Ocean City explodes in fourth quarter, beats Timber Creek for 1st title since ’90s
OCEAN CITY — Luke Tjoumakaris and Tighe Olek dominated the boards. Josh Lenko and Tjoumakaris combined for 44 points. Dean Lappin had three steals and four assists. Floor general Ben McGonigle put it all together as the Red Raiders won their first South Jersey boys basketball championship since the late 1990s, beating Timber Creek 66-53 at home Friday night.
Ocean City High School head coach John Bruno, who is in his 36th year at the helm and won his 500th career game in mid-January, sat stunned in the locker room after the game, thinking about what his boys accomplished.
A year after he graduated four of his starters, who suffered the disappointment of two consecutive losses in the South Jersey Group III sectional final (including the triple-overtime loss to rival Mainland Regional last year), Bruno was not expecting his boys to do what they did.
It also was the first title the Red Raider boys, who were the No. 1 seed, won in front of their home fans.
“I don’t think anybody expected this team to be anywhere near like the team was last year, let alone the South Jersey champion,” Bruno said. “Losing four excellent players who I was unfortunately mostly playing night in and night out and only having Ben (McGonigle) come back. But those kids (tonight) played as a JV team that was as good as any JV team we ever had.
“We knew that we would be better than people thought because of that fact,” he added, “but to win 22 games, to win South Jersey, there is no way in the world I would have said that in November, not even remotely.”
Bruno said the team may not play the highest level teams like those in the Olympic League, “but within our Cape-Atlantic League, our competition gets us ready if you’re ready for games like this. One of the things I’ve been extremely happy with is that fact that we never lose our composure. Little bumps here and there, but for the most part we stay level-headed and in this case we were staying level-headed with a lead.”
That composure showed. Ocean City’s 13-point victory was a far cry from the Red Raiders’ prior two games in the tournament. The boys had to overcome a 42-29 deficit in the semifinal against No. 4 Absegami (24-5) with a 22-6 run in the fourth quarter to win 51-48. In the quarterfinal, No. 8 Seneca (12-15) pushed the Red Raiders to overtime before Ocean City won 53-40.
“Ben probably didn’t score as much as he scored all year long (he only had five points), but it might have been the best game he had all year. He was the floor general without having to score. That’s why you see guys like Josh and Luke scoring,” Bruno said.
“But I thought the key to the game was our rebounding of the ball as a team. Luke was dominant rebounding, but Josh got his share, Tighe got his share, Dean got his share. Really the difference in the game was rebounding the ball. They play so well together,” Bruno said.
The coach noted that it may hit him in retrospect how he feels personally about this season, but his thoughts at the moment were all about “the guys in the locker room. For them to experience this, for them to enjoy it, for them to understand what teamwork can do. That means more than 500 wins, that means more than a South Jersey championship to me, because it means so much to them.
“That’s why you’re a team. That’s why I told those guys who were practicing every day, but didn’t get into the game, who helped us get ready for games, they are South Jersey champs,” Bruno said. “They won South Jersey. I didn’t. I can’t even tell you how stunned I am at what we just accomplished.”
Before the game even started, Bruno was walking around, looking at the crowd, soaking in the feeling.
“I don’t care who your team is, you’re the only two teams playing. The gym is packed, you have fans on one side, fans on the other side, it’s electric,” Bruno said. “Just coming out for warmups you knew it was going to be an exciting game. To be honest with you, I always worry about the game that gets away from you in this moment. Whether it was winning or losing, I wasn’t really that focused on, it was just be competitive and play each quarter like it’s a game.
“We thought if we rebounded the ball, we had a shot at winning,” he said.
Ocean City doubled Timber Creek’s work on the boards with a 24-12 edge in rebounds. He knew Timber Creek had done well with offensive rebounding and put-backs in prior games, but his Red Raiders limited that Friday night.
“As far as I’m concerned, rebounding won the game. Ben McGonigle’s floor generalship absolutely was the game, and Luke Tjoumakaris inside was phenomenal,” Bruno said.
Although Tjoumakaris led his team in scoring the past three playoff games, he acknowledged how different players have stepped up throughout the season.
“I think that’s the best part of our team,” he said. “We don’t have one single star; don’t get me wrong, every single player is a star on our team so it’s really special for everyone to have their own night where you see them really shine.
“We knew they were going to be a bigger team,” Tjoumakaris said. “They were really physical and strong, so we had to focus a lot on boxing out in practice, defensive plays that are turned around and end up in good offense. That’s the whole game, our transition was really strong tonight and a lot of that was the rebounding.”
Winning the title, he said, was “amazing. It’s awesome. It’s probably the best feeling I have ever had in my life.”
“It feels great to be a part of this,” Lenko said. “There were some parts that were shaky, but we stayed calm under pressure.”
“Whoever has the opportunity, we trust each other to take it,” he added. “I’m just so excited right now. It’s great to represent the city and have all the fans here. Definitely an exciting atmosphere.”
“It’s surreal being here three times in a row and I’ve been here all three years. It’s crazy to me that we won it,” Lappin said. “It was definitely more comfortable having the big lead, but that’s the biggest thing, handling the pressure.”
“I came in thinking I don’t care about points tonight,” McGonigle said. “It’s whatever I need to do to get the job done. I was just trying to make the right plays all game and we got the job done.”
“To play in two championships back to back and lose both of them, it’s definitely fuel to the fire for the offseason,” he said. “I really took it personally that we lost to Mainland. I used all that to fuel the fire … to get back to here.”
The Game
OCHS 11 13 14 28 – 66
TC 12 9 13 19 – 53
The Raiders trailed early in the first quarter but a put-back by Lenko on a missed free throw tied the score at 7-7. Lenko gave his team a 9-7 lead and then hit another basket to narrow the score to 11-12.
A put-back by Tjoumakaris let the Raiders retake the lead 13-12 to start the second quarter. Lenko followed that with a trey, McGonigle fed Tjoumakaris for a score and then he ran the floor and pulled up for his own short jumper for a 20-12 lead. Timber Creek responded with two scores, including a slam dunk midway through the quarter.
The teams traded baskets and the quarter ended with Ocean City ahead 24-21.
Four foul shots by Tjourmakaris and a three-pointer by Leon Brown helped put Ocean City up 33-24 early in the third quarter, but Timber Creek responded to narrow it to 35-32 with under two minutes to go. Lenko hit a trey with another score by the visitors for a four-point, 38-34 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Although Timber Creek would have its best scoring in the fourth quarter with 19 points and started out with promise, the Raiders scored 28 to keep the game out of reach.
Timber Creek initially closed in with a trey to start the quarter, making it a one-point game, 38-37. McGonigle scored then Timber Creek hit another three-pointer to tie the game at 40-40. That’s when the Red Raiders hit the gas.
They went on a nine-point run powered by Tjoumakaris, Lenko and a steal by McGonigle for a 49-40 lead. The teams traded baskets and then McGonigle fed Tjoumakaris for the biggest lead of the game so far, 53-42 with less than three minutes to go.
Olek converted two free throws, but Timber Creek closed in 55-47. Lenko, intentionally fouled, hit both free throws to make it a 10-point lead again, then McGonigle stole the ball and fed it to Tjoumakaris, who scored and was fouled. After more intentional fouls, Lenko and Lappin both converted for a 63-47 lead with a minute to go.
Timber Creek (19-10) was the No. 2 seed in the sectional. Jerome Ford, Jaidyn Bolds and Asa Wharton led their team with 13, 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Tjoumakaris had 24 points for the Raiders and Lenko 20. Olek scored eight, McGonigle and Lappin five each, Leon Brown three and Alec Bell 1. Tjoumakaris had nine rebounds and Olek seven; Lappin and Lenko had three each and Bell and McGonigle one each.
McGonigle led with six assists, Lappin four, Lenko three and Tjoumakaris one. Lappin had three steals, McGonigle two, and Lenko and Brown one each.
Ocean City falls in state semifinal
Ocean City (22-7) faced Colts Neck (19-9) in the Group III semifinal Tuesday evening after the Sentinel sports section went to press. The Raiders’ season came to an end in a close game as Colts Neck came back in the fourth quarter to win 47-45.
The Raiders led 37-31 heading into the fourth quarter, but as the two teams traded leads late in the game, Colts Neck made its final shot for the victory.
Ramapo (19-10) beat Colonia (27-5) in the other semifinal.
The winners will meet in the state championship game at 6 p.m. Saturday at Rutgers University.
– STORY and PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
