Toms River South Pushing to Make Playoffs

The returning players from last year’s Toms River South boys basketball team know the pain of losing a heartbreaker in the postseason and that group of returnees felt the hurt again Thursday in a crushing one-point loss to Lacey that put a serious dent in the Indians’ postseason hopes this season.

Given another chance on its home floor the next night, Toms River South showed it can finish the job and may have resurrected its postseason hopes after all.

The Indians beat neighbor Central Regional 44-35 on Friday night, just one night after losing 41-40 to Lacey on the same court. The victory still leaves Toms River South with a record of just 7-9 overall, but with two wins this week over struggling Toms River East (2-15) and Ocean Township (3-16), the Indians can once again qualify for the Shore Conference Tournament, which requires a winning percentage of .500 or better in games played up to and including this Saturday.

“We don’t usually lose in our gym and we knew we needed to come back strong,” said junior guard Elijah Dupree. “Central is like a rivalry game for us and they beat us last time, plus always I got family over there so we so it’s always good to get this one. We needed it.”

Should Toms River South handle its business this week and pick up the necessary two wins to qualify, the Indians figure to draw an unfavorable seed, and with it, a difficult opponent in the opening round. While that might lead to low expectations outside the program, the Indians players are itching for another shot at the SCT field after nearly pulling off the upset of the tournament last year. As the No. 26 seed, the Indians took No. 6 Monsignor Donovan to wire after leading for most of the game before the Griffins’ Jake Martin hit a 3-pointer as time expired to stun the Indians 39-36 and squash the upset bid. That Monsignor Donovan team went on to win two more games and reach the semifinals of the tournament.

“A lot of teams would walk into the gym and say, ‘They’re Toms River South, they’re not that special,’” said senior Steve Petrosino, who held Monsignor Donovan guard and Seton Hall University recruit Sean Grennan to one point in the SCT game last season. “But we come in and play our hearts out and they don’t expect that, so getting a shot at the tournament is big for us, because we’re going to give whoever we play a tough game.”

A rematch with its neighbor from across the street is certainly a possibility for Toms River South, as Monsignor Donovan figures to be seeded in the 10-to-15 range as things stand right now, while Toms River South would likely be seeded near the bottom of the field of teams, which could range anywhere from 20 to 30 teams and will most likely settle in around 24 or 25.

The Indians appear to be peaking at the right time after taking Lacey – which has a record of 12-4 on the season – to the final possession and beating Central for the first time since the early 2000’s. The Golden Eagles edged the Indians in December’s WOBM Christmas Classic, but Toms River South but the bad recent history against their neighbors behind it on Friday. Dupree led the way scoring and distributing from the point guard spot, while Jessie Tate and Zack Liguori battled Central’s JoJo Hardy down low while also combining for 21 points of their own. Tate scored 12 points to go with 11 rebounds, while Liguori added nine points to go with double-digit rebounds in the win.

“Our message was just to stay together,” Tate said of the Indians’ mindset. “We’re real close as a team and we knew we needed to get the win. We all know each other, we all love each other and when we play together, we play amazing.”

“The loss to Lacey was devastating, but like coach (John MacIntosh) said after the game, the best thing we have going is that 10 guys are disappointed that we lost,” Petrosino said. “We knew we needed to win and we pulled together and got it done.”

The next two games appear to be a foregone conclusion for the Indians, at least on paper. Toms River South already has a 49-39 win over East to its credit and also two wins over Brick, which beat Ocean on Friday night. While the first glance-look fosters optimism, the game against the Raiders will be on the road and Ocean is a Monmouth County team that plays a very tough schedule and is hungry to play the spoiler role.

With its win over Central, the Indians also appear to have locked up a spot in the NJSIAA South Jersey Group IV playoffs, which will become official after Monday’s games are complete. Through this weekend’s action, Toms River South sits comfortably as the No. 12 seed in the 16-team section.

“I think we’re focused,” Petrosino said. “Last year we went into Mon Don and lost at the buzzer so I think our guys want another shot at a team like that and we know to get that shot, we have to play two more good games.”