guys now. From the first guy to the last guy, they’re all enjoying a state championship.”
“It’s great, I kind of blacked out in the final 10 seconds thinking, ‘wow, we really did this and it’s really happening,’” junior Josh Lenko said after his 24 points helped seal the deal on Ocean City’s first state title since 1964.
“I love that everyone is here and being able to look up and see everyone I know,” he said about the large crowd at the Jersey Mike’s Arena at Rutgers University. “It was great to see them support us.”
Coming off his 30-point game in the Group III semifinals against Westampton Tech, Lenko’s hot hand continued with another great shooting night in a game against Colonia that was tight all the way to the finish.
He scored eight straight points to open the fourth quarter to break the tie game and ended with a game-high 24 points. Lenko took advantage of a selfless offensive game plan by the Raiders that resulted in them recording 17 assists.
“I think it sums up our season as a whole,” senior Luke Tjoumakaris said when asked about their passing efficiently and why it worked so well. “Don’t get me wrong, all our players are really special, but we don’t have one standout guy who has 30 every night, I mean other than maybe Lenko. We all come up with our own times. We trust each other and are just really good friends and help each other.”
Tjoumakaris came up big for the Raiders in his final game, as he had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds to go along with four assists. He specifically did his damage at the end of the second quarter where he scored the last 10 Ocean City points. Each play felt like a rerun of the last with Tjoumakaris scoring a wide-open layup after a great pass from Dean Lappin or Tighe Olek.
“Seventeen (assists) is quite a bit, but what that tells me is that you shared the ball and have a happy team,” Bruno said. “A happy team gives you a chance to win and this team has done that all year long. That number is this team. It describes this team in a nutshell.”
Lappin continued to be Ocean City’s leader and floor general with a game-high six assists followed closely by Olek’s five assists. The duo was the battery that powered the offense but late into the fourth quarter it was the defense that sealed the game.
Colonia’s high scorer, Jayce Rodriguez, tied it up at 46-46 with 4:02 remaining on the clock and did his best to match the Raiders’ offensive output with 22 points of his own. After a quick timeout by Colonia however, Lappin snatched all the momentum as he intercepted the inbound pass and ran down the court for an easy layup.
“It was tied up in the fourth quarter, but me and my teammates kept our composure and that’s why we had success,” Lappin said. “Especially in games like this we have been here before, so all we had to do was execute.”
The surge in energy gained off of Lappin’s steal snowballed out of control for Colonia and the Raiders kept rolling until the final whistle.
Colonia was held scoreless in the final four minutes after four forced turnovers by the Raiders turned into easy points on the other end. Lenko stepped in front of a pass, turned it into a score by Alec Bell, while Olek drained two free throws after he was fouled following another steal.
“Coming into the game we knew we had a good chance of winning and we are happy we pulled it out after it was a close game the whole time against a good team,” Bell said. “Even when we were down, our coaches told us to keep our heads straight and it always helped us throughout these tough playoff games.”
“As each game went by, they just believed in themselves,” Bruno said. “One of the key components to this team has been their composure. They never seemed to get rattled. Today they could have crumbled a couple of times, but they kept their cool.”
As the state championship trophy was being handed to the Raiders, the team yelled out for Lappin to reach for it first and lift it to the sky, something he was still trying to process after the game.
“If you told me two years ago while I was on the Ocean City JV team and said back-to-back South Jersey titles with winning a state championship in the final year, I would not believe it at all,” Lappin said.
This Raider core will leave behind a legacy of success. After winning the Group III South Jersey title last season, Ocean City followed that up with a 26-6 record that led the program to its second consecutive sectional title and biggest win this century in the state finals.
“This is one of those things, maybe it hits you on the bus ride home. Wait a minute, what did we just do?” Bruno said. “I’ve done this for so long, I know it seems like it’s important, but it’s about the kids and the fun they’ve had leading up to this. They just love being together with each other.”
The whole team rushed towards the traveling Raider Nation student section after the game with some attempting to crowd surf with varying levels of success. Bell credited them with bringing hype wherever the playoffs took the Raiders and will “always remember” those moments.”
“I just wanted to prolong the season as long as possible,” Tjoumakaris said. “I don’t take any second I spend with these guys for granted. I know high school sports has to come to an end and I am glad it ended in this way.”
State championship stats
Colonia (21-11) led 14-12 after the first quarter, but Ocean City held the 28-27 edge at the half. Colonia regained the slight edge, 39-38, by the end of the third quarter. The game was still tied 46-46 with 3:18 to go, before Lappin’s steal and layup started the 9-0 Ocean City run to finish the game.
Lenko finished with 24 points and three rebounds; Tjoumakaris 15 points, 10 rebounds and four assists; Olek with seven points, five rebounds and five assists; Lappin with four points, five rebounds and six assists; Bell with five points, one rebound and one assist; and Chris Pontari with a rebound and an assist.
– STORY by WILLIAM TRUITT/For the Sentinel
– PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
